Tom Homan, the Trump administration's "border czar" overseeing immigration enforcement, has confirmed that the vetting process for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer implicated in the fatal shooting of a Colombian man in Maine is under internal review. Speaking on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, Homan said that if allegations about the officer's history of mental health struggles and violent behaviour are accurate, "I don't think he should ever have cleared vetting."

The officer, identified by multiple news outlets as David Brouillette, an Army veteran, shot and killed Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national, in Biddeford, a small coastal city in the state of Maine, on 13 July. Since the shooting, two of Brouillette's ex-wives have come forward alleging serious abuse during their relationships with him. One, Lucinda Brouillette, described a "persistent pattern of abuse, intimidation, manipulation, fear and control" and said she unequivocally believed her ex-husband was "capable of this level of violence." The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, has not publicly confirmed Brouillette's identity or commented on the internal review.

The Maine shooting has drawn intense scrutiny of ICE's accelerated hiring drive, part of the Trump administration's push to rapidly expand its deportation operations. A separate deadly incident in Houston, Texas, in which ICE officers shot and killed Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, compounded concerns. Neither shooting produced body camera footage, a gap Homan acknowledged, announcing that acting ICE director David Venturella has since issued a directive requiring at least one body camera to be active during all vehicle stops. Adding to the controversy surrounding the Texas case, lab results showed that a white substance found in the van at the scene — which an FBI warrant application had described as consistent with methamphetamine — tested negative for narcotics or illicit drugs. Salgado's family had said it was a salt mixture used by construction workers to stay hydrated.

Lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns about ICE's training and vetting standards. During a closed-door briefing for the House Homeland Security Committee last week, officials disclosed that 56 complaints of excessive force had been filed against ICE officers — 32 were cleared, one referred for disciplinary action, and the remainder still under investigation, with no discipline yet issued. Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, called it "extremely unfortunate" that the officer in the Maine shooting was not wearing a body camera and has pushed for funding to ensure their use.

The incidents highlight the tensions at the heart of the administration's mass deportation agenda, which has prioritised rapid deployment of thousands of new officers. Homan insisted changes are underway, but acknowledged the central question his own investigators must answer: whether information about Brouillette's alleged history existed and was overlooked, or was simply never available during the vetting process. "Did we have that information? Did we not have that information?" he said. "We will see where it lies."