United States: Immigration police implicated in another fatal shooting

A person, identified by human rights groups as a 26-year-old Colombian, was killed Monday after a shooting involving agents of the federal immigration police (ICE) in the northeastern US state of Maine.

The incident, which took place in Biddeford, a small town of 22,000 people, comes a week after an ICE agent shot and killed a Mexican man in Texas, fueling anger against the agency tasked with implementing Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration.

Maine Governor Janet Mills stated that state police were working with federal authorities to determine the circumstances of the incident. The FBI announced it was investigating the matter.

A witness, Lucas Scott, told local media he heard at least four gunshots after seeing several ICE agents surround a white sedan Monday morning.

Two organizations, the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition and Presente Maine, which jointly identified the victim, indicated that the man was authorized to work in the United States.

"We will not allow this death to be reduced to a mere footnote in this administration's statistics," said Crystal Cron, executive director of Presente Maine.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, did not immediately comment.

Maine Senator Angus King told reporters he learned from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, with whom he spoke, that the victim was the subject of an arrest warrant related to his immigration status.

Mr. King called for a "full, transparent and open investigation".

Images of the scene in the media showed a security perimeter established in a residential street, with a forensic police vehicle parked next to a red tent.

Protesters opposed to ICE also gathered in the area.

"A person has died, and their loved ones and the people of our community deserve clear answers about what happened," said Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain in a statement.

"I understand the fear and uncertainty that an incident of this magnitude has caused in our city," he added.

Charged with implementing the mass deportation campaign desired by Donald Trump, ICE agents, heavily armed and most often masked, are the subject of criticism across the country because of their methods deemed aggressive, as well as after the shooting deaths of two American citizens in Minneapolis this year.