Maine Immigrant Groups Report Rise in ICE Activity, Drop in Border Patrol

The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP), Maine’s only statewide immigration legal services organization, reports a sharp rise in ICE activity across the state alongside a marked drop in Border Patrol presence, with more cases of people being targeted and arrested at home. ILAP policy director Lisa Parisio said “the majority of arrests are of Maine residents in lawful immigration processes with no criminal record.” According to the Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition, enforcement has shifted away from rural areas — where January’s large-scale operation concentrated — back to more populated communities.