Editor’s note: This live feed from Jan. 22 is no longer being updated. The Jan. 23 live updates can be found here.
Reports of widespread immigration arrests across Greater Portland and Lewiston continued to spread Thursday, with federal officials saying they have made over 100 arrests in the first three days of what they dubbed “Operation Catch of the Day.”
In remarks Thursday afternoon from Portland, Gov. Janet Mills criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying federal agents are acting like “secret police” and that officials are being kept in the dark about arrests. At the same time, Maine Republican leaders called on Democrats to tone down their anti-ICE rhetoric.
Meanwhile, Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce criticized ICE agents’ tactics in the Wednesday arrest of a county corrections officer, calling it “bush-league policing.” And a federal prosecutor asked a judge to dismiss a Portland resident’s request to be released from custody after he was detained during a routine check-in at ICE’s Scarborough facility.
Here’s what else you need to know:
- Why some Mainers support ICE’s increased enforcement in the state
- Gov. Mills traveled outside of Maine as ICE operation began. Her team won’t say why.
- Maine businesses, customers react to ICE presence
- Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, memo says
- Maine faith leaders prepare for more ICE enforcement
- Maine woman interfered with Brewer police assuming they were ICE agents, officials say
Our journalists are working to verify sightings and report events as they happen. Have a tip? Fill out this form, reach us on Signal at PressHeraldTips.295 or email [email protected]. Tips are confidential.
Follow live updates:
10 p.m.: ICE says it has made over 100 arrests this week
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it has arrested over 100 people since it launched its operation in Maine earlier this week.
“The brave men and women of ICE have already arrested more than 100 illegal aliens in Maine since the launch of Operation Catch of the Day three days ago,” Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement emailed Thursday night.
Some of the people arrested on the first day of the operation included “criminal illegal aliens charged and convicted of horrific crimes including aggravated assault, false imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child,” McLaughlin said.
State and local officials, including Gov. Janet Mills and Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce, on Thursday said it doesn’t appear that ICE is only arresting criminals.
— Drew Johnson
8 p.m.: Paul LePage welcomes ICE’s ‘efforts to get dangerous criminals off our streets’
Former Republican Gov. Paul LePage says that federal immigration agents are targeting “illegal aliens with heinous criminal histories” and that people should not interfere in their work in a statement Thursday evening.
“Some of those arrested include criminals convicted of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and endangering the welfare of a child,” LePage said in a social media post. “We all know that Mainers do not feel safe in many of our cities, and I welcome the efforts to get dangerous criminals off of our streets.”
He said sanctuary cities are responsible for “this mess” and that “the federal government is stepping in to fix it.”
“ICE is federal law enforcement and they should be treated as such,” LePage said. “There is no need to obstruct or interfere with lawful criminal investigations.”
— Drew Johnson
6:15 p.m.: Maine Medical Center employees harassed by ICE, nurses union says
Two Maine Medical Center employees were harassed by federal immigration agents on their way to work Wednesday, according to the Maine State Nurses Association.
Kelli Brennan, a nurse, and their immigrant co-worker were approached by a U.S. Immigrations and Customs vehicle while driving to the hospital, according to a Thursday news release.
“At a red light, one of the officers rolled down his car window and made an insulting remark to me,” Brennan said. “I responded that we don’t need ICE in our community. After seeing my coworker in the passenger seat, and before driving off, the ICE officer said: ‘I’m going to arrest an extra three families today, just for you.’”
Some employees are afraid to show up for work, according to nurse Meg Sinclair.
“We are fortunate at Maine Med to work with so many folks from other countries, backgrounds, and cultures,” Sinclair stated. “But I can tell you that, right now, many of them are terrified to come to work.”
She noted that increases the workload of other nurses and “compromises” the level of care they can provide patients.
— Drew Johnson
6 p.m.: Online spreadsheet tracking vehicles allegedly used by ICE has been suspended
An online spreadsheet that had been updated to include details — including make, color and license plate information — of vehicles believed to be used by federal immigration agents has been suspended by Google.
The spreadsheet, which launched Wednesday and was hosted on Google Drive, had been populated with details gathered from emailed tips and social media posts. At its peak, it included about 18 cars, though some were missing details.
The information was intended to help Mainers identify whether vehicles they suspected of being involved in a surge of immigration enforcement had been previously spotted and tied to federal law enforcement, said the organizer, who declined to share their name for fear of being targeted by the Department of Homeland Security.
