The Trump administration has accused Hancock County officials of defying federal immigration enforcement laws.
A list released Thursday doesn’t provide any more details about the accusations against Hancock County, one of three locations in Maine named in the report along with Cumberland County and the city of Portland. Trump issued an executive order on April 28 requiring those jurisdictions to be publicly listed, according to a press release from the Department of Homeland Security.
The towns, cities and counties on the list are “deliberately and shamefully obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws endangering American communities,” the department said. “Sanctuary cities protect dangerous criminal aliens from facing consequences and put law enforcement in peril.”
A “sanctuary” designation is determined by factors including compliance with federal law enforcement, information restrictions and legal protections for undocumented immigrants, according to the department.
In December, an organization led by one of the president’s top advisors, Stephen Miller, sent letters to Cumberland and Hancock Counties saying they could be criminally liable if they kept “sanctuary policies” and didn’t cooperate with immigration authorities. It didn’t point to any specific policies in either county.
Last June, Hancock County was listed as one of the country’s 146 “limited cooperation institutions” by ICE. That designation means it notifies ICE before releasing people in custody but doesn’t hold them long enough for the Department of Homeland Security to take them into custody, according to that document.
In response to the December letter, Hancock County Commission Chair John Wombacher told the Bangor Daily News that it may have resulted from the commission’s vote five years ago to support “refugee and immigrant resettlement” in Hancock County, but he didn’t know of any resettlement occurring since.
Cumberland County’s sheriff, Kevin Joyce, said it has a similar policy that protects taxpayers from potential litigation, and he noted that federal detainers haven’t held up in federal court. Joyce said he and other sheriffs have required warrants or probable cause documents from ICE to hold people beyond release dates.
Hancock County Sheriff Scott Kane wasn’t immediately available for comment Friday, and County Administrator Michael Crooker didn’t return a message seeking comment.
At least one person recently booked into the Hancock County Jail was then detained by ICE: Chunze Xu, 65, a man from China who was arrested in April for allegedly molesting a customer at the Ellsworth massage parlor where he worked. He was later held at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscassset, which has been holding people for ICE.