This article originally appeared on Maine Morning Star
Hundreds in force, Mainers rallied this weekend against the Trump administration’s immigration operation in the state, decrying the arrests of their neighbors and recognizing those afraid to leave their homes who couldn’t join in protest.
Since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement heightened its presence in Maine on Tuesday, the agency said it has arrested at least 100 people but provided few specifics, as public officials have called for transparency, to no avail.
Community organizers, faith leaders, business owners, political officials and candidates at protests in Portland and Lewiston demanded accountability, pointing to the known detentions of at least several people with permission to work in the U.S. and no criminal records.
Others shared personal stories and the anguish of loved ones who are afraid to leave their homes.
Usually filled with children doing their homework and laughing, the office of Generational Noor, a youth education nonprofit in Lewiston, is now empty, said executive director Amran Osman.
“They’re scared to show up because they think that showing up to somewhere means that they might not make it home,” Osman said. “No child should have to feel this way.”
Safiya Khalid, executive director of the Community Organizing Alliance, a Lewiston-based group boosting civic engagement among Black and immigrant communities, said her phone is filled with requests for help.
A friend afraid to drive into work. Another in need of food, fearful they’ll be picked up outside the store. Detentions in both scenarios have already been documented in Maine.
“But at the same time,” human rights activist Faisal Khan told Maine Morning Star, “more and more people are waking up; more and more people are speaking out, not only in protest but really showing support to the marginalized communities that are being targeted right now.”
While many comments at rallies were targeted calls to get ICE out of Maine, speeches were also filled with gratitude for how community members have stepped up.
“There is an effort in this country to define who belongs and who does not… to convince people that if it is not happening to them, it is not their problem,” Khalid said. “But here is what they miscalculated: they underestimated community.
They underestimated neighbors who will drive each other to work. They underestimated networks that would deliver groceries. They underestimated people who refused to look away.”
In Portland Friday night, passing cars honked incessantly amid the chants of the roughly 1,000 people gathered in Monument Square, where speakers demanded justice for Minneapolis resident Renee Good and others killed by federal agents, before marching down Congress Street, stopping traffic.
The next morning in Minneapolis, federal immigration officers shot another U.S citizen.
On Saturday afternoon, about 500 people gathered inside the Agora Event Center in Lewiston, many taking to the podium to condemn that latest killing, while equally as many people marched outside in solidarity in single digit temperatures.
Other actions were held across the state, including about 60 people who lined the streets of Saco, and dozens more who protested South Portland.
Pointed critiques and calls to action
In a statement condemning the recent killing, Gov. Janet Mills said she requested a meeting with President Donald Trump to demand in-person that his administration “withdraw these untrained and reckless ICE agents in Maine and across the country who are stoking fear in communities, arresting legally present people, including law enforcement officials, and who pose a grave threat to public safety.”
Mills also called on Congress to immediately bring Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem before them for a public hearing and to cut off further funding for ICE “until their lawless tactics and dangerous behavior cease.”
Some who rallied in Lewiston and Portland criticized Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden for voting for a spending package Thursday after many other Democrats rejected it, objecting to funding the Department of Homeland Security amid aggressive immigration enforcement.
Others directed their anger toward Republican U.S. Sen Susan Collins.
Democrat Troy Jackson, gubernatorial candidate and former president of the Maine Senate, said, “I hear all the time about the supposed power and influence of U.S. Senator Susan Collins. Well, Senator Collins, this would be a great time to use it.”
Graham Platner, the oysterman trying to unseat Collins, called on current Maine leaders to do more.
Platner criticized Mills for delaying her decision on a forthcoming law that will restrict local police from cooperating with ICE. State and local police already couldn’t enforce immigration laws, which are a federal matter, however local authorities have contributed to immigration arrests in Maine, including through traffic stops and 911 calls.
While the Maine Legislature passed it last year, Mills let it become law without signature earlier this month, making it so it can’t take effect until the summer. Maine State Police, however, is already following the law. Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck issued a directive last month that essentially implemented its underlying policies.
Democratic State Rep. Ambureen Rana of Bangor also called out Mills during the rally in Portland, arguing that fear of government retaliation for the law was regarded above “the terror that immigrants in our community face day-to-day.”
Immigration authorities and state Republicans have pointed to that law when defending the surge of immigration enforcement in Maine.
“Every elected official is complicit,” Rana said, “and they must be held accountable. They must be pushed. They must be swayed and brought along in this movement.”
Other calls for action came from Jackson, who said the state needs to create more accessible systems of accountability, such as a civil rights and legal action team. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat who is also running for governor, said the state ought to use the documented evidence of ICE’s actions so far to hold the agency accountable.
And another Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Hannah Pingree, called on governors and attorneys general across the country to file suit every single time the Constitution is violated by ICE.
Lauren McCauley contributed to this reporting.
Maine Morning Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maine Morning Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lauren McCauley for questions: info@mainemorningstar.com.