A link to the sheet was shared on social media Wednesday. It was still live shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday, but by 5:30 p.m., it led to an error message claiming that the document “is in violation of (Google’s) terms of service.”
Google did not immediately return emailed questions about why the spreadsheet was taken down or what specific part of the company’s terms it had violated.
— Daniel Kool
5:45 p.m.: Biddeford man says ICE agents threatened him, said ‘We’re going to come back for your whole family.’
Cristian Vaca, an immigrant from Ecuador who lives in Biddeford, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents threatened him during a visit to his home Wednesday.
Vaca, a 28-year-old roofer who lives with his wife and young son, said the visit was unwarranted.
“I’m here legally. I came here in September 2023,” Vaca said, citing his family’s safety and economic opportunity as reasons for moving to the U.S.A video taken by Vaca from inside the house shows an ICE agent speaking to him through his closed front door.
Before turning away, the agent says, “We’re going to come back for your whole family, okay?” A child’s voice can be heard in the background.
— Associated Press
5 p.m.: Pingree demands arrest data, criticizes Maine ICE operations in letter to Homeland Security
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, requesting “a full and detailed accounting” of its legal basis for expanded immigration enforcement in Maine.
DHS confirmed this week that it had launched “Operation Catch of the Day” in Maine to arrest up to 1,400 individuals that it accused of being in the country illegally. The agency said it had made nearly 50 arrests by Wednesday morning, Fox News reported.
Pingree used her letter, addressed to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, to request data about the arrests that ICE agents have made. She also criticized the operation and said its name “reflects a disturbing disregard for human dignity.”
“The execution of this operation and the Department’s related public messaging represent a deeply troubling breakdown in accountability, transparency, and respect for the Constitution,” Pingree wrote.
Pingree is asking who the department has detained so far and whether they had criminal histories. The Press Herald and other local news outlets have reported multiple arrests in which a detainee didn’t have a criminal record, including an 18-year-old college student who was detained by ICE on Tuesday after a minor car crash.
Pingree also asked DHS whether ICE agents are arresting people with warrants, and whether they’re ensuring people in their custody have access to legal counsel and are aware of their rights.
“ICE’s law enforcement actions are taken consistent with DHS and ICE policies, U.S. immigration law, as well as the U.S. Constitution, which prohibit the consideration of race or ethnicity when conducting enforcement actions,” the department wrote in a response to Pingree’s office on Sept. 29. “Instead, ICE relies on intelligence driven operations to locate and apprehend specific targets at large.”
This is the second ICE-related information request Pingree has announced submitting to DHS in the past year. After she requested more details about the arrest of an immigrant parent near a Portland school in September, the department told Pingree that ICE “does not conduct indiscriminate raids or sweeps.”
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday about Pingree’s letter.
— Emily Allen
4:15 p.m.: Sen. Angus King has few answers for local officials
U.S. Sen. Angus King lambasted the actions of federal agents in Maine at a news conference in Portland and said he has not received sufficient information from ICE on the nature of its mission in the state.
“If the purpose here is to stop allowing people to terrorize American citizens, they ought to look in the mirror,” King said of federal agents enforcing immigration laws.
The independent senator met with Portland Mayor Mark Dion, as well as other city officials, and has been in touch with the mayors of Lewiston and Biddeford, where immigration enforcement action has also reportedly occurred.
However, he had little information for local officials from Washington, who have shared little with him.
King stressed that he is not justifying illegal immigration nor arguing that enforcement of immigration laws should not occur in cases where subjects have committed serious crimes.
However, he has received no information indicating that federal authorities are removing the “worst of the worst,” noting that one of the four immigrants identified by DHS had been convicted of operating under the influence.
“The cure is worse than the disease,” King said, given the spell of terror that has followed the surge in activity.
King’s staff reached out to ICE and requested to meet with whoever was in charge of operations in Maine but were referred back to the Washington office. It was not clear to him whether the agency was stonewalling him, but added, “if a U.S. senator says, ‘I want to know what’s going on in my state,’ somebody should say, ‘Here, here’s what we’re doing.’ It’s bothersome that wasn’t the immediate response.”
He also called out the agency for misrepresenting its actions in Maine.
“I’m tired of hearing people saying the worst of the worst, and one of the people they told us (about) was an OUI. That’s not the worst of the worst,” King said. “So let’s call this what it is: this is a large-scale mass deportation effort, and let’s drop the pretense that somehow this is about the worst of the worst.
