A wave of federal immigration enforcement in Maine that has been marked by sharp political polarization and a sense of fear in some communities entered its fourth day Friday.
Gov. Janet Mills, who has strongly criticized the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, issued a call for Congress to curtail funding for the agency “until they stop their aggressive tactics.” Sen. Angus King also suggested not funding ICE’s budget going forward and said he is considering pressing for federal agents to be required to wear body cameras and remove masks.
Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce said ICE moved all of its detainees out of the county jail on Thursday after he questioned the agency’s tactics, calling officers’ actions during the arrest of a county corrections officer “bush-league policing.”
On Friday night, the Department of Homeland Security said it is canceling its agreement to hold detainees at the Cumberland County Jail.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin cited the corrections officer’s arrest on Wednesday, saying it was “shocking” to see the jail employ a “lawbreaker.”
York County Sheriff William King also spoke out after confirming that one of his county’s corrections officers was also detained, saying that it doesn’t appear that agents are truly targeting “the worst of the worst,” as they have said.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders have called on Democrats to temper their rhetoric. And conservative Mainers told our reporters this week that many of them welcome what the Trump administration has dubbed “Operation Catch of the Day,” though some also expressed reservations about agents’ tactics.
Read our updates from Thursday here.
Here’s what else you need to know:
- ICE watchers in Maine say they were threatened by federal agents
- Masked agents detain civil engineer in Portland, leave his car running in the street with a smashed window
- Wife of detainee questions morality of ICE enforcement in Maine
- Jared Golden 1 of 7 House Democrats who voted for DHS spending bill
- Gov. Mills traveled outside of Maine as ICE operation began. Her team won’t say why.
- A new anti-ICE law isn’t in effect yet. Maine State Police are already following it.
- Maine businesses, customers react to ICE presence
Our journalists are working to verify sightings and report events as they happen. Have a tip? Fill out this form, reach us on Signal at PressHeraldTips.295 or email [email protected]. Tips are confidential.
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8:25 p.m.: DHS cancels partnership with Cumberland County Jail after arresting corrections officer
The Department of Homeland Security is canceling its agreement to hold detainees at Cumberland County Jail.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin cited the arrest of a corrections officer on Wednesday, saying it was “shocking” to see the jail employ a “law breaker.”
“Following learning the county jail employed an illegal alien, ICE will no longer house illegal aliens at the facility,” McLaughlin said in a written statement on Friday. “We could not, in good conscience, continue to partner with a law enforcement organization that flagrantly violated our nation’s immigration laws.”
McLaughlin identified the corrections officer as Emanuel Ludovic Mbuangi Landila, saying he is an Angolan who illegally crossed the southern border in 2019.
Sheriff Kevin Joyce said ICE officials called his office Thursday to say they were moving all of their detainees out of the Portland facility. Joyce said about 50 detainees were removed that night, though he did not have an exact total.
The transfers came just hours after Joyce criticized the federal agency’s practices, calling them “bush league” for using so many agents to detain one person, a corrections officer, and leaving his running vehicle on the side of the road.
Joyce said the officer’s background check came up “squeaky clean” when he was hired in February 2024, and that his paperwork showed he was allowed to work in the country until April 2029.
— Drew Johnson
7:45 p.m.: Maine State Bar Association condemns recent ICE activity
The Maine State Bar Association issued a statement Friday afternoon condemning recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in Maine “that appears to violate fundamental constitutional principles.”
The group is a voluntary, nonpartisan organization comprising more than 2,800 licensed lawyers.
In its statement, the association acknowledged immigration law is complex and that it respects the “diversity of views” among its members.
“The MSBA acknowledges that immigration law is complex and that some individuals are present in the United States without lawful documentation,” the statement reads. “What the MSBA unequivocally condemns is illegal and unconstitutional conduct carried out in the name of enforcement.
The group said it is concerned by some ICE agents’ reported conduct, including warrantless searches, misuse of force, racial profiling, and the use of enforcement surges as perceived retaliation against regions of the state that aren’t politically in line with the current administration.
