Maine shooting adds to growing immigration enforcement death toll

Map: Axios Visuals

Johan Sebastián Guerrero, who was shot to death in Maine, is the latest in a string of people killed by federal immigration authorities since President Trump launched a nationwide immigration crackdown in his second term.

The big picture: Federal officers have been involved in a string of violent encounters with motorists, protestors and bystanders as Trump's harsh immigration tactics collide with public backlash.

Driving the news: Guerrero in Maine and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston were killed by federal immigration officers just days apart.

Both men were in their cars when they were killed, as were at least three others killed by federal agents.

Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero

ICE was observing the last known home of someone who had a final order of removal Monday, per the Department of Homeland Security, when a vehicle departed the house. An officer shot and hit the driver "fearing for public safety."

Immigrant advocacy groups said Guerrero was authorized to work in the U.S. and had a Social Security number.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement that federal officers "are facing a more than 1,300% increase in vehicle attacks."

Video evidence in some fatal encounters appears to contradict federal officials' initial claims that the victims had used their vehicles to attack officers.

Friction point: "ICE needs to be fundamentally reformed, and if not, then it is time to abolish it," Maine Gov. Janet Mills wrote in a Wednesday letter to Maine's congressional delegation.

The officers involved in the shooting were not wearing body cameras, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) said.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo

Longtime Houston resident Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot after ICE agents stopped his vehicle as part of a "targeted enforcement operation," per DHS.

The three men traveling with Salgado Araujo when he was shot disputed DHS' account that he had "weaponized his vehicle" against an officer.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) said DHS told her Salgado Araujo was not the intended target of the operation. The agency told Axios that a passenger "resembled the target."

Alex Pretti

Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse and American citizen, was shot and killed by Border Patrol on a Minneapolis street in January.

DHS came under intense scrutiny for its claim that Pretti, who was carrying a concealed firearm but did not attempt to brandish it, intended to "massacre law enforcement."

Renee Good

An ICE officer shot and also killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother, during the Minneapolis surge in January.

DHS accused Good of weaponizing her car. But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called that account of the incident, which was caught on video, "bullshit." Her killing sparked mass protests.

Federal authorities recently handed over a trove of evidence from Good's and Pretti's killings to Minnesota investigators after months of stonewalling.

Silverio Villegas-González

Villegas-González was shot and killed in a Chicago suburb last year.

DHS said he hit and dragged an ICE officer with his car.

But after a review of video footage, in which the Illinois Accountability Commission determined agents shot Villegas-González "without apparent justification", local police launched a probe into the incident.

Ruben Ray Martinez

Martinez, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen, was shot and killed by an agent in Texas in March 2025, but the details of his death were not reported until long after, when internal incident records were revealed.

Martinez failed to follow instructions from law enforcement directing traffic, an internal report said, before eventually slowing down, accelerating and "striking" an agent.

But body camera footage reviewed by CBS News showed that his vehicle appeared to be moving very slowly, or was stopped, when shots rang out.

Go deeper: ICE deaths continue to climb in 2026