BURLINGTON, Mass. — Maine residents were among the 12 people arrested Tuesday morning after attempting to deliver care packages to detainees and employees at the Department of Homeland Security’s Boston Field Office for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

They were part of a group of about 40 peaceful protesters taking part in a project named “Care Package 3.0: We Are All in this Together.” Among those arrested at the 1000 District Ave. address were two retired ministers, a civil rights attorney, a family therapist and several Jewish people supporting a “Never Again” message. 

“We have deep concern for them and for the entire process of deportation and detainment that’s happening in this country which we think is unnecessary,” said Jim Gertmenian, of Cumberland, a retired United Church of Christ pastor and one of those who was arrested. “So many Mainers are upset, outraged at what is happening to our neighbors, so we’re here on their behalf.”

The effort builds upon similar actions at the facility in September and December by groups in Massachusetts.

Singing songs such as “We Shall Not Be Moved” and “We Shall Overcome,” protesters attempted to deliver care packages to detainees containing food, hygiene products and other items, as well as a letter from the group. 

In part, the letter read, “We stand in non-violent but committed opposition to the policies and the people who are holding you. We are gathered outside the facility to lift our voices and present our bodies as a witness to the cruelty you are experiencing and to remind you that you are not alone. Some of us, as part of our witness, are willing to be arrested to show our solidarity with you. … We know that you are in distress now. You may be frightened, angry, anxious about what will come next. We promise that we will do everything in our power to end the nightmare you are living through.”

Before leading dozens of people to the doors of the facility, Gertmenian said people were gathering in support of those who have been “taken from their homes in Maine and brought here against their will and held in conditions we understand are not good.”

The Burlington facility, about 100 miles from Portland, is designed as a short-term processing site, not for long periods of detention. Detainees from around New England have been processed at the facility, which attorneys have reported holds people from days to over a week following ramped up enforcement operations. Some of the 200-plus people detained in Maine during “Operation Catch of the Day” in January ended up at the facility.

Attorneys representing Maine clients have reported overcrowded holding rooms with dozens of people packed into cells with limited ventilation, no access to showers, single toilets monitored by cameras, insufficient food and limited access to medications. They have also reported limited access to clients. 

ICE officials have disputed the claims, saying instead that detainees experience quick processing with access to basic amenities and communication with attorneys before transfer to longer-term detention sites.

Protesters on Tuesday also brought care packages for ICE employees that included maple syrup from Maine and an open letter. 

“We want to acknowledge their common humanity with us,” Gertmenian said. “They are not our enemies, the system is. The system of deportation is a way to dehumanize people and remove from our midst neighbors, friends, workers, taxpayers, church members, people who are important to us as a community and as a state.”

Kim Matthews, a retired civil rights attorney from Westbrook, became involved with the care package project through her involvement with Indivisible Cumberland County, where she volunteered early on for classes on civil disobedience. 

Matthews risked arrest for the first time in her life. 

“I just felt this tension happening to our neighbors and the cruelty of what they’re doing to these people, having them sleeping on floors and with very little food,” Matthews said. “It’s what I call my big ‘If not now, then when.’ … A lot of the activities of ICE, I believe, are illegal, inhumane.” 

Arrested for criminal trespass and disturbing the peace were: Gertmenian; Matthews; Meg Albright, of Freeport; artist and justice activist Natasha Mayers, of Whitefield; the Rev. Mair Honan, of Freeport; Stephanie Morris; Elizabeth Patten, of Freeport; Sandra Thomas, of Bremen; Ella Tabasky, of Brunswick; Quaker and climate and justice activist Minga Claggett-Borne, of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Josh Model, of Lexington, Massachusetts; and Rebecca Tabasky, of Groton, Massachusetts. 

As Gertmenian, Matthews and 10 others were taken into custody, a Burlington police officer spoke with members of the support team, according to a press release from a combination of Indivisible, Quaker and multifaith groups.

“We might disagree on a number of issues, but I understand what you were trying to do here today,” the officer said, according to the release. “But forcing us to make arrests is unreasonable. That consumes hours of valuable time.” 

Andy Burt, a member of Midcoast Friends Meeting in Damariscotta, thanked the officers for showing protesters respect. 

“But we’re not the ones hurting people,” Burt said. “If local officials did their jobs, by conducting wellness visits and exercising oversight to see that code and zoning bylaws were being observed, we wouldn’t need to be here making sure this benign-looking office building remains a point of concern for the entire community.”

Jasa Porciello, of Portland, was in attendance to support anyone who would be arrested. Porciello was among those arrested at a demonstration at U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ Portland office in January. 

“I found as a citizen of the United States that it was absolutely abhorrent and unacceptable that these people are being held without due process,” Porciello said. “Due process is part of our rights as citizens and these people are here legally or without criminal record and it’s just not acceptable. When their rights are violated, it’s an erosion of my rights as an American. We can’t let the baseline of our rights be eroded in this way. It’s cruel, it’s not acceptable, it’s inhumane.”