Federal agents assemble Wednesday morning at a home on Bartlett Street in Lewiston. (Russ Dillingham/Staff Photographer)
Reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Maine spiked Tuesday — the start of an increase in ICE activity that has continued Wednesday.
In an interview with Fox News, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Assistant Director Patricia Hyde said officers had identified more than 1,000 targets in Maine. The network reported 50 arrests had been made Tuesday.
Read our updates from Tuesday here.
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3:40 p.m.: MaineHealth monitoring increased ICE activity
MaineHealth spokesperson John Porter released a statement on Wednesday in response to questions about hospital staffing in the wake of increased ICE presence that the hospital system “continues to monitor reports of increased federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the community.”
“Our focus remains on supporting our care team and delivering patient-centered care without disruption,” Porter said. “While we are experiencing higher than usual call-outs in some segments of our workforce, we have been able to address any operational challenges that have arisen with no impact on patient care.”
– Joe Lawlor
2:55 p.m.: Jared Golden says ICE enforcement is legitimate, as long as it targets criminal activity
In a statement, U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a 2nd District Democrat from Lewiston, said he did not see a problem with the increased ICE enforcement activities in Maine, as long as it was targeted.
“So long as this remains a targeted law enforcement operation focused on individuals who have engaged in criminal activities then I believe it legitimately serves the public interest,” he said in the statement.
– Billy Kobin
2:50 p.m.: Owner of East Ender restaurant says he’s trying to make staff feel safe
Karl Deuben, who owns East Ender on Middle Street in Portland, said he has sent a message to his staff about ICE’s presence in Maine, posted signs delineating the restaurant’s public and private spaces, reposted information from the ACLU, clarified the definition of a warrant, and reminded staff to call him immediately if ICE officers enter the building.
“The most important thing I mentioned to our staff is that interacting with ICE outside the business is different than inside the business,” he said. “They do have a legal right to be on premise and so we need to remember that.”
“The last thing I want is for there to be a specific type of adversarial energy that causes our staff or the public to be in any type of unforeseen danger,” Deuben said. “The goal is to de-escalate as opposed to escalate.”
Deuben compared the current situation to COVID, when he strove to give his staff accurate information.
Of a potential visit from ICE agents, he said, “my goal is if they come in, they’re in and they’re out. “
– Peggy Grodinsky
1:55 p.m.: Attendance down in Portland schools as ICE enforcement ramps up
Attendance was down in Portland Public Schools Tuesday as immigration enforcement activities increased in the city and across the state this week.
The district’s overall attendance rate was down to 84.4% on Jan. 20, compared to 89.4% last Friday, a district spokesperson said, although she noted that the reasons for absences are not always clear from the data.
Portland is home to the state’s largest and most diverse school district, where nearly 30% of students are English language learners. The district already saw impacts on attendance early last week, when rumors of ICE’s arrival in Maine began to circulate.
– Riley Board
1:50 p.m.: Homeland Security says heightened enforcement targeting ‘criminal illegal aliens’
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently enacted “Operation Catch of the Day,” a heightened immigration enforcement effort across Maine.
The federal agency said the operation is “targeting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens,” according to an emailed statement from the Department of Homeland Security.
“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,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Federal officials would not immediately confirm how many people had been arrested by ICE agents so far, though they highlighted four people arrested in Maine Tuesday who are also accused of crimes such as aggravated assault and false imprisonment.
Fox News, during an interview with Department of Homeland Security Deputy Assistant Director Patricia Hyde, said nearly 50 people had been arrested in Maine as part of ICE enforcement efforts.
Read the full story here.
– Morgan Womack
1:35 p.m.: Portland schools pause off-campus lunches for students
Portland Public Schools is pausing its off-campus lunch option starting Wednesday to minimize “the chance of students being potentially caught up in enforcement actions as they move around the city on their own to buy lunch,” the superintendent said in a Tuesday letter.
All of the district’s high schools will switch from an “open campus” lunch, allowing students to buy lunch off-campus, to a “closed campus,” beginning Jan. 21 and continuing indefinitely, Superintendent Ryan Scallon announced. The schools will stock extra school lunches, but also encourage students to pack their own.
