US border tsar says vetting of ICE officer is under internal review after Maine shooting

US President Donald Trump’s border tsar said on 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 Associated Press that he had a history of serious mental health struggles and violent behaviour.

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 US without current legal status.

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