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Peter Fromuth, an attorney, lives with his family in Yarmouth.
As candidates for the Blaine House make their closing arguments, Mainers know most of what they need to pick a governor, with one critical omission I see. When a new governor is inaugurated, the president will still have 24 months to intensify his anti-democracy project. Can the new governor protect Mainers’ rights from further violation by President Donald Trump and his compliant servants? On this challenge, like many others, I believe Nirav Shah’s road-tested leadership, invaluable experience and detailed plans, make him the stand-out choice.
Trump’s anti-democracy project is a genuine “black swan” moment for American freedom: rare, transformative, existential. In the face of collaboration or complicity by the three branches of national government, and as efforts by lower federal courts to uphold the Constitution are stymied by conservative Supreme Court majorities, it is states — governors, attorneys general and legislatures, democracy’s unheralded “fourth branch” — that are its last line of defense.
Trump’s assault on personal freedoms and state sovereignty is not slowing down. Blocking it must be a higher priority for Maine’s next governor.
Nirav Shah’s skill and extraordinary success in protecting Mainers from COVID are well known. I think he is ready to quarterback an aggressive defense across the contested infrastructure of democracy, including the administration of elections; respect for civil rights of all Mainers whether citizens or immigrants; school funding, curricula and policies; the right to choose, etc.
Shah’s proposals in two areas of acute vulnerability merit attention: elections and rights, particularly rights of non-citizens and citizens abused by ICE. The strategy for both is the same: challenge illegal federal action and use state authority aggressively to protect citizens.
Trump’s threats to “takeover elections” “in at least 15 places” and his allies’ statements that ICE’s airport deployments were a “test run” for controlling polling places set the stage for election mayhem. Indeed, he may manufacture chaos to deploy ICE, or the military, to contain a fictitious “emergency,” possibly cancelling the vote or directing operatives to take custody of ballots and do the counting. He considered that in 2020.
Shah plans several steps to counter that, including: Legislative enactment of a Maine Election Sovereignty Act ensuring state authority over elections; a law criminalizing threats against election workers; an election protection task force to monitor threats and prevent interference; banning ICE activities near the polls to deter voter suppression or intimidation.
This January ICE arrested approximately 200 Maine residents, triggering civil rights and excessive force complaints. Masked men poured into neighborhoods to surround anyone suspected of improper status. ICE insolently named the operation “Catch of the Day,” although more than 80% of the “catch” had no actual or pending criminal complaints. Panic was palpable as the surge’s speed put authorities on the back foot.
But Maine is not helpless. The tools to defend Mainers’ rights already exist, and Shah will use them. His plan includes ending voluntary state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement beyond what the law requires, blocking access to non-public state data and facilities, and making clear that federal immigration agents cannot enter non-public areas of state buildings or state-run facilities without a judicial warrant. He would direct the state attorney general and state agencies to investigate and take action when immigration operations in Maine involve violence, civil rights violations, or abuses of power, and use every available legal tool under state law to protect Maine people and hold bad actors accountable.
Shah would also require any law enforcement officer operating in Maine — state, local, or federal — to be clearly identifiable when interacting with the public, including visible identification and agency credentials, and would oppose masked enforcement except in the narrowest legitimate circumstances. He would require body cameras where appropriate, insist that officers operating in Maine follow Maine’s use-of-force standards, and ensure a duty of care, including basic first-aid training and a requirement to render aid when someone is injured during a law enforcement action.
Though White House advisor Stephen Miller’s stated crusade is mass removal of immigrants, his animus toward the rule of law is spread throughout the Trump administration. Since America’s three branches of government seem unwilling or unable to defend Americans’ rights, it is “We the People” and our governors who must stand in the breach.
Shah is ready.