Members of Congress Travel to Biddeford to Conduct Field Hearing: “Seeking Justice in Biddeford: Oversight of ICE’s Use of Force in the Death of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 17, 2026
CONTACT: press@ilapmaine.org     

Biddeford, Maine – On August 17, House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson and other Members of the U.S. House of Representatives traveled to Biddeford to join Representative Pingree in an oversight hearing of ICE’s use of force and the killing of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero. Johan Sebastián was a young father, partner, brother, son, and neighbor. He was going about a normal day, on his way to work on Monday morning, July 13, when his life was suddenly and viciously taken by ICE.

 ILAP’s Executive Director Sue Roche was called as a witness in the oversight hearing. In her opening statement, Sue said:

 “Johan Sebastián’s death is a devastating tragedy, felt by his family, the Biddeford community, and all of Maine. It is also not an isolated incident, and it was not an accident. It is the direct and foreseeable result of deliberate federal policy choices, rooted in racism and dehumanization.

ICE is an imminent public safety threat and must get out of our communities now. The billions of dollars that have been appropriated to immigration enforcement are wholly unjustifiable. Congress should take all steps to defund and dismantle ICE and put those taxpayer dollars towards the public good.”

Read the full statement for the record here.