Biddeford Residents Rally After Federal Immigration Officer Shoots Colombian Man

A federal immigration officer fatally shot a Colombian man in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday. The incident triggered vigils and protests near the Saco River bridges where residents had blocked a Ku Klux Klan march in 1924. Mayor Liam LaFountain said the city's history continues to shape its identity.

"We're a proud immigrant city that was built by our immigrants," he said in a phone interview Tuesday. The Klan had targeted immigrant communities including French Canadians, Italians, Poles, Greeks, and Lithuanians, as well as Catholic and Jewish residents, according to the Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center.

Mayor Edward Drapeau, the son of Canadian immigrants, publicly warned the group to stay out. Residents and police gathered at the bridges, and the marchers turned back.

II said Biddeford has long welcomed immigrants and newcomers. "We are a city that has welcomed immigrants, that has welcomed newcomers, that has been a refuge for people who were 'the other,' and that's something I think is a really proud part of our history," he said Tuesday.

LaFountain noted that new immigrants have arrived in the city over the past decade. "We've seen in the last 10 years a lot of new immigrants arriving in Biddeford and making it their home," he said. " City Councilor Abigail Woods said the community's response reflected its longstanding sense of mutual support.

"We show up for each other. We support each other, and we've definitely seen that in the last day," she said Tuesday. Biddeford has a population of roughly 22,500 and sits about 20 miles south of Portland. Census data show the city is predominantly white, with a median household income of about $72,300 and about 3.5 percent of residents born outside the United States.