“The Maine State Bar Association calls upon all law enforcement agencies operating in Maine to uphold their obligation to defend the constitutional rights of all Mainers,” the group said. “As lawyers, judges, and officers of the court, we have a duty to speak plainly when the rule of law is threatened and to affirm that constitutional limits on government power are not optional, they are essential to liberty, safety, and justice for all.”
— Emily Allen
6:30 p.m.: ICE blasts Cumberland County sheriff for criticism, accusing him of betraying ‘his law enforcement brethren’
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official on Friday condemned Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce for his criticism of the agency, saying he “chose to turn on his law enforcement brethren and smear the brave men and women of ICE” instead of “owning up to his own department’s failures.”
“While Sheriff Kevin Joyce was busy grandstanding and attacking ICE, our officers were risking their lives to keep Cumberland County safe, arresting dangerous criminals and upholding the law,” ICE Deputy Assistant Director Patricia Hyde said in a written statement.
Joyce described the arrest of a Cumberland County corrections officer this week in Portland as “bush-league policing,” criticizing ICE for using so many agents to detain one person and for leaving his running vehicle on the side of the road.
“When I say bush league, I mean bush league,” Joyce said Thursday at a news conference. “We don’t do that as law enforcement officers.”
Joyce said the officer had a “squeaky clean” criminal record and was authorized to work in the U.S. until 2029, but Hyde described him as an “illegal alien” in her statement.
“Sheriff Joyce should clean up his own house before criticizing those who actually protect our communities,” Hyde said.
— Staff report
6 p.m.: Hundreds gather in Portland to protest actions by ICE
While the temperature dropped, emotions remained high as hundreds of protesters took to Monument Square on Friday night after a week in which federal immigration officials said they detained over 100 people in Maine.
Small demonstrations have been held throughout the week — in Portland and beyond — but Friday night’s appeared to be the first to boast such numbers since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement began a large-scale operation this week.
“No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” protesters chanted as a symphony of car horns blared on Congress Street.
The rally was the second of the day in Portland. Earlier, a couple of dozen lawyers and other legal advocates marched through the city’s Bayside neighborhood to protest what they say have been unlawful arrests in Maine by ICE.
Read the full story here.
— Drew Johnson
4:30 p.m.: Federal agents apprehend man, transfer him into a vehicle at Maine Mall
Sirens, honking and whistles sounded off in a parking lot at the Maine Mall in South Portland around 3:45 p.m. Friday as about a dozen people watched an apparent federal immigration arrest unfold.
According to witnesses, people who appeared to be federal law enforcement officers apprehended a man near the Hannaford and TJMaxx and put him into their vehicle, a minivan with out-of-state plates.
A reporter at the scene saw at least one person who appeared to be a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Nearby, the crowd blew their whistles and honked their car horns.
The minivan drove away with the man inside, then pulled into the nearby JCPenney parking lot, where three additional vehicles surrounded it.
— Aimsel Ponti
4:20 p.m.: Maine Med nurse says apparent ICE agent taunted her, said he would target families
Kelli Brennan, a neurotrauma nurse at Maine Medical Center, said in an interview Friday that she was driving to work Thursday morning when she noticed potential federal immigration enforcement activity on Forest Avenue in Portland. She said she saw a few cars surrounding another vehicle and what looked like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents standing around.
Brennan parked across the street and began recording the encounter with her cellphone, at which point the agents pointed their flashlights at her, indicating that they knew she was recording them. Brennan said she was driving a co-worker who is an immigrant to work, so she immediately left, not wanting to put her fellow employee in danger.
But someone she believes was an ICE agent followed her in a blue Subaru, rolled down his window and taunted her, calling her a “Karen.” Brennan said she rolled down her window and exchanged words with the man.
“I told them we didn’t want them here and said, ‘You can get the (expletive) out,” Brennan said. “He said, ‘Well, you can get the (expletive) out.’ Then he said, ‘I’m going to arrest three more families in Maine just for you.’
