Families in Maine scramble to halt ICE’s transfer of detainees out of state

“There are not adequate words to describe how difficult the past week has been,” Sue Roche, ILAP’s executive director, said in a statement. “In ILAP’s legal triage, we are seeing mostly people in lawful immigration processes with no criminal records being arrested. Many have been racially profiled and abducted from their cars off the street, and some have been targeted at home. ICE is stalking grocery stores and schools. The lack of due process or humanity in this enforcement operation is appalling.”

Press MentionsJolene McGowanJanuary 28, 2026Support, Call to Action, New York Times, Wells Maine, Tourism, State of Maine

Maine’s Immigrant Students Stay Home as ICE Operation Ramps Up

When a class in Portland went out for recess on Thursday, their teacher recalled, some of the 6-year-old students anxiously asked, “What about the ICE people?”

Press MentionsJolene McGowanJanuary 27, 2026Support, Call to Action, New York Times, Wells Maine, Tourism, State of Maine

‘I want my mom’: Kindergartener left without her mother as ICE detains parents in Maine

Press MentionsJolene McGowanJanuary 27, 2026Immigration Policy, ICE Detention

Lawyers say it is harder for Mainers arrested by ICE to get bond hearings

Lawyers say that it’s been harder for their clients who have been detained by immigration officials in Maine to get a bond hearing from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Press MentionsJolene McGowanJanuary 26, 2026Immigration Policy, ICE Detention

Maine’s Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project Decries the Killing of Alex Pretti as the Second Week of ICE’s Operation in Maine Begins

ILAP is devastated at the news of the killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis. Our hearts go out to Alex’s loved ones and the city of Minneapolis. We condemn the federal government’s brutal occupation of Minneapolis and send unwavering solidarity to the city’s immigrant communities and allies…

Advocacy in Action, Press Release, ILAP NewsGuest UserJanuary 26, 2026

Maine ICE operation leads to more than 200 arrests in five days

Press MentionsJolene McGowanJanuary 26, 2026Immigration Policy, ICE Detention

‘A dragnet approach,’ lawful residents detained in initial days of ICE operation in Maine

A retail worker arrested at a routine immigration check-in. A mother and a student, both asylum seekers, taken into custody. A civil engineer on a work visa and a corrections officer recruit, whose boss said he has a “squeaky clean” record and permission to work, both picked up during their commutes.

ICE arrests 100 people three days into Maine immigration crackdown, DHS says

“It is clear the overall operation is anything but targeted,” said Sue Roche, ILAP’s executive director. “People are being racially profiled on the streets and in their cars. As is their playbook, ICE is doing everything they can to inflict maximum cruelty and chaos.”

Press MentionsJolene McGowanJanuary 23, 2026Support, Call to Action, New York Times, Wells Maine, Tourism, State of Maine

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