The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency of the United States is “reviewing” its recruitment and training protocols, following the death of two migrants in Texas and Maine, shot by agents, according to the White House.
Tom Homan, the White House official responsible for overseeing US borders, whom President Donald Trump has called the “border czar,” stated in an interview with CNN this Sunday that the review comes after it was revealed that the ICE agent who shot a Colombian migrant in Maine on July 13 had a violent past, according to his ex-wives, who questioned the federal agency’s recruitment process.
“ICE has about 30,000 employees. All go through a background check process. This is a rare case. But, I insist, the matter is being reviewed. There are several aspects being reviewed. Training is being reviewed,” Homan stated.
Even so, the official denied that ICE had made “mistakes,” despite the deaths this month of Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Aurajo, on July 7, in Texas, and Colombian national Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, on July 13, in Maine, after being shot by immigration agents.
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In addition, Mexican national Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán died in Florida, on July 14, after being run over by a truck while fleeing an ICE operation.
“I wouldn’t say, now that we’re evaluating some additional training, that mistakes were made. We’ll see. Everything is being reviewed. We’ll see how things turn out,” Homan argued.
As happened in January, following the operations in Minnesota, the three deaths in recent days have intensified demands from the Democratic Party and civil organizations for immigration agents to be required to use body cameras.
Homan also recalled that he is in favor of body cameras.
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Before these statements, the “border czar” had said last Monday that the migrants who died at the hands of immigration authorities “would be alive,” had they obeyed the orders of the agents who told them to stop.
These facts occur in a context of increasing detentions of immigrants in the United States – more than 43,000 were recorded in June – among those carried out by ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The June figure represents the highest number since the start of Donald Trump’s second term, in January 2025.
