07/14/2026
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A Response to the Latest ICE Shooting - Remembering Joan Sebastian Guerrero
"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." — Psalm 34:18
On Monday morning, Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old from Colombia, died in a shooting involving federal immigration officers on Pool Street in Biddeford, Maine. According to the Portland Press Herald, Mr. Guerrero was from Colombia, was authorized to work in the United States, and was on his way to work. Reports are coming in that Mr. Guerrero was not the man the agents were looking for. This ICE killing comes less than a week after ICE shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo of Houston Texas.
While accurate reports are still being gathered, what we do know is that yet another life has been lost that could have and should have been avoided. Another family is grieving a father, a partner, a son. A community is grappling with news that a frightening, violent, and deadly incident has unfolded on its streets, in the middle of what should have been a routine Monday morning in their coastal city of about 23,000 people. And yet again, a nation is confronted with actions from a government supported agency that run completely contrary to the principles and values upon which our country was formed.
In the hours since, hundreds of Biddeford neighbors have gathered in prayer, in grief, and in peaceful public witness, first at Mechanics Park and later at an evening vigil. Members of our faith community are already gathering to pray, organize, stand in the gap for our immigrant neighbors and more. Protests have been organized and concerned people have begun to mobilize demanding an accurate investigation so that justice can be felt, and truth can be known.
In these moments, the role of the church is critical and undeniably important. We can and should take the lead in helping people find ways to grieve together and to make their voices heard without violence, lest other harm be done.
We join the Governor, Maine’s congressional delegation, and local officials in calling for a full, fair, and transparent investigation, one conducted openly and shared plainly with the people of Biddeford, the state of Maine, and concerned citizens anywhere who can no longer tolerate actions that unjustly rob someone of their rights and their lives. Answers, when they come, should come from evidence, not assumption, and the people closest to this loss deserve to receive them first.
Most of all we grieve. Beloved community has been invaded once again by an act of unjust violence. We hold this family, this community, and all who gather this week, in prayer. We also believe, as people of faith, that truth matters, and grief deserves honesty. To that end, we call upon our elected officials to represent us with diligence and determination to bring an end to what is wrong and stand strong for what is right. As citizens of a nation that just a few days ago celebrated its commitment to liberty and justice for all (immigrant and native-born alike), we are once again left asking hard questions that demand truthful answers and searching for clear directions on how these sanctioned acts of violence will end immediately.
To our immigrant neighbors in Biddeford and across our New England and New York Annual Conferences: we see you and know that tragic events like this affect you in ways that many of us cannot comprehend. Yet, we are called upon to be people of compassion and care. Our congregations remain places of welcome and refuge. If you need someone to pray with, sit with, or simply listen, our United Methodist churches are here. Please do not fear or grieve alone. We stand with you.
This is a day for us to do what the church has always been called upon to do: pray, advocate, and act with the guiding principles of doing good, doing no harm, and always staying so much in love with God that we can do nothing less than love everyone as our neighbor.
To that end, we ask everyone in our churches and communities to hold the family of Joan Sebastian Guerrero, the people of Biddeford, and all who mourn or live in fear close to our hearts as they mourn, and as we together work tirelessly to seek answers and justice.
Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton
Resident Bishop
New Hope Episcopal Area
New England & New York Annual Conferences
