Until recently, the Portland-based Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project was helping a client who had been the victim of what policy director Lisa Parisio calls "violent human trafficking."
Parisio said the man was adamant about cooperating with law enforcement.
"He just repeatedly told his attorney that he wanted to do something because he wanted to make sure his abusers weren't able to hurt anyone else," she said.
Read MoreILAP enthusiastically applauds Wells Democracy in Action and other Wells residents for their tireless, community-centered advocacy, successfully ending the 287(g) ICE agreement put in place by the Wells Police Department last April. This victory is critical to protecting the rights and safety of Well’s immigrant residents and the community as a whole.
Read MoreHere is an update on recent state and federal activities impacting the lives of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Maine.
Read MoreThe 268 faith-based, non-governmental, and other civil society organizations listed below call on UN Member States to uphold, preserve, strengthen, and celebrate international refugee, human rights, and humanitarian treaties and reject efforts to undo or undermine legal norms.
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."
Read MoreSue Roche, executive director of the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, a nonprofit that provides legal assistance to immigrants, said attorneys in Maine have been rebuffed on “multiple occasions over the past months” when trying to join clients at their routine appointments, including clients with active immigration cases.
“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,” Roche said in a written statement.
Read MorePolicy Director Lisa Parisio discusses President Biden's plan to severely limit access to asylum and its potential for harmful impacts on "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," said ILAP Executive Director Sue Roche.
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