The Department of Homeland Security has taken down a recently posted list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” that it accused of disobeying federal immigration law, including three Maine communities.
The city of Portland, as well as Hancock and Cumberland counties, were called out on the federal agency’s web page last week for “obstructing” immigration enforcement, but as of Monday, the list had been removed. That webpage now produces a message that “the page may have been moved, deleted, or is otherwise unavailable.”
When the list was posted online, DHS said officials in each community would receive “formal notification” of their noncompliance. It was not clear Monday whether those communities would still be contacted.
On Friday, Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce said in an emailed statement that the new letter from Homeland Security appeared to be nearly the same as another letter he received in January from some of President Donald Trump’s advisers, warning leaders in Hancock and Cumberland counties that they could face legal problems for unlawfully protecting people suspected of immigration violations.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement routinely submits “detainer requests” to local jails, asking officials to hold such inmates up to 48 hours beyond their scheduled release date until the agency can take them into custody and determine whether they should be deported.
Jails in both counties do honor requests from ICE to hold suspects, but officials at both facilities have said they will not hold them past their release dates — which has been a point of contention between Joyce and the federal agency before.
Hancock County Jail Administrator Tim Richardson said Monday that he hasn’t yet learned why Hancock County would be included on the list. He said he and Sheriff Scott Kane have called the ICE office in Boston multiple times to find out why the county made the list, but they haven’t gotten an answer.
“I believe our operation policies are acceptable to everybody,” Richardson said, adding that the allegations from DHS don’t seem to align with Hancock County’s practices.
As of Friday, the Cumberland County Jail was holding 77 people for ICE. The Hancock County Jail does not currently have any ICE detainees, Richardson said.
The city of Portland has not received notice from DHS, a spokesperson said. Mayor Mark Dion said in a statement Friday that he would not comment further until receiving the letter with more information about the city’s alleged noncompliance.
Portland police Chief Mark Dubois said in an interview this spring that his officers don’t contact ICE for any reason, even if they see a request from ICE to detain a suspect while running their license number.