— Reuben M. Schafir
3:45 p.m. Portland nonprofit raising money to help immigrant families prevent eviction
A Portland housing nonprofit is raising money to help pay rent for immigrants who are either detained by ICE or who miss work because they are afraid of being detained.
Project Home, a nonprofit that helps low-income families find housing, had raised $73,000 by 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to Victoria Morales, executive director.
The increased ICE enforcement in the state represents “an immediate housing crisis,” she said.
Through the emergency housing fund, Project Home aims to help 100 families cover rent or mortgage payments.
“When parents are detained by ICE, income stops instantly – while rent and basic needs remain,” the organization said.
Parents are also keeping their children home from school and missing work. As ICE’s presence in Maine drags on, that could mean days or weeks without pay and according to Project Home, many families are only one missed payment from eviction.
The money the organization has raised so far is encouraging, Morales said, but “one month’s rent in the Greater Portland area is $2,300, (so the money) doesn’t go that far.”
About 60% of the organization’s clients are immigrants.
Donations can be made here.
— Hannah LaClaire
3:30 p.m.: A closer look at where ICE agents have been confirmed this week
3:20 p.m.: Several businesses that cater to the immigrant community locked during regular hours
Mr. Chickpea, a falafel restaurant in South Portland, and its neighbor Island Affairs, a Jamaican market, were locked Thursday afternoon, when both establishments would typically be open.
On Wednesday, a number of agents wearing combat vests were seen walking around this part of Thornton Heights, according to a video circulating on social media.
Other restaurants in the city have also unexpectedly closed.
Tres Leches Cake’s Flor, a Mexican restaurant on Broadway, was not open Wednesday or Thursday, and federal agents were spotted outside the establishment Thursday morning.
— Dana Richie
3:15 p.m.: U.S. Rep. Jared Golden says federal agents shouldn’t target immigrants with lawful status
U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, said Thursday that federal agents should focus immigration enforcement on people “who have engaged in criminal activity,” while also calling on opponents to act responsibly.
Golden said immigration enforcement targeting criminals “serves the public interest, but added that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security must also follow federal laws to maintain public trust, which is necessary for “long-term trust and social cohesion.”
“DHS should prioritize its enforcement actions on public safety and must themselves comply with federal laws,” Golden said. “Immigrants with legal status should not be targeted, court authorities should be obeyed and due process must be followed.”
Golden also called on protesters not to interfere with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
“Free speech and lawful protest are protected rights, but regardless of how anyone feels about immigration policy or ICE’s tactics, people must not obstruct or impede law enforcement activities,” he said. “And all of us — including public officials — must resist the urge to amplify tensions or spread unverified reports. That is a recipe for confrontation and escalation that helps no one.”
— Randy Billings
2:30 p.m.: Portland Hearts of Pine encourages Mainers to ‘lead with your heart’
The Portland Hearts of Pine soccer club is advocating for Mainers to band together and support the state’s immigrant community amid increased enforcement efforts this week.
“Lead with your heart,” the team said in a statement on Thursday. “It’s a motto inspired by Maine. It’s who Mainers are. We always find a way to show up for each other.”
The soccer club said that the growth of soccer in Maine “is directly linked to its immigrant population.”
“We will continue to cultivate spaces where all are welcome, and to use soccer as a force for good in the city and state we call home,” the statement reads. “Please continue to look out for one another, and join us in supporting organizations doing meaningful work to provide direct support to families and individuals in need.”
— Drew Johnson
2:15 p.m.: Cumberland County sheriff confirms corrections officer detained by ICE
A Cumberland County corrections officer was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday night, the sheriff confirmed at a Thursday news conference.
Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce said the corrections officer was hired in February 2024, and that a background check did not turn up anything that would disqualify him as a hire, describing him as “squeaky clean.”
Joyce declined to confirm the officer’s name, citing plans for an internal investigation.
The trainee had an immigration hearing in Texas as recently as Nov. 11, Joyce said.
“Are we really worried about the fact that this individual is trying to get his immigration papers in line so he can become a legal citizen?” he said.
Joyce said the detainment was a “show of force,” with five to seven federal agents being involved in the arrest.
“They left (his car) right on the street,” Joyce said. “Folks, that’s bush-league policing.”
— Drew Johnson and Morgan Womack
1:40 p.m.: Maine businesses, customers react to increased ICE presence
For the folks who run the Westbrook Families Feeding Families mobile food pantry, increased activity by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Maine this week means they have to work even harder to keep residents fed.
