A list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” posted to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s website last week that included three entries in Maine is no longer there.
The list was created by DHS to name communities where it said officials were defying federal immigration enforcement laws.
Hancock County was one of three Maine locations named in the list along with Cumberland County and the city of Portland. President Donald 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 were accused of “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.”
On Monday, the link on the DHS website that once went to the list returned the error message “page not found.”
In response to an inquiry from the Bangor Daily News, the department emailed a statement attributed to a senior DHS official that suggested the list will continue to exist in some form:
“As we have previously stated, the list is being constantly reviewed and can be changed at any time and will be updated regularly. Designation of a sanctuary jurisdiction is based on the evaluation of numerous factors, including self-identification as a Sanctuary Jurisdiction, noncompliance with Federal law enforcement in enforcing immigration laws, restrictions on information sharing, and legal protections for illegal aliens.”
In December, America First Legal, a nonprofit led by White House Deputy Chief of Staff 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 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The designation means it notifies ICE before releasing people in custody but doesn’t hold them long enough for the DHS 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.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that there had been anger from some officials about the list. However, she didn’t address why it was removed.
“Some of the cities have pushed back,” Noem said. “They think because they don’t have one law or another on the books that they don’t qualify, but they do qualify. They are giving sanctuary to criminals.”
BDN writer Elizabeth Walztoni and The Associated Press contributed reporting.