- ICE activity in Maine doubled since May, increasing from five to ten detentions per week.
- Agents fatally shot Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Biddeford after misidentifying him during a surveillance operation.
- Nationwide vehicle stops were paused following two fatal encounters in Maine and Houston during July twenty twenty-six.
ICE detentions in Maine rose for weeks before agents fatally shot Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Biddeford, advocates said, with their caseload increasing from five detentions per week before May to about eight to 10 per week afterward.
The Biddeford shooting occurred Monday, July 13, 2026, at about 7 a.m. in the city of roughly 22,000 people, about 20 miles south of Portland. Guerrero, 26, was a native of Colombia and a father whom neighbors described as devoted.
His attorney said Guerrero was in the United States lawfully and had not been accused of any crime. Officials said he was not the person named in the arrest warrant.
ICE said agents had been watching the last known residence of another person who had a final order of removal. The agency said Guerrero attempted to flee in a vehicle and drove toward an officer before an agent fatally shot him.
The killing followed a broader increase in enforcement. ICE arrests in Maine doubled during the last week of June and continued rising, while daily arrests nationwide increased from about 1,000 to about 2,000 since early 2026.
Maine advocates recorded a second increase after January enforcement
Ruben Torres, advocacy and policy manager at the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, said the organization’s responses showed a sustained increase beginning in May. The coalition’s figures counted detentions to which it responded.
"Before May, the organization responded on average to five detentions per week. Since then, that figure has doubled to about eight to 10 per week."
Recent enforcement has focused heavily on Biddeford, Portland, Lewiston and Auburn, advocates said. Arrests often occurred near people’s homes or during work commutes.
A statewide operation named "Operation Catch of the Day" began in January 2026 and detained hundreds of people. Lisa Parisio, policy director for Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, said enforcement continued after the operation.
"Immigration enforcement has been at high levels since the beginning of 2025 to now, both before and after the January ICE operation. Enforcement did not stop after that."
Hannah Pingree, a Democratic candidate for Maine governor, said enforcement actions in the area had increased again during the month before the shooting. She linked the renewed activity to the January ICE surge.
ICE described surveillance of another person before the fatal encounter
The agency said its agents were conducting targeted surveillance at the last known residence of a person with a final order of removal. Guerrero, officials said, was not the intended target.
US Senator Angus King repeated the government’s account of the confrontation.
"He had been given an order to leave the country. He was in a vehicle, pulled out in the vehicle, and the term the secretary used was ‘weaponized the vehicle.’ He was shot by an ICE agent."
The incident marked the first documented ICE shooting in Maine. It also became the second deadly ICE vehicle encounter in less than a week.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who had lived in the United States for more than 30 years, was killed in Houston on July 7, 2026. The Biddeford incident brought the number of lethal ICE shootings since March 2025 to 27, including eight cases in which someone was killed.
ICE paused most vehicle stops after two fatal encounters
ICE paused most vehicle stops nationwide after the two shootings. The agency retained an exception for serious criminal targets.
Agents involved in the Biddeford operation did not receive body cameras. ICE blamed "back-to-back Democrat shutdowns" for the lack of equipment.
The policy change came as officials and advocates disputed the circumstances of Guerrero’s death. ICE described an attempted vehicle attack involving an officer, while Guerrero’s attorney said the 26-year-old was lawfully in the country and had not been accused of a crime.
The state’s enforcement increase began before May, according to the coalition’s records. Arrests then accelerated during the last week of June, weeks before Guerrero was killed on July 13.
The national vehicle-stop pause now sets a narrower standard for such encounters, allowing stops involving serious criminal targets while excluding most other vehicle stops.
