U.S. Sen. Susan Collins urged President Donald Trump’s homeland security chief to pause the immigration enforcement surge in Maine but secured no promise to do so.
Collins talked Monday with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. She is under heavy pressure after an immigration agent shot and killed a protester in Minneapolis on Saturday. The Trump administration’s explanation for the shooting has prompted bipartisan criticism both in Congress and among candidates in Maine.
Collins is at the center of the immigration policy debate and the 2026 electoral map as a vulnerable Republican in a Democratic-leaning state. As Senate Appropriations Committee chair, she is struggling to keep a homeland security spending plan on track and facing stiff criticism from the Democrats seeking to oust her, including Gov. Janet Mills.
On Monday, Collins told the Bangor Daily News’ editorial board that she advised Noem to pause the immigration surges in both Maine and Minnesota. She said she got no such commitment from Noem and restated that she sees no reason for the Maine surge.
“I don’t see the justification for the operation in Maine,” Collins said.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It has become a powder-keg issue in both national and state politics. The Trump administration said Monday that it has arrested 200 in the surge it is calling “Operation Catch of the Day.” While the federal government has said it is focusing on criminals, it has often used aggressive tactics to arrest immigrants who are authorized to work here.
For example, Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce criticized agents for “bush league” policing after they pulled one one of his office’s corrections recruits from a running car and arrested him. ICE then pulled roughly 60 detainees from Joyce’s Portland jail, with a lawyer for one of them accusing the agency of lying about the reason for the removals in federal court.
The federal government’s surge into Maine pales compared with the one in Minnesota, which has upended the politics of immigration in Congress. Republicans led by Collins had a deal with Democrats on homeland security funding until the weekend shooting. U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats, said Sunday that he couldn’t support it.
Collins took to the Senate floor on Monday to try to salvage the deal, noting that 80% of the funding in it is unrelated to immigration. She has expressed concern about the shooting and said the $20 million in the bill for body cameras is a worthwhile reform for the department.
Her Democratic opponents reacted strongly to that, with Mills saying in a social media post that Collins “does not have the courage” to act on ICE as it “invades our state.” Progressive challenger Graham Platner, an oyster farmer from Sullivan, also had strong words on X.
“Susan Collins stood on the Senate floor today and called for more money for ICE, despite their blatant disregard for the law,” he wrote. “That is absolutely reprehensible, and Mainers need to call her office immediately and demand No More Money For ICE.”