ILAP Applauds Representative Pingree for Conducting Crucial Oversight of ICE Facility in Scarborough

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 9, 2025
CONTACT: press@ilapmaine.org 

Scarborough, ME – On December 8, U.S. Representative Pingree exercised her Congressional rights and responsibilities to conduct oversight at the ICE facility in Scarborough, in response to reports of Maine residents being denied access to counsel there, and other concerning issues. A copy of Representative Pingree’s letter requesting this oversight visit can be found here.

ILAP Co-Legal Director Melissa Brennan joined Representative Pingree at a press conference following the oversight visit, and shared these remarks:

“Good afternoon. My name is Melissa Brennan, and I am a Co-Legal Director at the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, or ILAP. ILAP is Maine’s only statewide immigration legal services organization, serving people who would otherwise not be able to afford an attorney.

Thank you so much to Representative Pingree for the invitation to be here today as she exercised her Congressional oversight powers in order to protect and uphold the rights and dignity of Maine’s immigrant residents, and all of us. In today’s climate, we know Congressional oversight of an ICE facility is no small matter. We have seen members of Congress and other elected officials across the country denied access and even arrested as they sought to uphold our democracy, rule of law, and put checks and balances on the federal administration’s power and anti-immigrant agenda.

In our work, ILAP’s attorneys represent people who are periodically required to appear at check-in appointments at this ICE facility. Under previous administrations, these types of check-ins were more routine. Now they carry the highest stakes.

Earlier this year, ILAP’s clients were denied access to their attorneys during appointments at this facility, in violation of their constitutional rights. My client was one of them. In this environment of indiscriminate enforcement, chaos, and cruelty, he was terrified to appear at his ICE appointment. But like so many others, he was trying to comply with the government’s requirements of him. As has become the norm, there was a complete lack of transparency from ICE about what the appointment was about and what he could expect. I had previously filed paperwork identifying myself as his attorney but when we arrived at this facility, I was denied access to come in with him, and he was forced to go inside alone. In addition to being asked questions away from the guidance and protection of his attorney, he was asked to sign documents.

This type of unchecked power, lack of transparency, intimidation, and disregard for basic Constitutional rights is why Representative Pingree’s oversight work was so critical here today. We hope that this work, along with the efforts of other elected officials across the country, will help ensure that the rights, dignity, and safety of all people interacting with the immigration system are protected. Because either Constitutional rights apply to all of us or they apply to none of us.

Thank you again for the opportunity to be here. I’m happy to take any questions.”