PORTLAND, Maine – In the midst of a highly watched Senate race, the state’s top Republican and Democratic figures are expressing sharply contrasting views. This comes as an influx of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents boosts arrest numbers.
Democratic Governor Janet Mills has openly challenged ICE, demanding judicial warrants, real-time arrest data, and fundamental details about the individuals being detained within Maine.
Mills has also pressed her Republican opponent, Senator Susan Collins, to take action after the GOP-led House blocked Democratic attempts to reduce ICE funding.
“Let’s be clear: Maine will not be bullied, and we will not tolerate the reckless actions ICE has resorted to,” Mills declared on Friday.
Senator Collins, however, refrained from directly criticizing ICE’s methods. She emphasized that ICE should not target individuals who are in the country legally. Collins believes that initiatives she supports, such as equipping ICE agents with body cameras and providing de-escalation training, could enhance accountability and public trust.
As protests against ICE were announced for Friday in Maine’s major cities, Collins advised demonstrators to refrain from obstructing ICE operations.
“There are people in Maine and elsewhere who have entered this country illegally and who have engaged in criminal activity,” Collins said in a statement. “They could be subject to arrest and deportation pursuant to the laws of the United States, and people who are exercising the right to peacefully gather and protest their government should be careful not to interfere with law enforcement efforts while doing so.”
Mills’ run for Collins’ seat could ultimately help determine the balance of the Senate. Mills, who is termed out as governor, must first beat oyster farmer Graham Platner, whose outsider campaign is endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, in the Democratic primary. Platner has strongly condemned ICE’s surge in Maine, and posted a video on social media Friday offering step-by-step advice on how to resist.
“Over the past couple days, ICE’s operations are clearly rounding up people who are legally in the state of Maine,” Platner said in the Facebook reel. “I’m sick and tired of hearing that legally there is nothing that law enforcement in Maine can do to protect citizens from these thugs.”
ICE says ‘Operation Catch of the Day’ has about 1,400 targets
The enforcement action began Tuesday and has succeeded in removing dangerous criminals from the community, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to media on Thursday.
Some of the more than 100 arrests were of people “convicted of horrific crimes including aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and endangering the welfare of a child,” McLaughlin said.
The detentions in Maine, a mostly rural state where about 4% of the 1.4 million residents are foreign-born, have sparked anxiety in Portland and Lewiston, which are home to sizable immigrant and refugee populations, particularly from African nations.
Community leaders say that just like in other U.S. cities where the agency has surged forces, some families are staying indoors, avoiding work and keeping children home from school for fear of arrest.
Roofer says ICE agent threatened his family
Cristian Vaca, an immigrant from Ecuador who lives in Biddeford, said ICE agents repeatedly threatened him Wednesday outside his home, where the 28-year-old roofer lives with his wife and young son.
“I’m here legally. I came here in September 2023,” Vaca said, citing his family’s safety and economic opportunity as reasons for the move.
Speaking to The Associated Press in Spanish through a translator, Vaca said he was sitting on his couch when he noticed agents taking photos outside.
Vaca said he has a U.S. Social Security number, a work permit and pays income taxes. A video Vaca took shows an ICE agent speaking to him through his closed front door.
Before turning away, the agent says, “We’re going to come back for your whole family, okay?” A child’s voice can be heard in the background.
Protest organizers plan gathering in Portland’s Monument Square
Organizers announced more demonstrations, one planned for Friday evening in downtown Portland. A small group of demonstrators also gathered Thursday afternoon and again Friday morning outside an ICE field office in Scarborough.
“Maine is one of those places where you look out for your neighbors and everyone’s there,” said one of the Scarborough demonstrators, college student Ava Gleason. “We’re a community, and to see people come in and rip apart a community is freaking terrifying.”
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Willingham reported from Boston.
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