Immigration authorities have rounded up Ecuadorian roofers from Aroostook to southern Maine since Donald Trump took office. The trend provides a window into how the president’s deportation agenda has targeted a community that has quietly shaped the region’s blue-collar economy.
Read MoreThe Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project has heard this fear from clients firsthand.
“People are afraid to leave their homes. They are afraid to go to work. They’re afraid to be on the roadways. They are afraid to send their children to school,” Parisio said. “They’re afraid to call the police for help in any situation, whether that’s protection from domestic violence, coming forward about labor exploitation and trafficking, serving as witnesses in criminal cases.”
Read MoreSue Roche, executive director of the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, hailed the Governor's decision, saying in a written statement that it "ensures that Maine’s resources aren’t being diverted to further terrorize individuals and families, rip workers out of their jobs, destroy public trust, and create chaos and fear."
Read MoreMaine Democratic Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said key questions remain unanswered after an oversight visit to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Scarborough on Monday. The visit comes amid renewed scrutiny of ICE actions under the Trump Administration.
Read MoreLisa Parisio, with the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, said many of those arrested posed no threat. "Many of the impacted Maine residents who have been in this situation were in lawful immigration processes, they had valid work permits and they had absolutely no criminal record.”
Read MoreWhy Dozens of Local Police Agencies in New England are Patrolling the Northern Border.
Read More“As a Portland Public Schools parent, I’m deeply concerned about the trauma that current federal policy inflicts on children, families and educators. There is no reason that this ICE arrest needed to happen in the Talbot School driveway. It did not make our communities safer. It makes them weaker, more divided and more afraid.”
Read MoreThe Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project’s (ILAP) executive director, Sue Roche, issued this statement on Pingree’s Sept. 22 oversight letter regarding the Scarborough ICE facility.
“ILAP clients have been denied their right to have their attorneys join them at appointments at the ICE Scarborough facility multiple times over the past months. These have included check-in appointments for people who are in immigration court proceedings," Roche wrote. "In the current environment, with the federal government flagrantly disregarding due process and attempting to indiscriminately deport as many people as they can, having your attorney by your side during any ICE appointment is beyond critical."
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