Homan Announces Review of ICE Vetting Process After Maine Shooting Allegations Surface

White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday that the Department of Homeland Security is reviewing Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s officer vetting procedures following reports that an agent involved in a fatal shooting in Maine had a prior history of violent behavior.

Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Homan addressed allegations against the officer linked to the July 13 incident in Biddeford, in which Colombian national Johan Sebastián Duran Guerrero, 25, was fatally shot during an immigration enforcement encounter. The Department of Homeland Security has not publicly identified the agent, but media reports, citing the officer’s former wife Ashley Brouillette, named David Brouillette, an Army veteran and former Veterans Affairs police officer hired by ICE in recent months.

According to those accounts, Brouillette’s two former wives have accused him of domestic abuse. One alleged incident involved throwing boiling water while she held their young child. Court records also indicated a judge had previously ordered him to surrender firearms. Homan did not confirm the officer’s identity but stated that such a history, if substantiated, should have barred the individual from employment.

“If those are facts, I don’t think he should have ever cleared vetting,” Homan said. “If this person had that type of history, it would have been a vetting issue, and it should have been brought to the attention of those who make those decisions.” He added that investigators are examining whether the information was available during the hiring process or whether the screening failed to surface it.

Homan described the matter as the subject of both a criminal investigation into the shooting itself and a separate administrative review by ICE’s internal affairs section focused on the vetting and hiring process. He also noted that agent training is under review. While defending the agency’s overall standards, Homan characterized the case as rare among ICE’s roughly 30,000 employees, all of whom undergo background checks.

The shooting has drawn protests in Maine, with demonstrators demanding greater transparency from federal authorities. Guerrero’s family has stated he held legal work authorization at the time of the encounter. The incident occurs amid a broader expansion of ICE operations and hiring under the Trump administration’s intensified immigration enforcement efforts, which has prompted questions from some former officials and lawmakers about the thoroughness of accelerated recruitment.

Homan emphasized that any confirmed history of violence would represent a failure in the screening process that must be addressed. The ongoing reviews are expected to determine whether changes to ICE’s hiring protocols are warranted and whether additional information about the officer’s background was overlooked or unavailable at the time of his employment.