PORTLAND — The mayors of Maine’s largest and most diverse cities told Gov. Janet Mills on Wednesday that they are bracing for a wave of evictions next month because the federal immigration enforcement campaign has kept families out of work.

As the second week of an enlarged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence stretches on, the mayors of Portland, South Portland, Westbrook, Biddeford, Lewiston and Auburn recounted similar ways the operation has impacted daily life in their cities over the past two weeks. That includes decreased attendance at schools and workplaces, which they said is creating serious economic implications.

Portland Mayor Mark Dion said according to Project Home, a program run by the nonprofit Quality Housing Coalition, there are at least 653 households across Portland, South Portland and Westbrook that are at risk of eviction come Feb. 1. Those households account for 2,285 adults and children.

“We believe that the numbers are actually double or triple that, but these are what we know about at this moment,” Project Home said a statement citing the increased activity of ICE in the Greater Portland area.

The organization is attempting to raise money to help prevent evictions, but said its goal of raising $250,000 will be able to prevent only 100 evictions. An estimated $1.3 million would be needed to “prevent the numbers we know about today.”

Dion said he worries about a “new tsunami” of evictions that “could linger for quite some time.”

“It’s bad enough to be afraid to go outside, and it could be worse if we push them outside,” he said, while urging the governor to seek assistance from philanthropic organizations and the Legislature to treat the issue as an emergency.

‘UNCONSCIONABLE‘

During Wednesday’s roundtable at Portland City Hall, officials shared stories about constituents being detained, downtown businesses closing and classmates wondering when friends will return to school.

Mills and city leaders have repeatedly questioned ICE’s tactics and claims that the campaign is targeting “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.” There have been many instances of people being detained who have no criminal history.

Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain said he knows of a constituent who is in the country legally and has not left her home in three weeks, even to receive health care for her sick children.

Mayor Jeff Harmon in Auburn, who is a former deputy chief of the Maine State Police, said the tactics used by ICE and the lack of due process for those arrested is “a failure of leadership.”

Harmon said he recently ran into a woman at the grocery store who has been a naturalized citizen for years. She was carrying her passport along with a binder containing every piece of paperwork she’s received over the years. “I’m not sure having this with me is enough,” she told him.

“It’s unconscionable in a free and democratic society that people have that fear,” he said.

Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau said “these operations are not making us safer,” and that sending detainees to several facilities is an “intimidation tactic so they will self-deport.”

He said the recent arrest of Marcos Da Silva, who was taken by ICE on Jan. 20, hit home. Da Silva worked on several development projects for Fecteau, during which Fecteau said Da Silva was “considerate, hard-working and a good man — the exact kind of person we want in this country.”

Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline said ICE’s tactics are “retraumatizing” for immigrants and asylum seekers in his city who fled war-torn countries and authoritarian regimes.

“When they hear that masked government agents can kidnap you from your home or the sidewalk, they know what that’s like,” he said. “That’s why they came to the United States.”

‘WE DON’T BELIEVE IN SECRECY’

During the roundtable, Mills referred to her requested meeting with President Donald Trump and said she is seeking information on who exactly has been arrested so far in Maine, the reasons for the arrests and where they are being detained, but has not received a response.

“I’ve asked for a meeting with the president so I can tell him to his face why they need to get out of Maine, and why what they’re doing is abhorrent and unconstitutional,” she said.

The Department of Homeland Security said this week that it has so far arrested 200 people in Maine, but has not issued a comprehensive list on who has been detained despite repeated requests from the Press Herald.

Mills said she and Attorney General Aaron Frey, who also attended the roundtable, will be pressing the administration to identify who has been taken and what the legal basis is for their detention.

“Who are they? Where are they? We don’t believe in secrecy surrounding arrests and detention,” she said. “This is America. Tell us what the federal government’s plans are for them? When will they be returned to their jobs and families?”

When asked whether she believes the state should consider pursuing legislation, lawsuits or an emergency fund for people who can’t make rent, Mills said “all of the above.”