“It was so surreal to see that much anger,” Brennan added. “They are here just to terrorize. No police officer would do what he did.”
After the exchange, Brennan said the man left, and she continued to work.
Brennan said she’s noticed some of the housekeeping and janitorial staff, some of whom are immigrants, have called off work because they are fearful of ICE. A spokesperson for Maine Med operator MaineHealth said in a statement earlier Friday that the health system is experiencing some work callouts, as well as patient cancellations, because of the uptick in ICE activity.
Maine Med employees have been giving rides and delivering groceries to immigrant workers and their families so they don’t have to leave home, said Brennan, a union representative with the Maine State Nurses’ Association.
“ICE has no place in Maine,” said Brennan, of Saco. “These immigrants aren’t criminals. These are our friends and neighbors, part of our community.”
— Joe Lawlor
4:10 p.m.: U.S. Attorney’s Office says ICE violated court order by transferring detainees from Cumberland County Jail
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maine said Friday afternoon that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement violated a federal judge’s order by moving a woman detained in Portland out of state Thursday night.
Abigail Lima Da Silva O’Leary was one of roughly 50 ICE detainees who were transferred from the Cumberland County Jail around 6 p.m. Thursday night, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Lizotte confirmed in court records.
The transfer came hours after Sheriff Kevin Joyce criticized ICE for how it arrested a county corrections officer earlier this week, calling the apprehension “bush league.”
Lizotte said the transfer was “in violation of the Court’s prior order,” which temporarily barred ICE from moving O’Leary, who has filed a petition in federal court arguing that her detention is unconstitutional.
Lizotte said federal prosecutors, who represent ICE in court, were not made aware of the transfers until after the fact.
Almost three hours after O’Leary was moved, Lizotte said ICE had his office file an emergency motion requesting the transfer because ICE “can no longer house immigration detainees at the Cumberland County Jail, and there is no additional bed space in Maine in which to house petitioner.”
Lizotte said ICE’s decision to “no longer house immigration detainees at the Cumberland County Jail” was not known to him until Friday afternoon.
— Emily Allen
4 p.m.: Maine AFL-CIO President condemns ICE raids
The president of the Maine AFL-CIO on Friday decried recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on Maine workplaces as “an attack on all workers.”
In a written statement, Cynthia Phinney said workers of color throughout the state are afraid to go to their jobs, take their children to school or go to the store. The AFL-CIO represents more than 200 unions and 42,000 workers throughout the state.
“Everyone in this country should have the right to go to work and return safely to their loved ones at the end of the day without fear of violence, especially not violence perpetrated by their own government,” Phinney said.
Phinney said the name “Operation Catch of the Day,” as federal officials have dubbed it, is dehumanizing. She charged that ICE agents are subjecting immigrants to the “same kind of terror and violence” many of them fled in their home countries.
“We stand strongly opposed to the Trump administration’s deportation of workers to dangerous prisons, stripping workers of their citizenship and other permits, and shooting innocent people for exercising their constitutionally protected right to protest,” she said. “An injury to one of us is an injury to us all.”
— Daniel Kool
3:15 p.m.: York County sheriff says ICE arrested a corrections officer outside immigration appointment
A York County Jail corrections officer was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside a scheduled immigration appointment in Scarborough this week, York County Sheriff William King said Friday.
The officer, who King declined to name, had passed a criminal background check and federal verification before being hired. King described him as “a contributing and valued member of the staff” at the jail, which is currently experiencing a staffing shortage.
“To the best of our knowledge this individual has never committed any type of crime that would result in the revocation of his legal status,” King said in a written statement Friday afternoon. “From York County’s perspective, it never received any notification on whether there had been a change in his status.”
King noted that York County “supports local and federal law enforcement in their various missions,” but he said ICE was falling short of its promises to specifically target violent criminals.
“While enforcement actions are being promoted as targeting the ‘worst of the worst’ the reality appears far more complicated,” he said. “Changes in immigration policy have redefined who is considered lawfully present in the United States.”
