NY Times - The Trump administration has started an immigration enforcement operation in Maine, targeting Somali immigrants in the state, according to two U.S. officials with knowledge of the plans.
The decision comes weeks after a similar operation in Minnesota incited protests and raised questions about the tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Thousands of officers and agents from the Department of Homeland Security were deployed there, and ICE’s actions have come under significant scrutiny in the wake of the shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis this month by an ICE officer.
A number of asylum seekers from African countries ?who arrived in the United States during the Biden administration have settled in Maine?, joining a Somali population that started arriving there in the early 2000s?, when refugees from the country began settling in Lewiston. Yet Maine remains an overwhelmingly white state, with one of the oldest populations in the country. Some employers have begun looking to immigrants to fill labor gaps, as native-born employees have either left the work force or retired.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Maine telegraphed the upcoming operation in a statement on Monday advising people to protest peacefully.
“In the coming days, if Maine citizens seek to exercise their rights to assemble and protest, it is vital that these protests remain peaceful,” said Andrew Benson, the U.S. attorney in the state. “Anyone who forcibly assaults or impedes a federal law enforcement officer, willfully destroys government property or unlawfully obstructs federal law enforcement activity commits a federal crime and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
On Wednesday, Fox News reported that an ICE official took the network on a ride-along in Maine, describing the operation as targeting people with criminal histories.
“We have approximately 1,400 targets here in Maine,” Patricia Hyde, the ICE deputy assistant director, told Fox News.
Mid Coast Now - Next week, a group of Brunswick High School students will be popping by the newsroom to sit in on a few editorial meetings and get a feel for how a newsroom operates. We'll also be giving them a tour of the press, a massive piece of complicated machinery that always inspires a bit of awe.
These students have started a newspaper of their own, The Dragon Gazette, and will be contributing articles that you're likely to see in The Times Record.
Press Herald
Reports began intensifying Tuesday about an uptick of activity by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Maine, with the mayor of Lewiston confirming an “increased presence” of ICE agents in that city. Throughout the state, residents have started posting potential sightings of ICE agents to social media, while some schools locked their doors amid reports of nearby immigration enforcement activity.
Gov. Janet Mills announced plans to improve school bus safety following two deadly incidents last year in which students were struck and killed by school buses. The proposal comes after the death of 12-year-old Brayden Callahan, who was hit in a crosswalk in front of a school bus in Rockland on Nov. 21. Weeks later, 5-year-old Simon Gonzalez was killed in Standish when a bus door closed on his arm and he was dragged along a road.
January is almost always Maine’s coldest month, but this weekend will be particularly grueling due to its duration and dangerous wind chills that could create hazardous conditions statewide. By Saturday morning, Portland will wake to air temperatures around 1 degree below zero, with wind chills as low as 14 below. In Rangeley, temperatures could dip to 13 below zero, with wind chills to around 40 below.
University of Maine will receive $45M for health science complex