State Rep. Sue Salisbury, D-Westbrook, and her husband, Joe, a retired corrections officer and school bus driver, operate the nonprofit pantry that regularly serves about 30 Westbrook households. They’re stepping up their efforts to help new Mainers who are afraid to leave their homes for fear they will be arrested by ICE agents.
The Salisburys are taking cash donations this week at their business, The Daily Grind, a downtown coffee kiosk. They’re among many business owners — and some customers — who are reacting to an increased ICE presence in the state.
“We know a lot of people are sheltering in place,” Joe Salisbury said Wednesday. “They’re afraid to go to school. They’re afraid to go to work. A lot of new Mainers aren’t even going out to shop.”
Salisbury said they’re trying to take the politics out of the situation and focus on bringing calm to an increasingly anxious situation. They collected about $3,000 in the first 48 hours, he said.
“We gotta feed these families,” he said. “We gotta feed these kids.”
Read the full story here.
— Kelley Bouchard
1:05 p.m.: ICE activity concentrated around Portland and Lewiston, hospitality group says
HospitalityMaine, which represents over 800 restaurants and lodging establishments across the state, has received no reports of ICE activity from its members, said Becky Jacobson, executive director.
“Everybody seems to be scared, but it seems to be very localized around Portland and Lewiston,” Jacobson said.
— Kelley Bouchard
1 p.m.: Lewiston basilica issues message to parishioners
The Rev. Daniel Greenleaf of the Prince of Peace Parish and Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston issued a message to his parishioners Thursday expressing care and concern for those who are being affected by ICE presence in the city.
“I am so sorry to hear that many of you are afraid of what these actions might mean for you. I heard that some are afraid to go out of their homes, to go shopping and to send their children to school,” Greenleaf said. “So many of you come from places where you have experienced great suffering and violence. It is not right that you should live in fear, especially here in America when we are so enriched by your presence in our parish.”
Greenleaf pledged the parish’s support and asked for those worried to reach out to the church for any aid that can be offered. He lauded the immigrant communities that have joined the parish and expanded multicultural aspects of the Catholic Church.
“As fellow Catholics, we are one body in Christ, and when a part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers,” Greenleaf said. “We pray for a quick resolution to these governmental decisions so that we can all live together in peace and mutual love in Christ.”
— Joe Charpentier
12:50 p.m.: ICE says asylum seeker arrested during routine check-in was moved to Massachusetts
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maine asked a federal judge on Thursday to to dismiss an asylum seeker’s request that he be released from jail following his arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a routine check-in Tuesday.
Yanick Joao Carneiro was at the ICE processing center in Scarborough for a scheduled check-in when agents detained him without a warrant, according to a petition Carneiro’s attorney’s filed earlier this week.
Carneiro was moved to Burlington, Massachusetts, on Tuesday evening, hours before U.S. district Court Judge Stacey Neumann ordered ICE not to move him out of Maine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Neumann ordered ICE on Wednesday to reveal why they had arrested Carneiro.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James Concannon didn’t specify in his filing why ICE chose to detain Carneiro, an Angolan asylum seeker waiting for an immigration court hearing in 2027. Instead, Concannon argued that Neumann doesn’t have the authority to rule on Carneiro’s case now that he’s in Massachusetts.
“Based on representations by Petitioner’s counsel and ICE, Petitioner had already arrived in the District of Massachusetts hours before the petition was filed,” Concannon wrote. “Because this district does therefore is not the ‘district of confinement,’ the Court does not retain jurisdiction over Petitioner’s petition. Accordingly, the Court should dismiss this matter.”
Carneiro had applied for asylum promptly after arriving to the United States in 2023, according to his petition. He has a wife and two children, both U.S. citizens, in Maine.
Carneiro’s attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
— Emily Allen
12:30 p.m.: ICE detains driver near USM campus
At approximately 8:33 a.m., two sedans headed north on Deering Avenue pulled across both lanes of traffic, stopping all cars near the intersection with Bedford Street, next to the University of Southern Maine campus.
Seconds later, five ICE agents exited the sedans and removed a man from the car he was driving and detained him, according to a witness of the event and as seen in a video.
Social worker Chrystal Tidenberg, 41, was on her way home to Westbrook after checking in on some friends in Portland who are fearful of increased ICE activity. When traffic stopped and she saw what was happening, she and about a dozen other drivers emerged from their vehicles.
“The girl in front of me immediately stopped. I stopped. The car behind me stopped, and we all hopped out of our cars and started recording,” she said.
Tidenberg said she saw the ICE agents instantly detain the driver without asking him any questions.
