At Tuesday’s meeting, Lisa Parisio, policy director at the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, said more than 50 people in Maine have been handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol during minor, unrelated traffic stops, after car accidents and after calling 911 since last spring.
Parisio said ICE detention centers are on track to have their deadliest year yet, and that local ordinances are important to public safety and public trust, as many immigrants report being afraid to report crimes and abuse, assist as witnesses, seek protective orders, and send their children to school.
The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, (ILAP), respectfully submits the following comments regarding the interim final rule (IFR), Appellate Procedures for the Board of Immigration Appeals (Docket No. EOIR-26-AB37; RIN 1125-AB37). We recommend the rule be rescinded in its entirety as it severely undermines access to due process in the U.S. immigration system without legitimate justification, with particularly harmful impacts on the most vulnerable people navigating the system.
ILAP applauds the Maine’s legislature’s passage of LD 2106, a critically-needed bill aimed at protecting Maine residents and workers from unchecked immigration enforcement at sensitive locations including public schools, hospitals, and libraries.
The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, (ILAP), respectfully submits the following comments regarding the notice of proposed rulemaking, Employment Authorization Reform for Asylum Applicants (DHS Docket No. USCIS-2025-0370; RIN 1615-AC97).
“In a rural state like Maine, where driving is a basic need, losing a vehicle could have a devastating impact on an individual and family, especially compounded with the other traumatic impacts of ICE detention,” said Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project Policy Director Lisa Parisio.
“Immigration enforcement has been at high levels since the beginning of 2025 to now, both before and after the January ICE operation,” Lisa Parisio, the policy director for the Portland-based Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, said. “Enforcement did not stop after that.”
LD 2106 puts in place the strongest protections possible at the state level to counteract the federal administration’s policy of allowing immigration enforcement at these sensitive locations. Using existing 4th Amendment rights, the bill requires immigration officers to have a valid judicial warrant or court order to enter protected areas (unless there is an emergency).
