Senators demand ICE answers and body cameras after 2 fatal shootings in
Maine and Houston
[July 21, 2026]
By REBECCA SANTANA
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dozens of Democratic U.S. senators and the Independent
senator from Maine pushed for more details Monday from Immigration and
Customs Enforcement about the agency's vetting practices for new agents
and how officers conduct vehicle pursuits, even as they demanded that
body cameras be swiftly rolled out to all officers.
The demands came in a letter spearheaded by Maine's Independent Sen.
Angus King, signed by 38 Democratic senators and sent to the Department
of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE. The demands follow two deadly
shootings in which ICE officers shot and killed immigrants in Houston
and Maine.
The Associated Press reported last week that the ICE officer in Maine
who opened fire and killed a man from Colombia had a history of violent
behavior toward family members that was detailed in family court
records.
His first ex-wife, Ashley Brouillette, told AP he was physically violent
with her, including once throwing boiling water at her while she was
holding their child.
His second ex-wife, Lucinda Brouillette, sent a statement over the
weekend alleging “a persistent pattern of abuse, intimidation,
manipulation, fear, and control.”
“Throughout our marriage and in the years that followed, I have feared
for a long time that his anger, aggression, and escalating behavior
would eventually result in severe, life threatening violence, and I
often believed I would be the one on the receiving end of it,” she
wrote.
Hundreds of pages of family court documents describe their turbulent
marriage, and the years after. Lucinda Brouillette told the court he had
stalked and harassed her and physically and verbally abused his
daughter, according to multiple requests for temporary protection
orders. Brouillette tackled his teenage daughter and smashed spaghetti
in her hair, and during another outburst, he dragged his daughter around
the house as she cried, she said.
“Dave needs counseling or something for his PTSD & depression,” she
wrote in an application for a temporary protective order on behalf of
his teenage daughter which a judge granted in 2021.
In court filings, David Brouillette said that his second ex-wife had
slandered him.
Multiple family members told the AP the government should have never
given him a gun, badge and the authority to patrol city streets as the
Trump administration ramps up its mass deportation agenda.
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Blood is seen on the pavement near the scene of a shooting involving
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Monday, July 13, 2026 in
Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
The senators' letter on Monday listed new measures to increase
accountability at the agency, including transparency about whether
ICE considers records from family court of domestic violence or
abuse when vetting new recruits.
"We remain supportive of removing dangerous convicted criminals from
our communities, but this goal can and must be achieved without
endangering these very communities in the process. By no stretch
could either of the victims in Texas and Maine be characterized as
‘the worst of the worst,’ making these tragic deaths even more
egregious," the senators wrote. “The American people deserve clarity
and accountability.”
They said ICE should immediately start wearing uniforms or vests
that clearly identify them as “ICE” instead of the more generic
“POLICE” or “POLICE ICE.” Civil rights groups and advocates have
often criticized ICE for not wearing uniforms or clear
identification on their ballistics vests identifying them as
deportation officers.
Senators also demanded to know what changes were being made to how
officers conduct traffic stops and vehicle pursuits.
The shootings in Maine and Houston both involved ICE officers
shooting at people who were in vehicles at the time. In the wake of
the Maine shooting, Homeland Security temporarily stopped officers
from conducting vehicle stops except in specific situations. But
just a day later, after fierce criticism from some MAGA supporters,
President Donald Trump said on social media that traffic stops
should continue.
Homeland Security said last week that it was adding new training in
crowd-control measures, high-risk vehicle stops, live-fire exercises
and medical training, in response to what they called coordinated
attacks against their officers and ICE facilities.
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