— Dylan Tusinski
3:10 p.m.: South Portland Mexican restaurant temporarily closes
Tres Leches Cake’s Flor, a Mexican restaurant in South Portland, will be closed indefinitely to protect vulnerable community members, according to Rachel Gavilan, the daughter of the owner.
A lot of their customers are Latino, Gavilan said.
“We don’t want to put anybody at risk,” she said. “It’s not safe to be out right now.”
Jose Franco, the owner’s brother, and Gavilan went to check the mailbox of the business Friday.
“We want to wait and see how it’s going to be,” Franco said.
Franco has lived in South Portland for decades, but he’s started carrying his passport in his pocket, just in case. He said people are being stopped and taken regardless of status, and that’s terrifying.
“They’re looking for any excuse to take you,” he said. “The color of your skin. An accent.”
Tres Leches was also closed during its normal hours Wednesday and Thursday. A small crowd of about 20 people formed outside the restaurant Thursday morning after witnesses reported seeing a vehicle with apparent federal agents parked nearby.
— Dana Richie
3 p.m.: Lawyers march in protest of ‘unlawful’ ICE arrests
A couple dozen lawyers and other legal advocates marched through Portland’s Bayside neighborhood Friday afternoon to protest what they say have been unlawful arrests in Maine by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The march was organized by Maine Lawyers for the Rule of Law, a group that has organized other events to raise awareness for the ways that it believes the Trump administration has attacked the “rule of law,” the democratic principle that people are accountable to publicly enacted laws that are equally enforced and consistent with human rights. Those events have included protests across from the courthouse and a forum at the University of Southern Maine campus in September.
“Lawyers are officers of the justice system,” said attorney David Webbert, a member of the group. “This is not normal, this is outrageous, and Mainers need to know that lawyers recognize that.”
Webbert said the group is concerned by increased ICE arrests and activity in Maine, which he said has included targeting people based on their race and appearance, entering homes without judicial warrants and using excessive force. He said that he is planning to sue ICE under the Federal Tort Claims Act for alleged wrongdoing by a federal agency.
Webbert said he was also concerned by news Friday that ICE had moved roughly 50 detainees from the Cumberland County Jail in Portland, hours after the sheriff overseeing the jail criticized ICE agents who forcefully arrested a corrections officer.
Court records show that a federal judge had temporarily barred the federal government from moving at least four of these detainees out of Maine.
Neither ICE nor the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine has explained yet in court why the detainees were moved or whether they consider this a violation of court orders.
“They don’t care about following court orders,” Webbert said. “They’re just mad at the sheriff; they want to punish him.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not respond Friday afternoon to a request to discuss those transfers.
— Emily Allen
2:40 p.m.: Federal agents arrested 6 restaurant workers in coordinated visits to 2 locations, manager says
Federal immigration agents arrested three staff members each from Kobe Japanese Restaurant’s locations in South Portland and Biddeford on Thursday morning, according to a restaurant manager.
Immigration agents arrived at the Biddeford location as staff were just arriving for the day before 11 a.m. Thursday, said the manager on duty Friday, who requested anonymity because she was concerned for her safety. She said agents arrived at the South Portland location around that same time.
The manager said the agents requested proof of citizenship from everyone present and did not offer a specific explanation for the arrests. Among those taken were immigrants from China and Latin America, she said.
“All we know is that they are legal to work,” she said. “It’s hard to open a business right now. You’re basically targeted.”
Two kitchen staff and a hibachi chef were among those taken, leaving the businesses “severely short-staffed,” she said. On Friday, the South Portland location was closed and some of its staff moved to Biddeford — allowing one location to operate despite the staffing issues, she said. No one answered the phone at the South Portland location Friday afternoon.
At least one customer, in a post on social media, reported having a reservation canceled due to the staffing shortages.
In June, masked Border Patrol agents arrested three workers from Kobe’s Bangor location as part of what officials called a “worksite enforcement operation,” the Bangor Daily News reported.
