Border czar Tom Homan said on Sunday that authorities are reviewing Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE’s) vetting process following allegations that the officer who shot an illegal immigrant in Maine had a history of violent behavior.
In an interview with CNN’s State of the Union, Homan was asked about reports that the officer’s relatives have alleged he had a history of domestic violence and mental health issues.
Homan said the ICE officer should not have passed vetting if the claims against him are true.
Homan said the administration is reviewing the agency’s vetting process to determine whether there have been any failures.
“When they hire somebody, they put them through a vetting process and look at all that stuff. So I know, based on that information, that’s part of the ongoing investigation,” he said.
“Did the vetting process fail? Was that information not available? Did they not know?” he said. “So there’s a separate administrative investigation on what happened here.”
Homan said that ICE employs more than 30,000 personnel, all of whom undergo vetting before being hired. He said the officer’s case of passing the agency’s vetting despite his alleged history of domestic violence was “kind of a rare instance.”
“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 said.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the officer, whose identity has not been disclosed by the agency, opened fire out of concerns for public safety.
The shooting in Maine took place several days after an ICE-involved shooting of an illegal immigrant in Houston, officials said. Federal authorities said the Mexican national rammed an ICE vehicle, prompting an officer to open fire in self-defense.
“We must be strong, tough, and smart, and we CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!” Trump wrote in a July 15 post on Truth Social. “Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands.”
Some Democrats have criticized ICE in the wake of the shootings. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said in a July 21 post on Facebook that ICE should be abolished.