The Golden Door: July 2026
Dear Community,
Our hearts are with the family, friends, and loved ones of Johan Sebastián, whose life was taken by ICE as he was on his way to work Monday morning, July 13th. For those who are looking for ways to support the family and show solidarity, you can find the official GoFundMe here.
We must clearly name that Johan Sebastián’s killing was the result of the Trump administration’s deliberately violent and racist mass deportation campaign. It was not an isolated incident, and it was not an accident.
At the same time, we know that it does not have to be this way. We can defund and dismantle ICE and get them out of our communities now. We can build a just and humane immigration system. We can create a pathway to citizenship for all who call this country home.
Keep organizing, keep fighting, and keep telling your elected officials that you will settle for no less than a Maine and a United States that is Home for All.
In solidarity,
ILAP Team
Action Alert: ICE Out of Maine!
July 29 was the implementation date for three new state laws that put in place some of the strongest protections possible at the state level to safeguard Maine’s people and resources from the administration’s indiscriminate and violent mass deportation agenda. They ensure that Maine’s state and local law enforcement are not entangled with ICE and work to keep Maine’s public institutions safer so that children can go to school, families can seek medical care, and everyone can access public safety resources. Read ILAP's full statement on what these laws do, and learn more about the campaign from our partners at the ACLU of Maine. Click below to sign up for action alerts to play your part in making sure these laws are fully implemented and upheld.
GET LEGAL HELP
Request help for someone detained by immigration officials:
ilapmaine.org/detention
Request help for other types of immigration legal cases in Maine:
ilapmaine.org/requestMeet with ILAP to get answers to quick immigration questions:
ilapmaine.org/request#meetKnow Your Rights:
aclumaine.org/preparingforice/Make a Family Preparedness Plan:
ilapmaine.org/prepare
Immigration Law & Policy Updates
ILAP is committed to helping our community make sense of immigration news and its impact. Below is a summary of some key immigration law and policy developments from the past few weeks. All updates are subject to rapid change.
ANNOUNCEMENT:
Maine's Members of Congress Begin Oversight Work Following Killing of Johan Sebastián
WHAT IT MEANS:
Maine's members of Congress have sent the following oversight letters to the Department of Homeland Security:
Temporary Protected Status for Haiti Ends
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) ended for Haiti on July 24, leaving hundreds of thousands of people across the country without work authorization or protection from deportation to Haiti's humanitarian crisis. A bill that would reinstate TPS protection for Haiti is pending in the Senate. It passed the House with bipartisan support. Learn more and take action here.
NOTE: For impacted people in Maine, learn more about ILAP’s walk in hours and how to request legal help here.
American Dream and Promise Act Discharge Petition Filed
On July 2, a discharge petition was filed in the House, which will force a vote on the American Dream and Promise Act if it gets 218 Congressional signatures. The American Dream and Promise Act would create a pathway to citizenship for up to 6 million undocumented youth, DACA recipients, and TPS holders.
Public Charge Rule Finalized
The Trump administration finalized a new public charge rule, giving U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) adjudicators broad discretion to deny green card applications based on public benefits use. The new rule will go into effect on September 18, 2026. Among other changes, it allows adjudicators to look back on any public benefits use in someone’s lifetime and to count the use of benefits by U.S. citizen children against a parent’s green card application. ILAP and partners across the U.S. staunchly opposed this rule, which will foreseeably result in people disenrolling from public benefits and not seeking new assistance to meet basic human needs.
Ahead of the July 29 implementation date, ILAP joined the ACLU of Maine, Maine Equal Justice, and the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition at a July 28 news conference. On Maine Public, Executive Director Sue Roche spoke to both the reach and the limits of the new laws, noting that while Maine cannot bar a federal agency like ICE, the state can "maximize the tools and protections" available to it at the state and local level. The laws were covered across Maine outlets:
Portland Press Herald: New law limits state and local police in Maine from calling immigration enforcement agencies
Spectrum News Maine: Advocates say new anti-ICE laws will help protect Mainers
Central Maine: Dozens of new Maine laws take effect this week; here are a few to know
Maine Beacon: Community is stronger than fear: new ICE Out of Maine laws take effect
Maine Newsroom: Three new Maine laws limiting ICE activities here take effect Wednesday
ILAP’s Policy Director, Lisa Parisio, joined Maine Calling twice this past month, first providing analysis on the Supreme Court decisions on asylum and Temporary Protected Status, and then returning to speak about ICE’s killing of Biddeford resident, Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero.
Lisa also spoke to the Bangor Daily News about immigration enforcement patterns in Maine since 2025, including the shift from Border Patrol to ICE activity and arrests near people's homes and workplaces. She described the shift in tactics, including arrest quotas, as "new and unique to this administration."