ICE spokespeople did not immediately return emailed questions about who was arrested, why they were taken or why the agency targeted the restaurants.
— Daniel Kool
2:30 p.m.: Sen. King suggests immigration agents should be required to remove masks, wear body cameras
U.S. Sen. Angus King said Friday that he is considering whether Congress could require federal immigration agents to remove masks and use body cameras as part of budget talks next week.
King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats, was speaking at the Maine Outdoor Economy Summit in Portland. More than 400 people gathered to talk about the state’s outdoor recreation sector, but anxiety about the surge in federal immigration agents in the city bubbled up continuously throughout the conference.
King spent more than 45 minutes in conversation about land conservation and national parks with Carrie Besnette Hauser from the Trust for Public Land and Whitney Potter Schwartz of Outdoor Recreation Roundtable — but most questions from the audience were about ICE.
“Many of us in this room are acutely aware right now that the outdoors is not safe or accessible to a great deal of our citizenry,” one audience member asked. “And I was just wondering what you would be willing to do to protect the citizens of Maine from the great overreach by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to make it safe for our citizens.”
Applause met the question. King replied by echoing remarks he made at a news conference Thursday in Portland, saying that federal immigration agents are “terrorizing” people in Maine.
“We could perhaps not fund the ICE budget, and they still have what was passed last summer,” King said. “That’s something I’m trying to determine with the leadership of the Appropriations Committee as to what can we do.”
King also said he was still trying to get more information from ICE about its operations in Maine.
A staffer told a Press Herald reporter that the senator was not available for an interview after the discussion.
Another guest at the conference took the mic to say that he previously worked in immigration enforcement but questioned federal agents’ current tactics.
“They need to remove their masks,” he told King. “We didn’t wear masks. We didn’t dress up in combat gear. We didn’t shoot people in the face, point blank, with pepper balls, which is deadly force.”
“I’m starting to think the fear and intimidation is the point,” King said.
“It is the point,” the man replied. “It’s very intentional.”
— Megan Gray
2 p.m.: Maine ICE watchers say federal agents are threatening them for documenting activity
Greater Portland residents who have been driving around the area this week to monitor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity and document enforcement efforts in their cities say they have been threatened by federal agents.
The volunteers in Maine say agents have started showing up at their homes and intimidating them or threatening arrest. Some of them, masked and wearing tactical gear, have issued stark warnings not to follow them.
Advocates began preparing for potential large-scale ICE activity in Maine back in September. On Tuesday, when the federal operation officially began, they started driving around the city on a daily basis.
There are similar groups in other communities all over Maine and the U.S. that are set up to monitor ICE activity, especially in the mornings and afternoons, when children are going to school or coming home.
“ This was not about law enforcement doing their job. This was about a federal agent using intimidation to discourage lawful civic activity in my own community,” said Erin Cavallaro, one of the volunteers in Maine who said officers came to her home. “What I was doing was lawful.”
Another volunteer, Bob Peck, said he followed an SUV that left the ICE detention center in Scarborough on Thursday and was confronted by the men in the vehicle, who told him he was impeding federal law enforcement. When Peck said he was only observing, they threatened to arrest him.
Read the full story here.
— Salomé Cloteaux and Dana Richie
1 p.m.: Some MaineHealth workers are staying home because of ICE fears, but operations continuing as normal, spokesperson says
John Porter, a MaineHealth spokesperson, said in a statement Friday that the health system is experiencing some work callouts and patient cancellations caused by the ramped-up ICE enforcement this week, but not enough to disrupt operations. The largest health system in the state operates Maine Medical Center in Portland, seven other Maine hospitals, and an array of primary care and specialty clinics across the state.
“A limited number of patients have requested either to postpone visits or take advantage of our established telehealth resources, and MaineHealth is taking steps to accommodate these requests as we prioritize safety, privacy and continuity of care,” Porter said. “We also continue to experience higher than usual call-outs in some segments of our workforce. While the exact numbers can vary shift to shift, the overall trend line for these call-outs has been steady.”
