Democrats demand ICE leave Maine; Collins calls for ‘full and impartial investigation’
Federal immigration officials fatally shot a man in Maine on Monday, the latest killing under the Trump administration’s efforts to remove people they say are here without authorization. The most recent fatal shooting by an immigration official occurred last week in Houston.
In Maine, the shooting comes just days before Democrats start the process of picking a new Senate candidate to replace Graham Platner. The political newcomer won last month’s primary but withdrew after he was accused of raping a woman, which he denies. The nominee will face the state’s longtime Republican senator, Susan Collins, in November.
Collins called for a “full and impartial investigation” into the shooting in Biddeford, about 10 miles north of Kennebunkport. Sen. Angus King, I-Me., told reporters the agents involved in the shooting did not have body cameras, “so we have no video evidence of what occurred in this case.” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin also reportedly told King that the man attempted to use his vehicle as a weapon against the officers.
Several of the Democratic candidates called for the agency involved in the shooting, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be removed from the state, where just around 4% of the population were born outside the country, and more than a quarter of the state’s hired farm workers are migrants, according to recent data from the Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Nirav Shah, a former health official who came in second in the most recent gubernatorial primary, said at a news conference, “How many more people must be fatally shot and murdered by ICE agents before we admit that it is time for a change?”
Jordan Wood, a political activist and former candidate for a House seat, said at a news conference that ICE was “terrorizing” people in America, and that Maine “may be the whitest state in America, or one of them,” but asylum seekers and refugees “are as much a part of all of our communities in Maine as anybody else.”
Troy Jackson, a state legislator who has been endorsed by the Bernie Sanders-inspired organization Our Revolution, said in a video, “We all need answers, and we deserve to know what happened here.”
“I don’t have details, and won’t speculate,” Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said in a statement on social media. “But this is at least the 11th fatal shooting involving ICE or Border Patrol under Trump. It’s time to get ICE off our streets.”
Paige Loud, a social worker, said in a statement ICE “killed” the man in Biddeford and that “Fascist regimes have always relied on forces that intimidate communities, erode civil liberties, and normalize political violence.” She later said the man “was murdered by ICE.”
The candidates who called for abolishing ICE include Jackson, Wood and Loud. Also running for the Democratic Senate nomination are Elizabeth Dickerson, a state legislator, and David Costello, who ran in 2024 and again earlier this year.
To pick a new Democratic nominee, all 16 of the state’s counties will meet July 18 and 19 to pick a total of 601 delegates, according to the Democratic Party of Maine. Those delegates will then meet at a convention on July 25 to vote on a new nominee, the party said.
Though no debates or party-sponsored town halls are scheduled, the party said that the “convention will provide an opportunity for candidates to address delegates directly.” They also encouraged candidates to campaign “in any way they see fit.”
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
