Lacey Donle is a mother of two and preschool teacher who lives in Lisbon Falls.

I am the mother of two children who attend public school in Lisbon. I’m also a preschool teacher at a licensed child care center. I love children and my community. That is why this moment is so difficult. 

Over the last six years, my own children and many young people in Maine have experienced
violence, terror and educational disruption. From the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, to the lockdowns after the Lewiston mass shooting and the regular practice of active shooter drills, many in our community are living on edge. 

Some lockdown drills required the entire kindergarten class to crowd together in the bathroom in their classroom and remain still and silent. Five-year-olds were trained not to respond to a knock on the door, and to only come out when they heard an announcement over the PA system. My son called it “Kansas Clover,” which we later learned meant “campus closure.”

Our children and families are already worried about school safety. In the last few weeks, Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents have made things so much worse. On Sept. 12, 2025, immigration officers in a Portland elementary school’s driveway arrested a parent who had just dropped off his child. This sent shockwaves throughout the community. It solidified that we in child care needed to raise our voices to protect children and families.

We also realized we needed to provide support for child care providers, educators, hospital and health care workers and people who work for public institutions. Their physical and emotional safety is at risk. ICE operations in Maine underscored this dire need. Violent ICE activities in our communities create widespread fear. Local schools saw hundreds of absences in January because of these concerns.

LD 2106 will protect the public health of Maine and help community members feel safer at
public schools, hospitals and health care facilities, daycares and libraries. It would prohibit ICE from entering these locations without a valid judicial warrant signed by a judge. The bill also ensures any information about a person’s immigration status held by these entities is properly protected.

Importantly, it provides guidance and support to workers at these locations, ensuring
they are not forced to make individual decisions in crisis situations. This bill is in service of children’s learning, families accessing care and communities as a whole.

I support this bill because I believe that all children deserve affordable, accessible, high-quality education in physically and emotionally safe environments. This cannot happen when officials are deputized to enter sacred spaces, profile, detain or arrest parents, caregivers and young people. Learning and fear cannot coexist.

This isn’t surprising.

For decades, Republican and Democratic federal administrations prohibited immigration
enforcement at sensitive locations such as schools and hospitals. Policies were built on the
premise that everyone should be able to access services supporting life and well-being without fear. 

Unfortunately, one of the first actions of the administration was to lift these sanctions. They sought to rationalize their actions by pushing harmful and false narratives linking immigrants with criminality.  No one benefits when one group of people is maligned, targeted and pushed to the margins of society.

There’s a lot parents can’t control in the world to keep our children safe. However, we have an opportunity to keep ICE from terrorizing our schools, child care centers and medical facilities. We should act swiftly to do so. The people of Maine must speak out in support of LD 2106.

Legislators, because you care about those caring for you, your friends, Maine kids and families, I urge you to support this bill to rein in ICE agents’ access to our communities.