On Thursday, the Maine State Nurses Association, the nurses’ union for Maine Med, released a statement about working conditions at the hospital. Meg Sinclair, an union representative and nurse at Maine Med, said “scaring people into not coming to work doesn’t make us safe. It compromises the care of our patients.”
— Joe Lawlor
12:30 p.m.: Hotel group CEO says he doesn’t know of any ICE agents at his properties
Freeport-based Maine Course Hospitality Group, owner of 14 hotels in Maine and 14 others from the Northeast to Florida, hasn’t been affected by increased immigration enforcement, CEO Sean Riley said.
Riley said he knew of no ICE agents staying at or arresting people on Maine Course properties, including Courtyard hotels in Portland and South Portland and the Homewood Suites in Scarborough.
He said Maine Course makes sure all staff members have necessary immigration documents and work permits, and that the company hasn’t experienced staffing issues because some employees are afraid to go to work.
Maine Course began addressing concerns about increased immigration enforcement last year, Riley said, and has taken steps to make sure associates know how to respond if ICE agents arrive at one of their hotels.
“Our hotels are open to everybody,” he said. “But we also want our guests and our associates to feel safe and comfortable, and we want to be law-abiding.”
Riley said the company recently held an online information session to update associates on the current situation.
“We wanted to give them as much information as possible because the lack of information around this carries a lot of fear,” he said. “This isn’t going away anytime soon and we want to put people at ease.”
— Kelley Bouchard
Noon: Portland hotel where protesters gathered didn’t respond to questions about agents’ presence
Management at the Residence Inn by Marriott in Portland didn’t respond Friday when asked if federal immigration agents have been staying at the Old Port hotel that was the site of a protest Thursday night.
Neither did the hotel’s owners at Apple Hospitality REIT in Richmond, Virginia.
— Kelley Bouchard
11:30 a.m.: ICE hotline calls are up nearly 5,000%, advocacy group says
The operators of Maine’s Immigrant Defense Hotline, which allows callers to report sightings and tips regarding federal immigration activity, say they have seen a major uptick in calls since news of the Trump administration’s enforcement surge began to circulate last week.
Between Jan. 13 and Friday morning, the hotline saw a nearly 5,000% increase in calls compared to the prior 10-day period, said Hunter Cropsey of the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition.
MIRC publishes daily call data on its social media accounts.
On Wednesday, the latest day for which data was available as of Friday morning, operators fielded 1,169 incoming calls — roughly 35% more than the day before. The calls have also grown longer on average, according to MIRC.
Among Wednesday’s calls were 46 from Portland, 24 from South Portland, 22 from Westbrook and 17 from Biddeford, though the group cautioned that not all calls include location details.
The group also provided a breakdown of calls by type for Tuesday. The majority referenced suspected sightings and tips about Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity, but there were also more than 100 calls for support and general information, according to MIRC.
MIRC, working with other advocacy groups, helped launch the hotline in October. It is designed to connect vulnerable Mainers with resources and to track the movements and actions of federal immigration agents.
— Daniel Kool
11 a.m.: Passamaquoddy chief says ICE has ‘been in contact‘ with tribal leaders
Amkuwiposohehs “Pos” Bassett, chief of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik, moved to assuage the concerns of tribal members in a letter to the community shared online Thursday night and said that ICE has already been in contact with the tribal government.
Bassett did not elaborate in his letter on the nature of that communication.
He encouraged tribal members to carry their tribal IDs and pledged the full support of the tribal government and its legal representation to any tribal member who is unlawfully detained or arrested by federal immigration officials.
The announcement followed a similar letter from Penobscot Chief Kirk Francis, who on Tuesday also urged members of his tribe to carry their tribal IDs. Members of federally recognized tribes in other states have been detained or arrested, Francis said, and there have been reports of federal agents refusing to accept tribal IDs as proof of citizenship.
“I’m asking you to be proud of who you are, I want you to stand out, I want you to walk down the street knowing that you have the full force of the Passamaquoddy Tribe behind you and we are willing to step up in any situation you cross paths with,” Bassett wrote.
