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\t\t\tFederal immigration agents gather in a back parking lot near Cabela\u2019s in Scarborough on Tuesday. (Daryn Slover\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFederal immigration agents gather in a back parking lot near Cabela\u2019s in Scarborough on Tuesday. (Daryn Slover\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n
Reports began intensifying Tuesday about an uptick of activity by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Maine, with the mayor of Lewiston confirming<\/a> an \u201cincreased presence\u201d of ICE agents in that city.<\/p>\n Local officials in Lewiston, as well as Portland and Biddeford, spoke repeatedly last week<\/a> about the anticipated spike in ICE activity \u2014 even as the Department of Homeland Security refused to confirm any such plans in advance.<\/p>\n Throughout the state, residents have started posting potential sightings of ICE agents to social media, while some schools locked their doors amid reports of nearby immigration enforcement activity.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what else you need to know:<\/p>\n Our journalists are working to verify sightings and report events as they happen. Have a tip? Fill out this form<\/a>, reach us on Signal at PressHeraldTips.295 or email\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>. Tips are confidential.<\/p>\n Follow live updates from our journalists:<\/p>\n 7 p.m.: \u2018I need to be doing as much as I can\u2019<\/p>\n A group of about 20 protesters gathered outside Portland City Hall on Monday night after a day of increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the state.<\/p>\n \u201cI worry that eventually we\u2019re not going to have time to act on this,\u201d said an organizer who asked not to be identified. \u201cSo I think doing something today, and doing something now, is going to be crucially important before it gets violent.\u201d<\/p>\n One attendee, E.J. Andersen, said he had been at several recent protests against ICE, in Monument Square and elsewhere in the state.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, he said he turned out because of a video circulating online appeared to show a high school student being detained.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I need to be doing as much as I can,\u201d Andersen said. \u201cAnd this is a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Riley Board<\/p>\n 5 p.m.: Kennedy Park soccer games suspended amid ICE worries<\/p>\n A group that coordinates pickup soccer games in Portland\u2019s Kennedy Park has indefinitely paused operations as concerns of heightened immigration enforcement have its members on edge.<\/p>\n Anthony Fiori, a leader from the\u00a0Kennedy Park Pickup Soccer<\/a>\u00a0group, said organizers canceled a game planned for last week amid rumors of upcoming U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.<\/p>\n Fiori said he worried ICE could target the games and members who participate, noting that several of players have already been detained.<\/p>\n He did not know when the games might be able to resume. The group last hosted games earlier in January.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re pretty nervous about the players, of course. And the players themselves are just very scared,\u201d Fiori said on a Friday phone call. \u201cWe just really have no clue. We kind of feel like we\u2019re working in the dark here.\u201d<\/p>\n In the meantime, team members are coordinating with each other to collect details, like names and immigration statuses, of players who may be at risk, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe learned a lot of lessons from\u00a0when Joel Andre got detained<\/a>,\u201d Fiori said. \u201cIf someone goes missing \u2026 we can at least search the ICE database to see if they\u2019ve been detained and see where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Daniel Kool<\/p>\n 3 p.m.: Lewiston mayor confirms \u2018increased presence\u2019 of ICE<\/p>\n Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline confirmed an \u201cincreased presence\u201d of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the city Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n \u201cI know, given the national news, this may cause anxiety, fear or uncertainty for some in our community,\u201d Sheline said in a written statement. \u201cIn moments like this, what matters most is how we show up for one another and that we remember who we are and what we stand for as Mainers: the rule of law, the right to peacefully protest, and compassion for our neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n Sheline asked that residents remain calm and peaceful and rely only on verified information. He also cautioned residents to check in on their neighbors and know their constitutional rights, and said anyone encountering ICE agents should remain calm.<\/p>\n \u201cLewiston is a city shaped by people from many places and many stories,\u201d Sheline said. \u201cOur differences are not a fault line. They are the strong foundation of who we are. Every person deserves to feel safe, respected, and treated with dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the mayor\u2019s full statement here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Joe Charpentier<\/p>\n 2:30 p.m.: Biddeford mayor calls rumors \u2018deeply unsettling\u2019<\/p>\n Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain called rumors of\u00a0potentially increased immigration enforcement \u201cdeeply unsettling\u201d in a statement.<\/p>\n LaFountain said\u00a0Friday that Biddeford officials had not received confirmation of increased ICE activity\u00a0but have\u00a0reached out to the state government for clarity.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSince learning of these reports, public safety has remained the City\u2019s top priority,\u201d LaFountain wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n As a matter of long-standing policy, LaFountain said, the Biddeford Police Department does not enforce federal immigration law or participate in civil immigration enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Sydney Richelieu<\/p>\n 1:30 p.m.: Absences higher than normal at South Portland schools<\/p>\n There were an \u201cunusually higher\u201d number of absences Tuesday at South Portland schools as rumors of immigration enforcement spread, Superintendent George Entwistle said.<\/p>\n While no immigration enforcement officers have shown up on or near South Portland school grounds to his knowledge, staff and students have been on edge, he said.<\/p>\n The district, in partnership with the University Maine Law School\u2019s Refugee and Human Rights Clinic, will host two training sessions related to immigration issues in the coming weeks. Those have been in the works for months, Entwistle said, but they take on new urgency in the current moment.<\/p>\n The first is an in-person training on Jan. 28 for all school clerks, presenting practical responses and discussion about immigration enforcement to the front-line personnel should immigration enforcement officers present themselves at schools. The second training, scheduled for Feb. 24, is virtually available to all staff members, and it will discuss current issues in immigration and schools.<\/p>\n \u201cThings are very upsetting,\u201d Entwistle said. \u201cThese trainings are a good way to feel like they can manage anything they have to manage to protect our students.\u201d<\/p>\n Entwistle said his district is considering additional training for specific people, such as social workers, school psychologists and coaches.<\/p>\n \u2014 Dana Richie<\/p>\n 1:15 p.m.: Penobscot Nation chief urges tribal members to carry tribal ID<\/p>\n Penobscot Nation Chief Kirk Francis on Tuesday issued a statement on Facebook<\/a> urging members to carry identification cards issued by the tribe.<\/p>\n Francis said he was not aware of any ICE activity on Penobscot lands or any interactions between agents and tribal members. However, he said, members of federally recognized tribes in other states have been arrested by ICE, and tribal identification has not always proved to be sufficient proof of citizenship.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that many of you have heard reports of ICE interactions involving individuals who are, by law and by birthright, citizens of Tribal Nations,\u201d Francis wrote. \u201cNews and social media reports indicate that ICE has detained several Native Americans throughout the country and have conducted raids on facilities located on Tribal lands. The Tribal government has verified that some of these reports are true, and some are false.\u201d<\/p>\n Francis said ICE agents are inadequately trained on the use of tribal identification and documentation to prove citizenship, but that a former tribal chairman who advises U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem is working to resolve the issue.<\/p>\n According to\u00a0U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services<\/a>, tribal documents can fall into the same category as a U.S. Citizen I.D card.<\/p>\n