ILAP Testimony In Support of LD 2106: An Act to Prohibit the Disclosure of Nonpublic Records Without Proper Judicial Review

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Good afternoon, Chair Carney, Chair Kuhn, Bill Sponsor Sato, and members of the Judiciary Committee. My name is Lisa Parisio, and I am here today from the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, or ILAP, in support of LD 2106.

I.  About ILAP:

ILAP is Maine’s only statewide immigration legal services organization. As such, ILAP has a unique bird’s eye view over the impact of federal immigration policy on Maine’s residents, communities, and our state as a whole.

II. Federal Policy Limiting Immigration Enforcement At Certain Sensitive Locations Has Been In Place For Decades Across Republican And Democratic Administrations:

For decades, across both Democratic and Republican administrations, versions of federal policy has been in place limiting immigration enforcement at certain locations, including schools, hospitals, places of worship, and more, with narrow exceptions. This includes the Clinton administration,¹ George W. Bush administration,² Obama administration,³ first Trump administration,⁴ and Biden administration.⁵

Such policies have been in place because of the overwhelming public health and safety interests at stake when people cannot access these institutions, far outweighing the need to conduct immigration enforcement at these locations. These interests include ensuring:

  • Trust and safety in public institutions and services;

  • That all children can receive an education as well as the other stability and care that school provides; and

  • That all people can seek medical care and that important public health information is freely shared.

III. LD 2106 Works Towards Restoring The Public Health And Safety Lost in Maine Due To The End of Longstanding Federal Policy:

One of the first actions of the current federal administration was to eliminate the longstanding federal policy on sensitive locations. Currently, immigration enforcement is permitted at places like schools and hospitals.⁶ In September 2025, immigration officers arrested a parent in an elementary school driveway in Portland, an action that sent shockwaves across the community and state.⁷

While Maine does not have the authority as a state to categorically end immigration enforcement at these locations, LD 2106 will bring Maine closer to previous longstanding public policy and address the public health and other fallouts that are actively happening across our communities. Requiring immigration officers to obtain a valid judicial warrant before entering private spaces or trying to obtain information held at schools, hospitals and healthcare facilities, libraries, and childcare facilities would ensure that a justifiable and lawful reason exists to conduct enforcement at these places.

Importantly, LD 2106 will also provide guidance and clarity to leadership and staff at these institutions about what to do if ICE seeks to enter and conduct enforcement or obtain information without a valid judicial warrant. Since the November 2024 election, ILAP has received incredibly numerous, ongoing requests from Maine schools, healthcare facilities, and other institutions in need of information and instruction about how to prepare for ICE enforcement and LD 2106 will be responsive to that.

¹ Memorandum: Enforcement Activities at Schools, Places of Worship, or at Funerals or Other Religious Ceremonies, (May 17, 1993), https://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/policy/10029.1_EnforcementActivitiesSchoolsPlacesWorship_05.17.1993.pdf.

² Memorandum: Enforcement Actions at Schools, (December 26, 2007), https://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/policy/10029_EnforcementActionsSchool_12.26.2007.pdf; Memorandum: Field Guidance on Enforcement Actions or Investigative Activities at or Near Sensitive Community Locations, (July 3, 2008), https://www.aila.org/aila-files/66F1AEF1-A758-4979-9B52-40FEC0A344B0/10102632.pdf.

³ Memorandum: Enforcement Actions at or Focused on Sensitive Locations, (October 24, 2011), https://www.ice.gov/doclib/ero-outreach/pdf/10029.2-policy.pdf.

⁴ Q&A: DHS Implementation of the Executive Order on Border Security and Immigration Enforcement, (Feb. 21, 2017), https://www.dhs.gov/archive/news/2017/02/21/qa-dhs-implementation-executive-order-border-security-and-immigration-enforcement.

⁵ Memorandum: Guidelines for Enforcement Actions in or Near Protected Areas, (Oct. 27, 2021), https://www.ice.gov/doclib/news/guidelines-civilimmigrationlaw10272021.pdf.

⁶ Memorandum: Enforcement Actions in or Near Projected Areas (January 20, 2025), https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2025-03/25_0120_S1_enforcement-actions-in-near-protected-areas.pdf.

⁷ ICE arrest of parent near Portland school prompts concern from officials, families, Portland Press Herald, (Sept. 12, 2025), https://www.pressherald.com/2025/09/12/detention-of-parent-near-portland-school-is-traumatic-for-community-board-chair-says/.

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