Several Maine Senate candidates running to replace former Democratic nominee Graham Platner have spoken out against Immigration and Customs Enforcement since an agency-involved shooting killed a Colombian man in the state on Monday.
The top contenders, such as former Maine state Sen. Troy Jackson and former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Nirav Shah, openly called for abolishing ICE while attending an anti-ICE protest in Biddeford, where the man was shot. Jackson joined the protesters outside Sen. Susan Collins’s (R-ME) office in the city. The crowd chanted, “Vote her out!”
Collins, who is running for a sixth Senate term, will face the eventual Democratic nominee in November. Platner, who was the previous nominee, dropped out of the Senate race after he was hit with numerous domestic violence and rape allegations from several women.
Some of the potential challengers to Collins pointed to one of her past votes on ICE, making the argument that the Republican incumbent emboldened immigration officers by passing a $70 billion funding bill without any reforms earlier this year. Protesters raised this point as they entered her Biddeford office.
“We certainly don’t have to give them $70 billion to go around doing what they did here today and what they’ve done in Minnesota,” Jackson said of ICE.
“You don’t get a free pass because you say you’re law enforcement,” he added. “And that’s why it’s so important that whoever gets a seat is someone that actually is going to abolish ICE.”
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former congressional candidate Paige Loud were among those participating in the protest following the fatal shooting.
“This is at least the 11th fatal shooting involving ICE or Border Patrol under Trump,” Bellows posted on X. “It’s time to get ICE off our streets.”
Meanwhile, former Capitol Hill staffer Jordan Wood and Maine Beer Company founder Dan Kleban attended a vigil in honor of the deceased Colombian immigrant Monday night.
Taking a more centrist approach, Kleban said he is not in favor of abolishing ICE because “we need safe borders.” However, the business owner indicated he would not fund ICE without any reforms if he’s elected.
“This is not about border enforcement,” Kleban told the New York Times. “This is about intimidation.”
The next nominee will be decided by roughly 600 voting delegates at the Maine Democratic Party convention on July 25.
The victim was shot when he allegedly drove toward an ICE officer, according to the Department of Homeland Security. He was not the intended target of an arrest warrant during the immigration operation, Sen. Angus King’s office (I-ME) said based on information provided by Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin.
The victim’s friends and co-workers have confirmed his name is Joan Sebastian Guerrero, 26. Jackson shared a tribute to Guerrero on social media while criticizing Collins for “funding this terror.”
MAN KILLED BY ICE IN MAINE WAS NOT TARGET OF WARRANT, SEN. ANGUS KING SAYS
Many Maine politicians, including Collins, have called for an investigation into the shooting. The investigation is being led by the DHS inspector general’s office in coordination with the FBI.
This was the second fatal ICE-involved shooting in as many weeks. The last one occurred in Houston, Texas, where Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, allegedly attempted to run over federal law enforcement with his vehicle in the moments leading up to the shooting. Democrats were similarly upset about that incident as they were about the one in Maine.