Gov. Janet Mills and the mayors of Portland and Lewiston say they're bracing for a potential increase in immigration enforcement operations as soon as next week. Details remain scarce, and a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Wednesday the agency does not discuss future or potential operations.
But Melissa Brennan, co-legal director at the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, is urging Mainers to know their rights when interacting with federal immigration agents.
Read MorePresident Donald Trump’s administration announced Tuesday it would end temporary protected status for Somali immigrants, a move that looks to have a limited immediate effect in Maine.
Read MoreSeveral thousand Somali immigrants in the U.S. could soon face deportation after the Trump administration today announced it is terminating Temporary Protected Status for the African nation. But the effect on communities in Maine is unclear.
Read MoreImmigration 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 MoreMaine business leaders and immigrant advocates say new restrictions on work permits for asylum seekers will hurt companies, consumers and other workers across a state that relies on new Mainers to fill jobs amid a chronic labor shortage.
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 MoreThe Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project confirmed to Maine Morning Star that its clients have been denied the right to have their attorneys present at appointments at the field office over the past few months, including during check-in appointments for people who are in immigration court proceedings. Arrests at such proceedings have been reported elsewhere across the country.
Read MoreSue Roche with the Maine Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project said the law helps ensure that local police resources aren’t being used to carry out federal immigration enforcement.
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