“He was completely peaceful, like they pulled him out of his car. They weren’t checking his ID, they weren’t talking to him. They pulled him out. He was compliant as they were pulling him out,” she said.
Tidenberg said the agents shouted at witnesses recording them to get back and held their canisters of chemical spray in a threatening manner.
ICE agents returned to their vehicles and left the scene. One agent also got into the car of the man they detained and drove it away as well, said Tidenberg. She said the whole event took place in less than five minutes.
“It was surreal, disgusting, horrifying. No one deserves to be kidnapped in the morning. He wasn’t doing anything,” she said.
— Sophie Burchell
12:00 p.m.: Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project urges detainees and family members to seek help before out-of-state transfers
Sue Roche, director of the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project in Maine, shared information Thursday on how detainees and their close contacts can access legal resources.
ILAP created a form for people to request legal help. They must enter contact information for how an attorney can reach the detainee, or a close point of contact.
Roche said it’s important for people to seek help immediately before detainees are transferred out of Maine, “which may happen in as little as a few hours.”
ILAP says it has heard about ICE arrests this week in Biddeford, South Portland, Portland, Westbrook, Lewiston and the ICE facility in Scarborough.
After the Department of Homeland Security announced on Tuesday they’re targeting as many as 1,400 immigrants in Maine, Roche said most detainees they’re aware of do not have criminal records and are seeking asylum.
“While some of the door-to-door and apartment building raids may be targeted, it is clear the overall operation is anything but targeted,” she said. “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.”
— Emily Allen
11:50 a.m.: Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office plans news conference about ICE activity
The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office has planned a news conference for Thursday afternoon to discuss “recent ICE events.”
The announcement comes after widely-circulated social media videos show the apparent immigration arrest of a corrections employee in Portland’s Bayside neighborhood Wednesday evening.
The Press Herald has not been able to independently verify the circumstances of the arrest, but the man can be heard on video as he is being detained telling agents he worked in corrections for Cumberland County.
The sheriff’s office did not confirm whether the man works for the agency and officials say they are “currently gathering information to better understand what occurred.”
— Morgan Womack
11:29 a.m.: Gov. Janet Mills blasts ICE operations, likens organization to ‘secret police’
Gov. Janet Mills had stark words Thursday for those in charge of the ongoing federal immigration operations in Maine.
The Democratic governor and U.S. Senate candidate criticized the Trump administration for what she said was a lack of communication about the raids, and said she doubted the administration’s stated reason behind them.
“In America, we don’t believe in secret arrests or secret police,” Mills said during a news conference at Portland City Hall.
Mills said although the Trump administration has pledged to go after those with criminal records in the country illegally, she’s gotten reports of raids on individuals who have no such record.
“For the most part, we’re hearing about (the arrests of) people who have not been engaged in criminal activity,” she said.
Mills also said she has not been given information on where arrestees are being held.
See full story here.
— Billy Kobin
11:20 a.m.: House Republican to Democrats: ‘Tone down the rhetoric before people get hurt or killed’
Assistant House Minority Leader Katrina Smith, R-Palermo, urged Democrats to tone down their rhetoric targeting federal immigration authorities “before people get hurt or killed.”
Smith said in a weekly radio address Thursday that Republicans have requested a meeting with Gov. Janet Mills to cool tensions amid a surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in Maine, dubbed “Operation Catch of the Day.”
She noted that some people have legitimate concerns about illegal immigration and its impact on housing, schools, health care and public safety.
“We need to sit down together and talk — not past each other — about how Maine moves forward,” Smith said. “Leadership means lowering the temperature, not raising it. And Maine deserves nothing less.”
Smith warned that continuing to suggest that ICE agents are illegitimate, unprofessional and not worthy of disrespect could lead to confrontations like those in Minnesota, where ICE agents shot and killed a protester in her vehicle.
“Let me be very clear: ICE agents are federal law enforcement officers. They take an oath. They operate under federal authority,” Smith said. “And they show up to work knowing that rhetoric alone can make them a target. You can oppose immigration policy without turning the people enforcing the law into enemies.”
Smith said people can peacefully protest and demand accountability and transparency without demonizing law enforcement.
— Randy Billings
10:45 a.m.: Maine Republican Party chair criticizes Democrats for anti-ICE rhetoric
The head of the Maine Republican Party on Thursday sharply criticized state Democrats for “telling Mainers to resist, protest, and interfere with” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — rhetoric that he says is “causing anger, panic, and could lead to violence.”
