Thursday’s big news, delivered early in the morning by Maine’s senior U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, was that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be suspending its targeted operation, dubbed “Catch of the Day.”
The announcement ended more than a week of anxiety and uncertainty for many immigrant families throughout the state. But many advocates treated the announcement with caution rather than elation.
ICE agents will still be active in Maine, even if in smaller numbers. According to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, the operation resulted in 206 arrests last week alone. Totals for this week were not released, but the department previously said it had 1,400 targets.
On Friday, many area businesses will participate in a nationwide strike to protest the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement efforts. Some schools have also planned walkouts or skip days in protest as well.
Read our updates from Thursday here.
Here’s what else you need to know:
- Susan Collins says enhanced ICE operation is over in Maine; immigrant advocates urge vigilance
- How Donald Trump handed Susan Collins a political win over ICE
- Gov. Janet Mills backs bill to keep ICE out of schools, hospitals
- Maine businesses to close Friday, make donations to support immigrant community
- Maine volunteers form human wall to protect immigrant workers
- Angolan couple’s children ‘traumatized’ after father arrested by ICE, mother says
- Federal judge orders ICE to return 2 detained men to Maine from Louisiana
- Southern Maine, Lewiston students plan to walk out of class or skip school to protest ICE
- Let us know what you think of immigration operations in Maine
- The Mainers detained by ICE
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1:45 p.m.: Gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson outlines actions to respond to ICE
Troy Jackson, a former Maine Senate president and Democrat running for governor, has outlined key actions he would take as governor to stand up to ICE.
“Trump has sent his masked thugs into our state like an occupying army,” Jackson said in a news release Thursday. “He calls it ‘Operation Catch of the Day,’ but what it really is, is hunting our neighbors like they’re fish, throwing them in the back of a truck and dragging them off.”
Jackson’s plans include issuing an executive order to create protected zones where ICE enforcement would be banned on state property unless agents have a warrant signed by a judge and creating “red line zones” around schools, hospitals and churches, where if ICE agents show up, Maine State Police would respond immediately.
Jackson also said he would create a Maine ICE Accountability Commission tasked with investigating and documenting abuses committed during ICE’s ramped up enforcement effort, and would launch an online complaint portal for Mainers to report federal agency misconduct.
Jackson is among several Democrats running for governor who have publicly criticized the enhanced ICE operations, saying they violate Mainers’ civil liberties and are eroding community safety and trust.
— Rachel Ohm
1:20 p.m.: Local businesses hurt by ICE surge are hopeful it will end
For the past two weeks, many local businesses have been hurt by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Maine. Since U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ statement Thursday that the enhanced immigration enforcement operation has ended, multiple managers and business owners have said they are hopeful but waiting to see if the statement is really true.
The manager of the Maine Surfers Union said that although they’ve received some negative comments because they put up a “No ICE” sign on their door, they’ve actually had new customers come in just because of it.
The shop is selling hand printed shirts saying “salt melts ICE,” and they will give all of the proceeds to Project Relief, a mutual aid group supporting immigrant families affected by ICE.
John Mishoul, the co-owner of the African Supermarket in Portland, said they’ve lost at least 50% of their business because of ICE.
“People are scared,” Mishoul said. “People are traumatized.”
The market is usually full, Mishoul said, but now even employees are scared to show up for work.
Thankfully, he said, white community members have come to the market to deliver groceries and food to their immigrant neighbors. They show up with grocery lists, and Mishoul helps them find the items in the store.
“They’re good friends,” he said.
— Salomé Cloteaux
11:50 a.m.: Community leaders gather in Portland, condemn ICE
Community leaders and advocates rallied at a news conference in Portland on Friday morning to condemn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics and call for residents to take action.
Many encouraged people to take part in the nationwide shutdown in protest of ICE activity and warned that even though the federal agency’s enhanced immigration operation in Maine may be over, the community should still be vigilant and organize.
Some speakers demanded that elected officials work to abolish ICE and reform immigration enforcement nationwide.
“We believe those priorities are wrong,” said Safiya Khalid, former Lewiston city councilor and executive director of nonprofit Community Organizing Alliance. “We believe safety means family staying together. Safety means access to healthcare and stable housing. Safety means children not wondering whether their parents will come home.”
Several members of Portland City Council and Mayor Mark Dion were also in attendance. Dion lauded the work of protesters and community activists.
“Thank you all for understanding that every day, you contract with the government,” he said. “And at any time, you can withdraw your consent and say no.”
— Morgan Womack
11:30 a.m. South Portland High School students stage sit-in
“No hate. No fear. Immigrants are welcome here,” chanted about 350 South Portland High School students, most wearing black.
