Press Herald - Protesters clashed with supporters of the Trump administration outside Bath Iron Works on Monday afternoon ahead of a visit by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
By 12:30 p.m., dozens of people had gathered at the intersection near the Bath post office and the base of the Sagadahoc Bridge carrying signs that read, “Fire Hegseth” and “Maine doesn’t welcome war criminals.” Dozens of others waved American flags in support.
The Guardian - Maine, the US’s whitest state, has been shaken by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, a crackdown that could threaten Republican control of the Senate in November’s crucial midterm elections.
Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents launched “Operation Catch of the Day” in the state on 21 January, targeting “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens who have terrorized communities”, according to the administration.
As critics said the operation had caused “pain and suffering”, Senator Susan Collins, a Republican facing a re-election battle this year in a state that voted for Kamala Harris in 2024, claimed she spoke with Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, who told her the operation had ended at her request.
But residents doubt Collins has defanged ICE and say the agency is still making its presence known and causing chaos in the bucolic state nicknamed Vacationland.
....Workers and labor unions in Maine claimed ICE is racially profiling people and has created an environment where people of color are under “an occupation” impeding their freedom of movement.
...Maine has grown more diverse in recent years but remains the whitest state in the US. The state has a small immigrant population of about 56,000 people, comprising about 4% of the state population.
A recent report by the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition said ICE detentions in the state substantially increased in 2025 from 2024, and said many detainees had no criminal history, even before ICE launched their latest operation in the state, which the agency claimed was targeted at criminals.
WalletHub - Maine has the lowest racial gap in educational attainment, with the share of black people aged 25 and older holding a bachelor’s degree at 30.3 percent compared to 22.5 percent for their white counterparts, a difference of 7.8 percent favoring black people. The full report
Press Herald - From The Maine Monitor: While Maine’s timber harvests have steadily declined in recent decades, sawlog production increased between 2010 and 2020. Demand has since slowed, but the owners of Pleasant River Lumber said the tariffs on Canadian lumber imports that the Trump administration increased last year have given them the confidence to expand business in Maine. Is it enough to overcome high costs and a slumping housing market?
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