Blumenthal & Robert Garcia Demand DHS Provide Documents, Information About Tragic Killings in Texas & Maine at the Hands of ICE Agents

[WASHINGTON, DC] - Following the shooting deaths of two people by federal immigration agents within the last week, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and U.S. Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA) wrote Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin demanding information about how the Department of Homeland Security's policies may have led to these tragic killings.

Blumenthal, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), and Garcia, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, opened an inquiry last year into the lawless and abusive tactics used by federal immigration agents.

"While new facts continue to emerge about both incidents, they seem to follow the same pattern as the murders of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel recklessly firing their weapons and causing avoidable losses of life. And, once again, DHS appears to be responding by issuing false statements about the circumstances surrounding these killings," Blumenthal and Garcia wrote.

"These incidents raise questions about whether ICE has implemented changes the Trump Administration previously committed to-such as requiring officers to wear body cameras-and how ICE is using the massive funding that Congress appropriated to it. This latest wave of brutality coincides with an apparent surge in immigration enforcement efforts and also raises concerns about whether you have taken any steps to pursue the "better approach" to immigration enforcement that you committed to before being confirmed earlier this year."

Over the last year, Blumenthal and Garcia have hosted several public forums featuring testimony from people who have been assaulted by federal immigration officers following traffic stops - like Arnoldo Bazan and Martin Daniel Rascon - or shot at while driving - like Marimar Martinez. Blumenthal and Garcia also hosted a forum at which Luke and Brent Ganger, the brothers of Renee Nicole Macklin Good who was shot and killed in her car, gave their first public remarks.

The full text of the letter is available here and copied below.

Dear Secretary Mullin,

We write regarding the shocking deaths of two individuals at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents within the last week. While new facts continue to emerge about both incidents, they seem to follow the same pattern as the murders of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel recklessly firing their weapons and causing avoidable losses of life. And, once again, DHS appears to be responding by issuing false statements about the circumstances surrounding these killings. These incidents raise questions about whether ICE has implemented changes the Trump Administration previously committed to-such as requiring officers to wear body cameras-and how ICE is using the massive funding that Congress appropriated to it.^[1] This latest wave of brutality coincides with an apparent surge in immigration enforcement efforts and also raises concerns about whether you have taken any steps to pursue the "better approach" to immigration enforcement that you committed to before being confirmed earlier this year.^[2] The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (House Oversight) are conducting an ongoing inquiry into ICE's continuing abuses, and-consistent with your pledges when confirmed-we request that you immediately provide information and records regarding these tragedies.

In the last week, ICE officers have shot and killed individuals in traffic stops in both Texas and Maine. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a father of three who had lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years and worked as a home builder, was killed on July 7 in Houston.^[3] DHS quickly asserted he had rammed an ICE vehicle and "weaponized" his white work van "in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer."^[4] Not only have the three witnesses traveling with Mr. Araujo refuted these claims, but they have stated that Mr. Araujo was shot through an open window while driving.^[5] DHS's contentions are further contradicted by a lack of damage to his vehicle and by video evidence.^[6] On July 13, Joan Sebastian Guerrero was shot while driving in Maine.^[7] Reports indicate that he was 26, from Colombia, and authorized to work in the United States.^[8] DHS released a statement claiming that Mr. Guerrero's "vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon," a claim which again appears to contradict the emerging evidence.^[9]

If DHS misconstruing the facts of these deaths sounds eerily familiar, it's because the recent lies are almost verbatim the same untruths DHS issued immediately following the death of Renée Good, when they falsely labeled her an aggressor engaged in domestic terrorism.^[10] These incidents are also consistent with the pattern of consistently excessive force and disregard for basic policing norms that has been a hallmark of the second Trump Administration's federal immigration policies. Over the last eight months, we have convened four bicameral spotlight forums with American citizens who had been detained by DHS agents, subject to excessive force at the hands of DHS agents, had agents burst into their homes without warrants, and seen DHS repeatedly exhibit reckless disregard for children's welfare.^[11] The witnesses have detailed lies similar to those ICE continues to peddle here. Montessori school teacher Marimar Martinez, who detailed her shock at DHS labeling her a domestic terrorist after an agent baselessly shot her five times, remarked that on Friday she "was teaching the young children at the Montessori school and we were singing and dancing" when "on Saturday my own Government was calling me a 'domestic terrorist' and I was in a federal detention center with bullet holes all over my body."^[12] Another American citizen, Andrea Velez, spoke about how ICE detained her for days and falsely accused her of assaulting an ICE agent, only to drop those charges two days later for lack of evidence.^[13]

These recent killings also highlight DHS's continued delays in providing body cameras to ICE agents despite ample funding. In the wake of the deaths of Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti, your predecessor promised in February 2026 that DHS would rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras to DHS law enforcement across the country.^[14] This initiative was needed given that, as of March 2026, less than a quarter of ICE agents had body cameras despite the agency's massive increase in funding.^[15] But, despite that promise five months ago, none of the agents involved in the incidents in Texas or Maine were reportedly equipped with body cameras.^[16]

DHS agents also apparently continue to engage in the reckless act of shooting at moving vehicles. This is contrary to basic policing practice: the police departments of all the 25 largest cities in the United States have policies that generally prohibit firing at moving vehicles.^[17] This prohibition is about protecting human life, as (among many reasons) errant bullets can hit innocent bystanders.^[18] Indeed, the idea that an ICE officer shot at a moving vehicle in Maine when "fearing for public safety" would suggest a fundamental flaw in ICE's training, as shooting at a moving vehicle would almost certainly create a much greater public safety hazard.^[19] That this agent was a new ICE recruit also raises yet again troubling questions concerning the haphazard training ICE gives agents before placing them in the field, an issue highlighted by whistleblower Ryan Schwank at the February 23, 2026 spotlight forum we convened.^[20]

We continue to hope that we will see the "better approach" you promised to immigration enforcement. These two shootings, DHS agents' failure to use body cameras, and DHS's statements regarding these incidents unfortunately seem like more of the same. Indeed, your decision to pause ICE vehicle stops nationwide followed by President Trump's immediate rescission of that policy is, if anything, a worse approach than what came before.^[21] To assist PSI and House Oversight in its ongoing inquiry into DHS's continuing abuses, please provide the following information by July 30, 2016:

1. Is ICE currently undertaking a surge in immigration enforcement in particular areas in the United States? If so, please identify the locations where that surge is taking place and when it began.
2. Please identify any policies, procedures, or other changes you have initiated as part of your "better approach" to immigration enforcement.
3. Please provide a detailed list of all incidents since January 20, 2025, in which an ICE agent discharged a firearm, including the date, location, and justification for this use of force.
4. Does DHS have any policies regarding firing at moving vehicles? Has it revised or reviewed those policies in the wake of the killing of Renée Good?
5. When does DHS expect that every agent will be provided a body camera?
6. Has DHS provided agents with clear guidance on body camera activation protocols? Please describe the form of that guidance in detail, including when it was most recently revised and how it was provided to DHS agents.
7. Has DHS updated its use of force guidelines since January 1, 2026, or does it have any present plans to review and update its use of force guidelines? Please describe in detail the steps and timeline for any planned review.

In addition, please produce the following records^[22] by July 30, 2016, and update the production on a rolling basis every two weeks thereafter:

1. All records, including communications,^[23] regarding DHS's policy for the use and activation of body cameras;
2. All records, including communications, regarding DHS's policies or guidance concerning discharging firearms at moving vehicles;
3. All records regarding the shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo; and
4. All records regarding the shooting of Joan Sebastian Guerrero.

Please contact Subcommittee staff should you have any questions about responding to this request. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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1. Immigration