In a written statement, Maine GOP chair Jim Deyermond singled out Gov. Janet Mills, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, saying that they and their fellow Democrats “are pushing an agenda that will leave Maine people vulnerable to criminal illegal immigrants so they can get attention and campaign donations.”
“They are playing a dangerous game for purely political purposes,” Deyermond said.
He described Platner in particular as “completely unhinged” for his calls to abolish ICE.
Deyermond said Republicans want law enforcement officers to be able to do their jobs “unobstructed by extremist protestors” and in cooperation with local officials.
“We expect peace and respect from all sides as ICE and some excellent local law enforcement agencies work to make our communities safer,” he said.
— Staff report
10 a.m.: Small crowd forms after ICE agents spotted near South Portland restaurant
A small crowd formed near Tres Leches Cake’s Flor, a South Portland Mexican restaurant, on Thursday morning after federal immigration agents were seen nearby.
Witnesses reported seeing two agents parked in the lot behind the Spiritual Renaissance Counseling and Healing Center, an hour after they were seen outside the restaurant.
The restaurant was closed Wednesday and Thursday.
One eyewitness said a black Dodge with New York license plates was parked outside of Tres Leches when he showed up around 8:15 a.m. When more onlookers showed up, the vehicle took off, the eyewitness said.
But then word spread of another vehicle — a white car with New York plates and two agents inside — parked nearby at 884 Broadway.
Bob Peck’s home overlooks Tres Leches, so when he heard cars honking, he threw on his coat and raced out the door. Other residents had a similar idea, forming a crowd of about 20 on the corner of Valley Street and Broadway at 9:15 a.m. Drivers honked as they passed the crowd.
South Portland police Officer Travis Emerson parked his cruiser just beyond the parking lot of the Spiritual Renaissance Counseling and Healing Center. He said he was there to respond to a noise complaint.
Jason Jarvis, the house manager of 884 Broadway, said the excessive noise started around 8:30 a.m., and that he called the police in response to onlookers trespassing on private property after he repeatedly asked them to stop.
The parked vehicle drove off around 9:45 a.m.
— Dana Richie
9:45 a.m.: Senate candidate Graham Platner urges Mainers to ‘actually fight back’ against ICE
Graham Platner, the Sullivan oyster farmer and combat veteran running for U.S. Senate, urged residents to take to the streets and “actually fight back” against immigration officers sent to Maine this week by the Trump administration.
Platner said in a written statement Thursday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have come here to “drag Mainers out of their homes and kidnap them off of our streets, based on nothing but racism and lies,” calling it “disgusting.”
“This is not the time for our leaders to drag their feet or merely express their concern,” Platner said. “Simply saying we will fight back is not enough. We need to actually fight back. That means organizing. It means showing up in the streets. It means holding ICE and this administration accountable.”
At this very moment ICE is dragging Mainers out of their homes, terrorizing communities across the state. They're calling it "Operation Catch of the Day."
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) January 21, 2026
It is disgusting.
Maine will fight. We will fight for our neighbors and for the people we love. pic.twitter.com/R899BUPaDg
Platner, who traveled to Norway this month so his wife could receive fertility treatments, said he planned to return to home Friday and “be in the streets” Saturday.
Platner, a political newcomer endorsed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, is locked in a competitive primary against two-term Gov. Janet Mills for the Democratic nomination to take on Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.
— Randy Billings
9 a.m.: Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, memo says
Federal immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant, according to an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press, marking a sharp reversal of longstanding guidance meant to respect constitutional limits on government searches.
The memo authorizes ICE officers to use force to enter a residence based solely on a more narrow administrative warrant to arrest someone with a final order of removal, a move that advocates say collides with Fourth Amendment protections and upends years of advice given to immigrant communities.
The shift comes as the Trump administration dramatically expands immigration arrests nationwide, deploying thousands of officers under a mass deportation campaign that is already reshaping enforcement tactics in cities such as Minneapolis.
Efforts ramped up in Maine this week as well in an effort officials are calling “Operation Catch of the Day.” As of Wednesday morning, ICE agents had made 50 arrests and were targeting hundreds more.
For years, immigrant advocates, legal aid groups and local governments have urged people not to open their doors to immigration agents unless they are shown a warrant signed by a judge. That guidance is rooted in Supreme Court rulings that generally prohibit law enforcement from entering a home without judicial approval. The ICE directive directly undercuts that advice at a time when arrests are accelerating under the administration’s immigration crackdown.
Read the full story here.
— Associated Press