He said for the time being, off-site educational programming, field trips, recess and extracurricular activities will continue as usual.
“We continue to expect that our schools will not be the focus of immigration enforcement, but if there is action that impacts a school, we will communicate with families and staff as soon as possible,” Scallon wrote.
ICE arrests ramped up in Maine’s largest city Wednesday; a mother of four was detained Wednesday morning after dropping one of her children off at Portland High School, the Maine Monitor reported.
Read the superintendent’s letter here.
– Riley Board
1:30 p.m.: Pingree says federal agencies directed not to speak to members of Congress
Gabrielle Mannino, spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, said federal agencies have been under a directive not to speak to congressional offices since President Trump took office.
“Since early December, the USCIS asylum office with jurisdiction over Maine has forwarded all of our constituent and policy inquiries to USCIS Headquarters for response, which we have yet to receive answers to,” Mannino said.
“It’s interesting that (ICE) let the Fox news crew ride along with them, but they won’t talk to us. It’s been like this for the past year, not just with (current activities in Maine) … So, we’re kind of in the dark just like everyone else.”
Mannino said the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum office has not provided substantive responses to inquiries from Pingree’s office since the Trump administration issued the January 2025 asylum pause and country-specific adjudication bans.
“ICE’s Office of Congressional Relations continues to provide empty responses and will not provide any information to our office about a constituent’s location, well-being, or reason for arrest without a specific privacy waiver signed by the detained individual,” Mannino said.
“When we pointed out that access to detainees is often challenging and people are advised not to sign anything in detention, our office was told that we should consider collecting these privacy waivers proactively.”
– Joe Charpentier
1:20 p.m.: Portland’s Parkside residents alert neighbors to ICE’s presence
When residents of Portland’s Parkside neighborhood saw six ICE agents knocking at the door of a multi-unit residential building on Grant Street, they made some noise.
Citizens threw on jackets and ran to the sidewalk to blow whistles, alerting others that ICE was in the area. Other residents began honking their car horns, drawing more people out of their homes.
The agents left the building at 134 Grant when they did not get a response at the door. They did not detain anyone, and left in a black sedan, followed by several cars honking at them.
After the agents left the scene, a dozen people congregated at the corner of Grant and Mellen Street to talk about the encounter and other ICE operations in the area.
Wylliam Wold, who lives in the neighborhood, called the ICE activity hotline, which is coordinated by the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, to share the number of vehicles, the location and the uniforms the agents were wearing.
“I’ve been seeing flyers, talking with my community. I knew there was an ICE hotline and there’s an acronym, SALUTE, to remember what details to be giving when you do call it,” said Wold, 32.
“So that was just kind of my only thought: Here there’s nothing else I can do but call the hotline, share information.”
– Sophie Burchell
12:40 p.m.: Portland restaurant owner says her staff is anxious about ICE enforcement
Pastry Chef Ilma Lopez, who co-owns the Ugly Duckling and Chaval in Portland’s West End with her husband, said she has trained her staff how to handle any ICE presence at either restaurant.
“You can tell them, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m not allowed to talk to you. Let me just call our manager or let me just call our owner.’ You call me and I’ll take care of it.”
Lopez, who grew up in Venezuela, became an American citizen about a decade ago. “I’m 100% Latina and I’m proud of it,” she said. “I came to the States because in my country, it was really hard to make a living and we didn’t have freedom of speech. So 22 years ago, I came here and in a million years did it ever ever even cross my mind that we will be in this situation in America?”
Lopez said most of her restaurant staff come from North America, and all work in the U.S. legally. “We have done everything that the law asks us. I’ve been dealing with immigration lawyers for years. I follow every single step.”
She said the staff, nevertheless, is anxious. “Some people are anxious because they’re angry and upset. Some people are anxious because they don’t know what’s going to happen to them or to their friends. It’s a lot of question marks.”
– Peggy Grodinsky
11:25 a.m.: Gorham state representative says ICE officers are violating due process
Rep. Ellie Sato, D-Gorham, said the surge in immigration enforcement is harming Mainers who are skipping school, work and health appointments out of “fear of being disappeared.”
