Border Czar: ICE Vetting Under Review  07/27 06:22

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump's border czar said Sunday that the 
vetting of an immigration officer involved in the deadly shooting of a 
Colombian native in Maine is under internal review after relatives revealed to 
The Associated Press that he had a history of serious mental health struggles 
and violent behavior.

   Tom Homan said if the allegations against the Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement officer are true, "I don't think he should ever have cleared 
vetting."

   "There's several things under review," Homan said on CNN about the officer, 
Army veteran David Brouillette. "The training is under review. I know this 
specific case, as far as the vetting, is under review by the internal affairs 
section."

   Questions about the Department of Homeland Security's rush to hire, train 
and deploy thousands of new ICE officers to carry out Trump's immigration 
crackdown have come into stark focus after back-to-back fatal shootings of 
immigrants in Maine and Houston.

   Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin ordered a pause in vehicle 
stops after the fatal Maine shooting, but Trump almost immediately reversed 
course and insisted the stops resume as a necessary tool in his campaign to 
round up and deport immigrants who are in the U.S. without current legal status.

   Homeland Security did not immediately respond Sunday to a request for 
comment about the internal review.

   ICE issues new requirement for body-worn cameras during vehicle stops

   Homan said that "changes have been made" and that acting ICE director David 
Venturella has issued a new directive that body-worn cameras must be in use if 
officers make a vehicle stop.

   "Right now, on all vehicle stops, there's at least one body camera on site 
to record the entire event," he said.

   He said Venturella "sent an instruction out that he wants at least one body 
camera on those vehicle stops, so we have everything on video."

   It's unclear if the steps that the department is taking will be enough to 
quell the concerns coming from certain lawmakers in Congress over Homeland 
Security's training and tactics as tries to reach Trump's mass deportation 
goals.

   Lawmakers push for answers but have more questions

   Lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns.

   Democrats pressed ICE officials during a closed-door briefing for the House 
Homeland Security Committee last week, leaving some with more questions than 
answers.

   Lawmakers were told during the briefing that there have been 56 complaints 
of excessive force against ICE officers -- 32 were cleared, and one was 
referred for disciplinary action.

   No discipline had yet been handed out, the lawmakers said they were told. 
The rest of the incidents are still under investigation.

   Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, chair of the powerful Senate 
Appropriations Committee, has pushed for the use of body-worn cameras and 
ensured funding for the effort. She had said it was "extremely unfortunate" 
that the officer involved in the shooting in her home state was not using a 
camera.

   Homeland Security is under scrutiny but also faces pressure to increase 
deportations

   The Trump administration has failed to meet its goal of deporting 1 million 
people a year, despite an intense immigration enforcement crackdown that has 
resulted in violent scenes in cities nationwide.

   At least 10 people have died in encounters with immigration officers since 
the start of Trump's mass deportation campaign.

   While the Trump administration insists it is targeting the "worst of the 
worst" criminals, that has not always been the result and American citizens 
also have been among the deaths.

   The ICE officer shot 25-year-old Johan Sebastin Durn Guerrero, a Colombian 
national who was killed in his car near his home in the coastal city of 
Biddeford.

   In Houston, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was killed July 7 when ICE officers 
chased his white work van through the streets, then shot him through the window 
in front of his work crew, including his brother.

   Earlier this year, two Americans protesting ICE actions in Minneapolis, 
Renee Good and Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, were killed, sparking a 
backlash nationwide.

   Democrats launched the longest agency shutdown in history earlier this year 
when they refused to fund Homeland Security in a largely failed attempt to 
force the administration to impose various restraints on the officers.