Amy Fried is professor emerita of political science at the University of Maine. She writes a Substack, Political Sightlines.
In our times, with armed, masked ICE agents surging into Maine, it’s never been more important to separate facts from falsities. President Trump and his administration are claiming that ICE is just detaining illegal immigrant criminals who are “the worst of the worst,” and agents are following the law in how they detain people.
But that’s not true.
We have a complex immigration system. There are many ways non-citizens can legally be in the U.S. But ICE doesn’t respect the law.
We have a process for seeking asylum, which Portland resident and mother of four Micheline Ntumba was following. Ntumba committed no crimes. Yet ICE detained her.
ICE has also detained people with green cards in the middle of the green card process. Some detainees recently lost Temporary Protected Status because Trump revoked it, including translators who risked their lives when helping the American military in Afghanistan.
Individuals attending required check-ins or hearings are following the law, but ICE agents have gone into courthouses and arrested thousands.
Despite the rhetoric, the majority of people detained by ICE have no criminal convictions and 95% have not committed any violent crimes. And no one opposes properly removing violent criminal non-citizens. Nor does anyone oppose investigating fraud, which is not done by armed, masked agents but by accountants and auditors.
Non-citizens have rights. This is not a matter of opinion. In the case affecting Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Supreme Court reiterated that people facing deportation are entitled to due process.
ICE has also detained U.S. citizens, with some assaulted or taken from their homes in winter conditions without adequate clothing.
As the chief of police of the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park recounted, ICE used vehicles to box in individuals driving legally, making them stop and demanding they show proof of citizenship, something virtually no citizen carries. Some detained were off-duty cops, one of whom had her phone knocked out of her hand as she was filming. Every single person who ICE did this to was a person of color.
Being released later does not make those actions lawful or acceptable.
And yet, ICE keeps violating those constitutional and legal limits.
ICE routinely claims that people it arrests were violent or threatening, but videos show otherwise. After a Border Patrol agent shot a woman in Chicago, he claimed she had pursued him, rammed his car and boxed in other vehicles. Charges against her were dropped after it turned out the agent lied.
This is why no one should treat the Trump administration’s claims as the final word. When officials say “just do what ICE says,” they are not expressing respect for the rule of law; they are asking the public to accept unchecked power.
In Maine, many state and local leaders have taken a different stance. Our governor, along with the mayors of Portland and Lewiston, have made clear that ICE must operate within legal bounds. The district attorney of Cumberland County says she would prosecute unlawful uses of force by federal agents.
People in Maine also have a role to play. Observing ICE activity and recording it is legal. It provides evidence. It protects rights.
There are many ways to get involved. The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition has a wealth of information about how you can act. Donating to groups standing up for rights is a good option as well.
Mainers rejected Trump in three separate elections and his administration policies are increasingly unpopular. Insisting that the Constitution matters is not radical. It is the bare minimum required to stand up against authoritarianism and preserve Mainers’ rights.