In a written statement, Sato, a member of the Legislature’s Judicial Committee, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are violating Mainers’ constitutional rights.
“What we are seeing on our newsfeeds everyday is a lack of due process,” Sato said. “It’s critical for everyone to know their rights, and how to respond when raids or arrests happen, both as bystanders, and as friends and family.”
Sato is sponsoring an emergency bill that would bar immigration enforcement officers from entering nonpublic areas within schools, public libraries, health care facilities and other locations without a judicial warrant signed by a judge.
– Daniel Kool
11 a.m.: Lewiston resident reports ICE presence on Pierce Street
A migrant worker living on Pierce Street in Lewiston said ICE officers were present in their neighborhood Wednesday, with agents knocking on doors at nearby buildings Tuesday and again Wednesday morning.
Federal agents knock on the door Wednesday morning at 165 Bartlett Street in Lewiston. (Russ Dillingham/Staff Photographer)
The person, who asked not to be named because of safety concerns and declined to share their country of origin, said they saw a neighbor being questioned by agents.
“(Agents) were walking around here (Tuesday), and they caught him and interrogated him, but they didn’t take him away,” the resident said. “They didn’t take anyone.”
The resident said fears of ICE in their neighborhood and throughout the city are high, with many neighbors staying home, locking their doors and ignoring knocks.
“Even when they think you are here, you leave them alone,” they said. “Why are they here? We’re here to work, and we don’t hurt anyone.”
— Joe Charpentier
10:20 a.m.: Westbrook mayor denounces ICE activity
Westbrook Mayor David Morse issued a statement on Facebook Wednesday morning denouncing ICE activity in the city. He wrote that ICE agents detained people in Westbrook on Tuesday and on Wednesday morning, and at least one U.S. citizen who was peacefully observing was targeted by a masked federal law enforcement officer.
“This is outrageous behavior from a federal authority, and I stand by our citizens’ right to peacefully observe and/or protest,” the statement read.
— Salomé Cloteaux
9:15 a.m.: Portland’s parks department says it can’t restrict federal officers from public spaces
Portland city officials say they can’t restrict federal law enforcement from public spaces like city-operated parking garages, City Hall, Monument Square and Payson Park, according to an email from the parks department.
But when recreation programs are in session, officials say law enforcement officers cannot enter the space unless they’re invited or have a warrant.
“Many recreation programs, such as group swim lessons and Junior Celtics Basketball, take place in spaces that are reserved exclusively for pre-registered participants. During these programs, only enrolled participants and their caregivers are permitted in the program area,” according to an email sent by the parks department Tuesday morning.
City staff will inform anyone who tries to enter a recreation program area that space is limited to registered participants and caregivers, according to the email.
— Morgan Womack
9:10 a.m.: South Portland school board cancels Thursday forum because of families’ fears
The South Portland board of education cancelled a public forum on Thursday to hear community members’ input about the upcoming budget because too many families with children in the schools were afraid to go out and attend, according to Board Chair Rosemarie De Angelis.
The school system has issued policies addressing what to do if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up on school grounds. The policy directs staff members to keep students away from immigration officers and direct agents towards the main office if they enter school property, according to a copy of the policy obtained by a public records request.
Read more about South Portland schools’ preparations here.
— Dana Richie
Federal immigration agents walk a detainee from a passenger van to a larger vehicle in the back parking lot of Cabela’s in Scarborough on Tuesday night. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)
9 a.m.: DHS begins ‘Operation Catch of the Day’ in Maine, reports more than 1,000 targets
In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Assistant Director Patricia Hyde said officers had identified more than 1,000 targets in Maine.
The network, which boasted “exclusive access,” reported nearly 50 arrests in Maine as enforcement picked up.
Officials have dubbed the surge “Operation Catch of the Day,” the network reported.
Hyde lamented a lack of cooperation by — and open criticism from — local leaders. City and state officials have warned of the impending surge for days.
“They ban their law enforcement from partnering or even communicating with ICE,” Hyde said on Fox. “And when law enforcement doesn’t communicate with law enforcement, that puts our communities in danger.”
— Daniel Kool