The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, Maine’s only statewide immigration legal services organization, has tracked 17 traffic stops since March 2025 where local and state authorities have handed over at least 35 Maine residents and workers to immigration officers based on their immigration status.
Read MoreTwo Bridges Regional Jail (TBRJ) Administrator James Bailey reported in May, there were 157 inmates housed at TBRJ: 53 from Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties, 53 from Penobscot County, 20 from Knox County, 24 from Waldo County, four U.S. Marshal boarders, 20 ICE boarders, and one from Border Patrol.
Advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP), provide guidance and counseling to those detained and work to restore due process for the immigrant community.
Read MoreILAP unequivocally condemns the passage of the reconciliation budget bill. The bill contains cruel, sweeping changes to the humanitarian immigration system and approximately $170 billion dollars for mass deportation and enforcement policies, paid for by slashing social safety net programs for low-income people across the country.
Read MoreTemporary Protected Status (TPS) for Hondurans and Nicaraguans has been in place for more than 26 years and has provided vital humanitarian protection to thousands of people across the country, including people here in Maine. ILAP condemns the Trump Administration’s termination of TPS for Nicaragua and Honduras.
Read MoreGuests included volunteers, staff, board members, legislators and partner organizations such as Equality Community Center, Greater Portland Health, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project and Maine Needs. Elements of the event resembled a rally, with the Ideal Maine Social Aid & Sanctuary Band playing marching tunes and hundreds of people chanting “Justice for All.
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The governor postponed her decision on a bill restricting local authorities from carrying out federal immigration enforcement until next year. Meanwhile, daily U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest rates have doubled in Maine since President Donald Trump took office, new data show.
ICE has arrested about 100 people in Maine since Trump took office, according to statistics released by the Deportation Data Project that shine new light on the agency's operations. That's a roughly 50% increase in the average daily arrest rate, compared to 2024.
Read MoreThe first time I saw the American flag, I was nine years old. My family and I were at the Pakistan–Afghanistan border, preparing to return to Afghanistan after years of fleeing the Taliban and living in exile.
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