Politics
Our political journalists are based in the Maine State House and have deep source networks across the partisan spectrum in communities all over the state. Their coverage aims to cut through major debates and probe how officials make decisions. Read more Politics coverage here.
AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine lawmakers narrowly passed Tuesday a proposal to limit police and jails from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement officials in certain circumstances.
The Maine House of Representatives voted 74-73 to pass the bill from Rep. Deqa Dhalac, D-South Portland, that was watered down in committee but serves as a challenge to President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration and deportation policies that the Republican has implemented since returning to office in January. The measure needs additional votes in each chamber before reaching the desk of Gov. Janet Mills.
The Trump administration has faced various lawsuits over its aggressive efforts to detain and deport people in Maine and other states, including some who have legal status in the U.S. or who were following the established process to apply for asylum.
Another controversial case recently came to light when the Bangor Daily News reported on how a tip from a “concerned citizen” in Calais led to Border Patrol agents wrongfully arresting a Venezuelan man who had lawful documentation to work and reside here earlier this year. The man spent 65 days in detention before a federal judge ordered his release last month.
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Dhalac’s proposal was initially more sweeping by preventing Maine police from holding anyone at the request of immigration agents unless the person is suspected of committing a crime. Other state employees would have been able to also ask people about immigration status, except when providing services to them.
The amended bill still says police cannot hold someone based solely on an immigration-related request from a federal agency but includes various changes in response to feedback local and state officials provided during public hearings and work sessions.
For example, the language allowing public employees to inquire about immigration status is no longer in the amended proposal, and it does not apply to non-immigration police activity after Auburn Police Chief Jason Moen, who leads the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, noted the original bill may have affected task forces not primarily focused on immigration enforcement.
While critics of Dhalac’s measure said it would hamstring police, supporters said it frees up local and state police to focus on their work within their jurisdictions and pointed to the controversial traffic stops initiated by Maine police, including one in February that led to the detention of a 17-year-old who arrived in the U.S. years ago as an unaccompanied minor and has since been reunited with his family in Lewiston. Certain Maine jails have long held people for immigration agents for no longer than 48 hours at a time.
Formal agreements between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local police departments have become hotly debated in communities across the state. The Wells Police Department paused its partnership in May with ICE after receiving backlash from residents in the liberal-leaning community.
The Judiciary Committee held off earlier in June on voting out a separate proposal from Rep. Ambureen Rana, D-Bangor, that would ban local and state police from contracting with ICE, with that measure carried over to next year’s session.