In Maine, a nurse’s ICE arrest sparks outrage: ‘Now it happened to one of our own’

Debora Kapisha, a medical-surgical nurse at Maine Medical Center in Portland and an asylum seeker from Zambia with legal work authorization, was detained by ICE on July 30 at Boston's Logan International Airport, according to her colleagues and union. ICE said Kapisha entered the U.S. legally in 2024 on a five-month visa and “failed to depart”; her employer and union said she had been living and working in the country legally while her asylum case was pending. More than 100 Maine Medical Center nurses and supporters rallied in Portland demanding her release, and Kapisha was freed and returned home on August 6, Maine Morning Star reported.