Maine Public reported on record national ICE arrest rates through the first half of July and included ILAP's count of roughly 50 immigration arrests in Maine in each of May and June, with activity concentrated in the Lewiston-Auburn area.
Public News Service reported on the devastating effects of the government's elimination of legal protections for immigrant youth with Special Immigrant Juvenile classification. In an interview, Lisa described young people now afraid to take jobs, pursue higher education, or begin building their adult lives. "The entire future of our state of Maine is being diminished every single day. We must call on Congress to reel in this administration and protect the rights and safety of every single person living in our communities" she said.
Standing With The Maine Solidarity Fund
When ILAP wins a bond hearing for someone detained by ICE, that victory is often only the first step toward freedom. Before our client can walk out of detention and return to their family, they must usually post an immigration bond, most often between $3,500 and $10,000. For many immigrant families, coming up with that amount on just a few days' notice is simply impossible.
That's where the Maine Solidarity Fund has made all the difference.
Time and again, the Maine Solidarity Fund has stepped in to post immigration bonds, ensuring that our clients are not forced to remain in detention simply because they cannot afford to buy their freedom. Their partnership has been essential to ILAP's work helping immigrants return to their families, jobs, and communities while they continue their immigration cases.
Today, the Maine Solidarity Fund is facing a critical shortage of bond funds. Without support, they may soon be unable to post bonds for people whom ILAP has successfully helped win release.
Freeing people from detention takes strong legal representation and a community willing to stand together. Right now, the Maine Solidarity Fund needs that community.
How Mainers Are Showing Up For ILAP
People across Maine keep finding ways to support this work. Here is what is coming up, and what we are grateful for this month.
Earth & Soul Pottery is hosting its first outdoor fundraiser on Saturday, August 22, 3 pm to 7 pm, at 168 Bonny Eagle Road in Hollis. The afternoon features music by Jen Kearney, wood-fired food from Slow Burn, and a silent art auction of pottery and metal wall art, with auction proceeds supporting ILAP. Kids under 12 are free, and the event is BYOB and rain or shine. Tickets are $28.52.
Eleanor Morse launched her novel This Foreign Land at Print: A Bookstore on July 9. The novel follows families separated at the southern border and Print donated 15% of the evening's proceeds to ILAP. Our thanks to Eleanor, Noah, and the team at Print.
Maddy Riker of Maddy.Riker.Wellness and Tania Zuckerman of Spiraldance Breathwork hosted a collaborative Breathwork and Sound Bath session for ILAP staff on July 15, creating an opportunity for staff to pause, recharge, and connect.
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick closed out its 2025-2026 Concerts for a Cause season with $10,949 raised across nine performances, split between Oasis Free Clinics and ILAP. Since 2014, the series has raised more than $70,000 for local nonprofits. Next season's proceeds will support the Midcoast New Mainers Group and Tedford Housing. Read the full story.
Receiving their monetary gifts from Concerts for a Cause Committee chair Susan Michaud (center), are Danny Muller (Executive Director of Oasis Free Clinics) and Marjorie Hankla (Development Director of the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project).
Planning something for ILAP? Let us know at contact@ilapmaine.org and we will help spread the word.
Voices in the Press
This month, two Maine voices used the opinion pages to call for protecting their immigrant neighbors, both urging Sen. Collins to help preserve Temporary Protected Status for Haiti.
Konbit Sante Executive Director Perry B. Newman published an op-ed in the Bangor Daily News calling on Congress to protect Haitian Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, hundreds of whom have made Maine home. A bill to do so passed the House (H.R. 1689) and now awaits action in the Senate, where the op-ed calls on Sen. Collins to help move it forward.
In a Letter to the Editor in Central Maine, ILAP community member David Agan of Wells wrote about his congregation driving asylum seekers to ILAP trainings and appointments, and urged readers to ask Sen. Collins to support the bill.
Your voice matters too. Whether it is a letter to the editor, an op-ed, or a call to your senators, speaking up for your neighbors makes a difference. Start by urging Sen. Collins to protect TPS for Haiti.
In response to the ongoing high levels of immigration enforcement in Maine, ILAP is growing its Detention Project team. We are currently hiring for the following role:
Senior Managing Attorney, Detention Project
Lead ILAP's growing detention practice, supervise a talented team, and expand access to legal representation for immigrants impacted by detention. Help shape strategy, strengthen services, and advance immigrant rights through both leadership and direct legal advocacy.
ILAP’s base salary for this position ranges from $78,507 - $89,116 and includes a generous benefits package. A modest stipend is available to assist candidates relocating to Maine.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Please share this opportunity with your network to help spread the word!
For previous updates from ILAP, check out the links below:
June, 2026: June Golden Door
May 28, 2026: May Golden Door
April 30, 2026: April Golden Door