He advised any Sipayik residents who aren’t citizens and lack legal documentation to contact an immigration attorney.
Federal agents would have a police escort if they come onto tribal territory, Bassett said.
— Reuben M. Schafir
10:55 a.m.: One summonsed during protest outside hotel where ICE believed to be staying, police say
One person was issued a summons during a Portland protest Thursday night outside a downtown hotel where protesters believed federal immigration agents were staying, police confirmed Friday.
Videos circulating on social media showed dozens of people banging drums, blowing whistles and chanting outside the Residence Inn at 154 Fore St.
Portland police spokesperson Brad Nadeau said more than 50 people gathered Thursday night, making noise and “causing disturbances inside the lobby.”
Police arrived shortly after 10 p.m. and told the group to disperse or risk being charged with disorderly conduct. One person, a 28-year-old from Brunswick, was issued a criminal summons “in lieu of arrest,” Nadeau said.
— Dylan Tusinski
10:50 a.m.: Immigration lawyer filed late-night emergency petition to prevent client’s transfer from Portland jail
A federal judge ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement not to move at least one immigrant detainee from the Cumberland County Jail late Thursday night, when the federal agency transferred its detainees out of the facility.
Tong Qi Lu, 56, has been held at the jail in Portland for 10 months after a Maine State Trooper called ICE on him, according to a petition Lu’s attorney filed Thursday night in Maine’s U.S. District Court. Lu was living in Bangor and owned a restaurant there, according to court records.
Federal attorneys representing ICE had not yet responded in court Friday morning, but ICE’s online locator indicated that Lu is now being held at the Plymouth County Correctional Center in Massachusetts.
Sheriff Kevin Joyce, who oversees the Portland jail, confirmed Friday morning that ICE detainees had been moved out of the facility. The mass transfer came hours after Joyce criticized ICE on Thursday for its tactics when arresting a county corrections officer this week.
Lu’s attorney Oriana Farnham said in the petition that Lu left China when he was about 20 years old, and that he has called the U.S. home for more than 30 years.
ICE determined in 2020 that his removal to China “was not likely in the foreseeable future” and that he posed no risk to the community, Farnham wrote in court records. She said Lu has been complying with ICE’s conditions of release for the last five years, and that a petition for lawful permanent status is still pending.
Lu was taken into custody again in April, Farnham said, after a state trooper stopped Lu while he was searching for supplies at a scrapyard with the property owner’s permission.
“After checking Mr. Lu’s driver’s license, the Trooper informed him, ‘You’ve got trouble — ICE wants you,’” Farnham wrote.
The trooper reportedly took Lu to a restaurant he owns in Bangor to hug his family members, before Lu was transferred to ICE custody and brought to Portland.
— Emily Allen
10:40 a.m.: Avesta Housing says ICE has been active at its properties
Avesta Housing said Friday that it was aware of “ICE activity at a limited number of our properties.”
The affordable housing nonprofit manages over 3,000 units across the state, including a 52-unit South Portland property designed to serve asylum seekers experiencing homelessness. That building opened in 2023.
Avesta declined to comment on any specifics of the activity.
“Avesta employees handle any requests for resident information or property access in accordance with applicable law. To protect the privacy and safety of residents and employees, we do not disclose property locations or comment on the status of individual residents,” the agency said in an emailed statement.
“Our mission is unwavering, and we support those who have chosen to make their home in an Avesta community. We recognize that this is a time of great stress and uncertainty for many, and the safety and wellbeing of all our employees and residents is paramount.”
— Hannah LaClaire
10:30 a.m.: Gov. Janet Mills urges Sen. Susan Collins, Congress to curtail ICE funding ‘until they stop their aggressive tactics’
Gov. Janet Mills on Friday called on Congress to curtail funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “until they stop their aggressive tactics.”
Mills, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, specifically called out Republican Sen. Susan Collins, whom she hopes to unseat this fall, in a written statement released by her campaign.
