Maine’s Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project Decries the Killing of Alex Pretti as the Second Week of ICE’s Operation in Maine Begins
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 26, 2026
CONTACT: press@ilapmaine.org
Maine – ILAP is devastated at the news of the killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis. Our hearts go out to Alex’s loved ones and the city of Minneapolis. We condemn the federal government’s brutal occupation of Minneapolis and send unwavering solidarity to the city’s immigrant communities and allies.
In Maine, we are entering the second week of ICE’s operation here. ILAP and partners are coordinating a round-the-clock legal response as Maine residents are abducted by ICE. ICE reports it has arrested more than 100 Maine residents in the operation so far.
ILAP’s Executive Director Sue Roche said: “There are not adequate words to describe how difficult the past week has been. In ILAP’s legal triage, we are seeing mostly people in lawful immigration processes with no criminal records being arrested. Many have been racially profiled and abducted from their cars off the street, and some have been targeted at home. ICE is stalking grocery stores and schools. The lack of due process or humanity in this enforcement operation is appalling.”
ILAP is leading a coordinated effort, along with the ACLU of Maine, Refugee and Human Rights Clinic at Maine School of Law, and The Habeas Project of Massachusetts, to file emergency habeas petitions and bond motions to try to secure the freedom of Maine residents swept up in the ICE operation. As of Monday, January 26, ILAP has received requests for emergency legal help from more than 60 people arrested in the operation. So far in the legal response, federal judges have issued 8 emergency orders blocking ICE from transferring individuals arrested in Maine.
At least eight Maine residents taken by ICE in the operation have been transferred to Louisiana. One man reported to his family that he is in a group of approximately 100 men, sleeping in tents next to or on an active tarmac. They each have one blanket and very little food. ICE agents are harassing and coercing them to self-deport to end the suffering, pointing at the tarmac. Lawyers are not able to communicate with the men held there.
ILAP urges the loved ones of people arrested in Maine to reach out to ILAP for legal help immediately here: https://ilapmaine.org/detention. We urge community partners to continue circulating information about legal help, and to assist impacted families in filling out the intake form.
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