“Community is stronger than fear” — New ICE Out of Maine laws take effect
Sue Roche, the executive director of the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, said this law will help protect people who have been “forced to withdraw from public life to try to stay safe.”
“People are afraid to send their children to school, they’re afraid to go to work, apply for new jobs, seek higher education, or to have any contact with Maine’s law enforcement, which includes seeking protection or reporting crimes,” she said. “When members of our community are too afraid to go about their daily life, to educate their children, to share public safety or public health information, we are all harmed.”
Roche said the recent killing of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero by an ICE agent in Biddeford has heightened this fear. The 26-year-old father and husband was driving to work when an ICE agent shot and killed him near his apartment.
“The ICE Out laws are a necessary and key part of Maine’s response to the federal administration,” Roche said. “They are needed to protect all of us, and to begin to repair some of the trust in Maine’s public institutions where the trust has been lost.”
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Advocates say new anti-ICE laws will help protect Mainers
Sue Roche, executive director of the Immigration Legal Advocacy Project, noted that ICE agents are federal agents, but the new laws can still govern how Mainers interact with them.
“While Maine cannot completely bar ICE from our state because that agency is under federal jurisdiction, we can and we must maximize the tools and protections that we have available to us at the state and local level,” she said.
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Maine laws aimed at curtailing federal immigration enforcement activity take effect this week
Sue Roche, with the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, said at a virtual press conference Tuesday the laws are a bulwark against federal policy.
"While Maine cannot completely bar ICE from our state because that agency is under federal jurisdiction," Roche said, "we can and we must maximize the tools and protections that we have available to us at the state and local level."
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New law limits when police in Maine can work with immigration enforcement agencies
Sue Roche, executive director for ILAP, said her organization was aware of more than 50 incidents in 2025 in which state and local police called immigration officials, resulting in arrests.
“The vast majority of people who have been handed over to ICE or Border Patrol by Maine’s law enforcement were people in lawful immigration processes who had no criminal record,” Roche said.
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ICE targets Maine youth after removal of legal protections
Lisa Parisio, policy director for the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project in Portland, said the juveniles are now living in a constant state of fear.
"We have just seen and heard so many reports from families – young people of working age who are afraid to go to work, afraid to seek higher education, afraid to just start their lives," Parisio reported.
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Biddeford ICE Shooting (Maine Calling)
Panelists:
Rachel Estabrook, staff writer, Portland Press Herald
VIP Callers:
Ari Snider, All Things Considerd host and news reporter, Maine Public Radio; he covers immigrant communities
Carol Bousquet, Weekend Edition host and producer, Maine Public Radio
Liam LaFountain, mayor, City of Biddeford
Panelists:
Rachel Estabrook, staff writer, Portland Press Herald
Angus King, U.S. Senator for Maine
Lisa Parisio, policy director, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
Peter McGuire, climate reporter, Maine Public Radio; Biddeford resident
Chellie Pingree, U.S. Representative for Maine’s 1st Congressional District
Madi Smith, Emerging Voices Journalism Fellow, Maine Public
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U.S. Supreme Court Rulings (Maine Calling)
Panelists:
Dmitry Bam, professor of law, University of Maine School of Law
Andrew Rudelevidge, professor of government, Bowdoin College
VIP Callers:
Lisa Parisio, policy director, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
Gia Drew, executive director, Equality Maine
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