“We’ve seen ICE agents separating mothers from young children without any empathy or any respect for the rule of law,” Mills said. “Congress, including Susan Collins, should curtail funding for ICE until they stop their aggressive tactics that are just instilling fear and anxiety in people across the state.”
A surge of federal agents came to Maine this week as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation effort. Agents have been seen wearing masks and moving around Portland, Lewiston and surrounding communities in unmarked vehicles.
The administration says it is targeting “the worst of the worst,” but state officials and families say that people with misdemeanors or no criminal records are being detained and disappeared.
The U.S. Senate is expected to vote next week on a minibus package of spending bills that includes funding for the Department of Homeland Security. The package is the final annual appropriations bill needed to prevent a partial government shutdown at the end of the month.
Collins has said she plans to support the bill, which includes $20 million in funding for body cameras and $2 million for deescalation training — measures that she said can help protect ICE agents and the public.
“At this time of heightened tensions, these steps could help improve trust, accountability, and safety,” Collins said in a written statement this week. “I hope that Congress will adopt these measures quickly.”
The funding bill was approved Thursday by the House of Representatives, with Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, one of just seven Democrats voting in support.
Mills is running in the Democratic primary against Graham Platner, a combat veteran and oyster farmer from Sullivan who has forcefully condemned ICE tactics throughout his campaign. Platner said he supports “dismantling” ICE and holding congressional hearings.
— Randy Billings
10 a.m.: ICE detainees removed from Portland jail after sheriff’s criticism
Detainees who were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were removed from the Cumberland County Jail on Thursday night, according to the sheriff.
Sheriff Kevin Joyce said Friday morning that ICE officials called the sheriff’s office Thursday to inform staff that they were removing all of their detainees in custody at the Portland jail. He said the detainees were transferred out of the jail Thursday night.
The move came after Joyce criticized the federal agency’s practices at a news conference Thursday after agents apprehended a Cumberland County corrections officer Wednesday evening.
Read the full story here.
— Dylan Tusinski and Morgan Womack
9 a.m.: Masked agents detain man in Portland, leave his car running in the street with a smashed window
Masked agents in police vests detained Juan Sebastian Carvajal-Munoz, a civil engineer from Colombia employed by an engineering consulting company, in Portland on Thursday morning. Carvajal-Munoz earned a master’s degree from the University of Maine, and colleagues said he was in the country on a work visa.
An unmarked dark Subaru with tinted windows cut off Carvajal-Munoz as he was driving his grey Hyundai Tucson on Pearl Street in downtown Portland at 8:46 a.m., according to Jesse Smith, who witnessed the encounter.
Agents got out and quickly began using a crowbar to try and pry open his window, Smith said. They then smashed it to pieces. Three agents pulled Carvajal-Munoz out of his car, placed him in their Subaru and drove off, he said.
Smith couldn’t hear what, if anything, the agents said to Carvajal-Munoz but said the whole encounter was very quick.
“In less than two minutes, they smashed his window and dragged him out of the car,” Smith said. “He was compliant. He wasn’t resisting or anything.”
Agents left the car running — with its smashed window — on the street, according to interviews with Smith and a nearby parking attendant. A passerby then drove the vehicle into the parking lot, the attendant said. Smith said Carvajal-Munoz’s bag and keys were left in the passenger seat, and his phone was discarded on the road behind the car.
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— Rose Lundy and Josh Keefe, The Maine Monitor
7:50 a.m.: Homeland Security launches new website to highlight what it calls ‘worst of the worst’ arrests in Maine
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that the agency has revamped its new website to highlight some arrests carried out this week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The site, which the administration is calling the “Worst of the Worst,” now features 13 people who have been apprehended by ICE agents in Maine. They are accused of committing crimes ranging from drug offenses, to failure to report a crime, to aggravated assault.
ICE officials confirmed Thursday that agents have arrested at least 100 people in Maine since its enhanced enforcement operation began. Some local and state leaders have cast doubts on ICE’s claims that agents are only arresting people with criminal records.
— Morgan Womack