The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency officially launched its roundup in Maine on Tuesday, reportedly arresting 50 people in a blitz focused on the state’s largest cities — Portland and Lewiston.
The roundup by ICE foreswore it was “targeting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens who have terrorized communities” in what it called “Operation Catch of the Day.”
But heavily armed ICE agents scooped up residents with no criminal record who were going about their daily business, with an apparent focus on the Somali community. They did share the names of some allegedly convicted criminals they had arrested whose crimes included false imprisonment, assault, obstructing justice, endangering the welfare of a child, cocaine possession and operating under the influence of alcohol. It was not clear whether they had served jail time or not.
The Department of Homeland Security did not reveal the number of ICE agents deployed or how long they planned to stay. Local officials continued to say thanks but no thanks to “a disproportionate presence of federal agents” descending on the 570,000-population combined municipalities, as Portland Mayor Mark Dion put it.
“Portland rejects the need for the deployment of ICE agents into our neighborhoods,” Dion said in a statement. “While we respect the law, we challenge the need for a paramilitary approach to the enforcement of federal statutes. The consequence of law enforcement should not be chaos and violence, which only results in making Portland less safe.”
Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline was more forceful.
“ICE’s terror and intimidation tactics reflect a complete lack of humanity and concern for basic human welfare,” Sheline said in a statement obtained by WCSH-TV. “These masked men with no regard for the rule of law are causing long-term damage to our state and to our country. Lewiston stands for the dignity of all people who call Maine home. We will never stop caring for our neighbors.”
Sheline and Dion had been warning constituents that ICE was on its way, and Gov. Janet “I’ll see you in court” Mills issued her own warning to the president about following the law.
“Maine will not be intimidated, and we will not betray the values that make us who we are,” she said in a video message last week.
Mills urged anyone who wanted to protest to stay peaceful. That was echoed by other officials, from the mayors to U.S. Attorney Andrew Benson, who said maintaining peace was vital, as was knowing the difference between protestation and obstruction.
“Governor Mills and her fellow sanctuary politicians in Maine have made it abundantly clear that they would rather stand with criminal illegal aliens than protect law-abiding American citizens,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in the agency’s statement, adding that those arrested had been “convicted of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and endangering the welfare of a child. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, we are no longer allowing criminal illegal aliens to terrorize American citizens.”
With News Wire Services