They sat on the gymnasium floor from 10:50 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in solidarity with a national general strike over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in Minnesota, Maine and elsewhere.
The student-led demonstration included a 32-second moment of silence to commemorate the 32 lives lost in ICE custody last year, as well as call-and-response chants and student speeches.
“It’s not easy to show up right now because a lot of people are scared,” said Angela Kabisa, a student representative on the South Portland School Board. “We are stronger together no matter how heavy this all feels. We will keep showing up for each other.”
At the end of the sit-in, student organizers encouraged each attendee to draw or write a positive message to be included in a mosaic-like art installation that will hang in the front of the school.
“Anytime kids come together in the spirit of making improvements for other folks is a great thing,” Superintendent George Entwistle said. “That’s what I saw today.”
— Dana Richie
10:00 a.m.: South Portland High School students plan to stage a sit-in
In solidarity with the national general strike over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in Minnesota, Maine and elsewhere, South Portland High School students are planning to do a sit-in.
High school students across southern Maine are planning to walk out of class or skip school today, with demonstrations scheduled in Gotham, Lewiston, Portland and Yarmouth. Some Midcoast students have a walkout scheduled for Monday.
Students in Portland were originally going to stage a walk out on Friday, but they pivoted to not attend class at all, making it easier for students to attend a protest scheduled for Friday afternoon in Monument Square, according to a social media post by the organizers.
— Dana Richie
8:20 a.m.: Angolan mother says children traumatized after father arrested by ICE
Staring at her living room floor, the mother recalled how several “big, tall” immigration officers had been standing in the same spot a week earlier, counting her children.
Gladise was driving to work with her husband, Manuel, early one morning last week, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stopped the couple from Angola just outside of their southern Maine neighborhood.
As agents cuffed her hands behind her back, Gladise told them she was pregnant and worried about her unattended children at home. The agents, she said, asked to follow her home for proof.
After seeing the four children, she said they agreed to release her — but detained Manuel.
“I cry all day, every day,” Gladise said in an interview on Thursday, a friend helping translate.
An attorney for Manuel asked that the couple’s full names not be published, out of fear for their safety while they apply for asylum.
The couple, married for almost 18 years, has lived in Maine since 2019 after crossing into the U.S. from Mexico, Gladise said.
Kira Gagarin, Manuel’s attorney, said the family was allowed into the country for humanitarian reasons and that he has been waiting for an immigration court hearing scheduled in 2028. She asked that the couple’s full names not be published, out of fear for their safety while they apply for asylum.
“They’ve attended all of their hearings,” Gagarin said, “and they’ve gone to all of their required check-ins.”
Gladise said the couple has moved cities three times and everywhere they’ve lived, Manuel has been vital to their community, helping other immigrants with English, offering them rides to church and picking up their groceries. Gladise said her husband was also working two jobs to support their household when he was detained.
The family has received some support from their church, where a friend has helped Gladise cover the costs of calls from Manuel, who as of Thursday was being held at the Strafford County Correctional Facility in New Hampshire, according to an online locator run by ICE.
The family has launched a GoFundMe to help with Manuel’s legal case.
A U.S. District Court judge in New Hampshire ordered the Department of Justice to either give Manuel a bond hearing or justify why he is ineligible by Feb. 3.
Read the full story here.
— Emily Allen
8:00 a.m.: Portland school board delays implementation of emergency remote learning plan
The Portland Board of Education opted not to implement an emergency remote learning program at a meeting Thursday night.
The plan, which would have allowed families to apply for their students to temporarily attend school remotely, came in the wake of a skyrocketing number of absences during the surge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Maine. A disproportionate amount have been among black, Hispanic or multilingual students, according to school data shared at the meeting.
However, attendance rebounded as the week went on. While more than 21% of Portland students were absent at the height of the trend on Tuesday, that number dropped to 12.5% on Thursday.
That lower absence rate also came the same day U.S. Sen. Susan Collins announced the operation had ended, though federal officials have not confirmed that is the case.
The district averaged about 7.7% of students absent per school day this school year prior to Jan. 16.
Board members voted unanimously Thursday to direct staff to continue developing an emergency remote learning program, and said if district-wide absences reached 20% again an emergency meeting would be triggered to revisit the plan. That threshold would not apply to Friday, when a number of students plan to participate in the national general strike.
Board members also directed the district to work to implement strategies to help transition students who missed class time back into school. That could include reshuffling funding to make way for comprehensive tutoring to bring students up to speed, Superintendent Ryan Scallon suggested.
— Drew Johnson