About 12 agricultural workers were detained in Skowhegan by federal officers Wednesday morning, two community advocates with knowledge of the situation said.
Officers who appeared to be affiliated with U.S. Customs and Border Protection boarded a van and detained the workers at about 6 a.m., Iver Lofving, an advocate and translator, said.
The van, Lofving said, was carrying workers from a former motel in Skowhegan to Backyard Farms in Madison and was stopped by federal agents about 10 minutes from Backyard Farms. The van also picked up several people from elsewhere in Skowhegan, who were detained as part of the operation, he said.
Federal and local officials have yet to confirm the details of the operation, including how many workers were detained, where they are from, why they were detained and where they are being held. CBP and Skowhegan police did not respond to requests for comment.
The raid marked the second time this month that immigration officers have detained workers en route from the former Skowhegan motel at 137 West Front St. to Backyard Farms.
On Feb. 10, agents from U.S. Border Patrol detained 17 workers who were being driven to Backyard Farms.
Federal immigration officials faced public ire after launching “Operation Catch of the Day” which the agency said resulted in more than 200 arrests across Maine in late January. Officials said the operation targeted “the worst of the worst” criminals. It ended after about a week.
But the raid near the motel earlier this month raised questions over whether enhanced immigration enforcement was returning to Maine. A spokesperson for the office of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said they were told by the Department of Homeland Security that the previous raid was part of a “targeted operation” and not related to “Operation Catch of the Day.” Collins’ office says it was passing on the information from DHS, not confirming it.
Collins’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Wednesday operation.
Maureen Calder, a community advocate and co-founder of Mainers for Humane Immigration, said the workers were employed by Martinez and Sons, a Michigan-based agricultural contractor that supplies temporary labor to the Madison greenhouses.
Calder said many of the workers detained Wednesday had arrived to live at the motel only within the past couple of weeks. The motel property is owned by a company with the same mailing address as Backyard Farms’ Madison greenhouses.
Lofving, who was translating for a person with direct knowledge of the situation, said federal agents had been patrolling near the motel for hours before the van was stopped. The person declined to be named because of safety concerns. .
One man, who Lofving said is a legal U.S. resident, was not detained and drove the van to Backyard Farms following the arrests.
Lofving said it was difficult to know exactly how many people were detained as part of the operation because the van picked up several people throughout Skowhegan before heading to Backyard Farms.
A representative for Mastronardi Produce, which owns Backyard Farms, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Martinez and Sons also did not respond to a request for comment.
