LEWISTON — About 1,000 people overflowed the Agora Grand Event Center for a protest against what they say is an overbearing and unnecessary increase in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Maine this week.
The demonstration, which drew protesters from around the state, followed several days of detainments by ICE and other federal agents.
Safiya Khalid, an advocate and former city councilor, opened the demonstration inside the Agora, noting the many area residents who have reached out because they fear going to work, sending their children to school, grocery shopping and engaging in many aspects of daily life.
Even in Lewiston, Khalid said, families are being separated in broad daylight and community members detained without transparency or basic human dignity.
“We are watching communities being terrorized and being told it’s for their own good,” Khalid said. “This is not about criminals. That is the lie they sell to people to make them comfortable … You cannot terrorize one part of the community without destabilizing all of it. We are here because fear will not be the final word.”
Aaron Bechard and Tabitha Morey of Auburn said they crossed the river to show support for their immigrant neighbors and to help make a big showing at the event.
“We really wanted to be here just to support our community and show that we stand against the authoritarians that are working in Maine right now,” Bechard said. “It’s scary to see in our backyard and it motivated us to be able to come out and show strength in numbers with everybody.”
“It’s good to see a community of people, especially during this time when it feels like we’re just on an island. It’s good to see everyone coming together,” Morey added. “It strengthens us.”
Also speaking at the protest were several local and state officials, candidates for office and religious leaders from Lewiston and beyond. Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline spoke briefly, along with Portland Mayor Mark Dion, U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner, and gubernatorial candidates Hannah Pingree, Troy Jackson and Shenna Bellows. U.S. House District 2 candidates Matt Dunlap and Jordan Wood also attended the protest but didn’t deliver remarks.
“It’s a long time feel of just needing to do something,” Lewiston resident Debbie Hillman said about the demonstration. “Things are terribly wrong and we need to get together. It’s not just one item that Trump has decided to pick, it’s this whole big umbrella of things and it’s frustrating and heartbreaking. This is emotional for me and I had to do something.”
The Rev. Dr. Paul Shupe of Blue Point Congregational Church in Scarborough, said his faith demanded that he come together with protestors.
“We’re all to welcome the stranger and to welcome the ones who have been cast out of other places,” Shupe said. “To extend hospitality is a primary Christian value and virtue. Clearly the current administration’s policies are anything but that, so I’m here to make my voice heard and to be a part of a larger gathering to show that more of us feel the way I do than feel the way (Trump) does.”
Matt Kershaw, a combat veteran who served in Afghanistan, said he has neighbors from the Democratic Republic of Congo whom he has been worrying about every day.
“They are lovely people, they’re wonderful gardeners and they have a cute baby,” Kershaw said. “And they’re terrified after we told them they could come here and be safe. … It makes me angry. I plan on doing more to help, but this (demonstration) here is a good symbol.”
Dresden resident Rusty Dewsnap, an Air Force veteran, elected to stay out in the cold with several other hundreds of people. Dewsnap said he made the ride out to Lewiston to protest ICE and the Trump administration’s misdeeds.
“This country is not going in the right direction,” Dewsnap said. “Every decision Trump’s made has been the wrong one. Every single decision. That’s why I’m here.”
