ICE’s own investigators face scrutiny after fatal shootings by agents

Fatal shootings by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, Houston and Biddeford, Maine, have pushed Homeland Security Investigations, ICE’s own investigative arm, into the center of a conflict-of-interest fight over who can credibly review deadly force by immigration agents.

HSI sits inside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and investigates crimes with an international or immigration nexus, including human trafficking, drug smuggling and child exploitation. ICE says the unit has more than 10,000 employees, including about 6,700 special agents, and works in more than 200 cities. The Brennan Center calls HSI the second-largest federal investigative agency. Its handbooks and policy documents show a broad mission that can reach surveillance and other enforcement activity beyond traditional immigration cases.

A January 2026 House Oversight Democrats report named two U.S. citizens fatally shot by federal immigration agents that month: Renée Nicole Macklin Good on January 7 and Alex Jeffrey Pretti on January 24. In Biddeford, Joan Sebastian Guerrero was a recent victim. A family friend said he left behind a wife, a 3-year-old child and a sister.

NBC News counted 14 people shot by federal immigration agents from September 2025 through February 2026, while other counts place the total at 16, 19, 23 or more during President Donald Trump’s second term. In September 2025, FBI, HSI and ATF officials briefed on a shooting at an ICE facility.

Some HSI agents have pushed to break away from ICE because the ICE brand has created backlash and hurt their work in joint drug operations. An FBI agent who tried to investigate an ICE officer in a Minneapolis shooting later resigned.