The superintendent of Lewiston Public Schools issued an announcement on Thursday on the “real fear” among the school community regarding the potential for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to make arrests on school grounds, advising families on their constitutional rights and recommending that they seek advice from a lawyer before being detained.
Superintendent K. Jake Langlais sent out the letter just days after President Donald Trump took office and signed a series of executive orders and policy directives aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration, including a move that will allow federal immigration agencies to make arrests at schools, churches and hospitals.
[RELATED: Trump’s Day One Blitz: Sweeping Executive Orders Target Immigration and Border Security…]
“There have been many questions this week about changes in language for Immigration and Customs Enforcement known as ICE,” Langlais wrote in the announcement, addressed to “Whom It May Concern.”
“We wanted to reach out to share some of our experiences and some information some families may find useful,” he wrote.
On Monday, Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Benjamin Huffman issued a directive to ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that will allow the federal agencies to carry out immigration enforcement in so-called “sensitive locations,” including schools.
“This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including murderers and rapists — who have illegally come into our country. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” the DHS said in a statement Tuesday announcing the directive.
The directive reverses guidance that had been in place for over a decade that has restricted ICE and CBP from carrying out enforcement operations in those locations.
Superintendent Langlais wrote that in past interactions with ICE, the enforcement has been “specific to an individual and has been carried out with all the appropriate documentation and steps.”
“We have not had any interactions administratively that were carried out in any way outside of known protocols,” Langlais wrote.
Langlais said the district has reminded school leaders about the protocols to follow if law enforcement shows up at a Lewiston school and reaffirmed the district’s commitment to student privacy.
“Student information at schools is highly protected by established privacy rights. We will follow these laws,” he wrote.
“There are many beliefs about some members of our community and assumptions about papers, status, etc.,” the superintendent continued. “We want to be clear – to our knowledge, the families of our school community have gone through various immigration processes that are thorough.”
Despite his apparent confidence in the legal immigration status of Lewiston Public Schools’ community members, Langlais then proceeded to share tips regarding how to avoid being detained by ICE, what do to if you are detained by federal agents, and advised the community to consult an attorney in advance of potential detainment.
“There is a real fear among many due to a sense of the unknown,” Langlais wrote. “We are sharing some tips that have been shared with us in the hopes they can help ease some of the stress being experienced.”
The superintendent began his “tips” with a list of rights individuals have in interactions with law enforcement, such as the right to remain silent, the right to say you do not consent to a search, and that ICE does not have the right to enter your home without a valid warrant signed by a judge.
Langlais also said that in the workplace, presumably in this case referring to schools, “ICE does not have the right to enter employee-only areas without permission.”
“You are not obligated to provide personal information like your immigration status, place of birth, or criminal history if asked,” he wrote. “Anything you say or do can be used against you. You should not lie.”
“You do not have any obligation to sign any document without speaking to an attorney,” he wrote.
Offering a last piece of advice, Langlais said that if you are detained by ICE, you can ask to speak to your attorney.
“ICE does not provide attorneys, so try to consult on in advance,” he added, including links to a list of free legal aid clinics in Maine and the Portland-based Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) nonprofit.
The full letter from Lewiston Superintendent K. Jake Langlais can be read below:
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="34376 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=34376">30 Comments
The Maine jewish immigration alliance is smuggling these fake Muslims into Maine to destroy white communities by creating conflict.
Real Muslims don’t have abortions and drink dunkin’.
If you came here legally, NOT claiming ASYLUM then you have nothing to worry about, but otherwise you are an ILLEGAL ALIEN and should be deported. You broke the law.
Not sure how many Maine Methodists received this message from the New England Conference UMC…. “A Prayer Service of Solidarity with Our Immigrant NeighborsAt 7 pm on Thursday, Jan. 30, we will gather via Zoom to pray for our immigrant neighbors, who are particularly vulnerable at this time.
Following the prayer service we will share information on the current policy changes initiated by the Trump Administration and how they impact our neighbors and our ministry.
We will also offer some best practices for how to be in ministry with those who are vulnerable, and take questions.”
The day after the election I had a nice liberty is great buzz and got a gloomy warning from our very left of center Bishop about the election. What a buzzkill!
The major denominations are being destroyed from within. Thankfully the UMC I attend is not at all political, I’ll keep going but if I was a young man looking for a church it wouldn’t be the UMC.
I say GIVE EM THE OLD MARTHAS VINYARD TREATMENT.
ILLEGAL is ILLEGAL! The INS as well as DHS, ICE etc have every right to REMOVE any person from the United States that does NOT have the legal paperwork. All aliens MUST carry proof that they are legally allowed to remain in the United States. If you fear a visit from ICE then you are here illegally and should be ready to be removed.
They are NOT migrants or immigrants or asylum seekers .
They are foreigners who are in OUR country ILLEGALLY .
They are illegal aliens .
Get them the hell out of here .
I don’t want MY tax dollars feeding them , housing them , or educating their kids .
We will be better off without them , regardless what Janet Mills says .
So, if large amount of them going to be deported. I guess the school budget will be reduced and returned to the taxpayers……right?
There is bunch of illegals hiding in Maine Hospitals.
Evidently there must be a lot of criminal illegals furthering their education in Lewiston.
like any criminal, they should be scared. That is what happens to law breakers
Is the Lewiston school board paying for the illegals?
If you are here legally you have no fear Superintendent.
GOOD! Depart them all!
If you’re here illegally, (and we KNOW alot are, because it’s been proven illegals voted in our elections), than YAY! You get a one way ticket to hell outta here. And I DAMN sure hope someone pays serious attention to the CCP illegals that are here…
Yes, if you have broken the law, you should surrender yourself and make yourself accountable to the court of law to the state you reside in.
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If someone is illegally here and wants to avoid a scene, he should turn himself in to ICE and create an open plan for return to his COO. Problem solved. Lots of great people are going through the naturalization process now. It works.
Langlas should be fired immediately. Schools are public institutions supported by taxpayers money! harboring and protecting illegals is against the law in this country!!!
From WGME:
“Brunswick School Department (BSD) remains committed to the academic success of all students regardless of their immigration status or home language”
Really! is daily shootings in Lewiston your “academic success”.
Call 1-866-DHS-2-ICE to report suspicious activity
There is also an ICE tip form. Use these tools to full effect in your local area. This should have an immediate positive effect on all illegal alien related crime problems aside from simple illegal presence. The Chinese Communist Pot Growing operations infecting the state are a good example. As fixed locations in rural areas, they stand out and are usually manned by Chinese nationals who speak little or no english. The network can be rolled up very quickly and the out of state Chicom property owners should be picked up as well.
For these specific targets, watch the county real estate transactions published by news outlets for Chinese buyers. It is a near certainty that these buyers, coupled with industrial level electrical service upgrades will be a Chicom drug operation.
GOOD no GREAT! They should be in fear. Of course they could remove those stresses themselves, self-deport and take their happy asses back where they came from.
Superintendent K. Jake Langlais can F O
Illegal aliens/bogus asylum seekers should enjoy none of the rights and benefits of U.S. citizenship.
The Communist Democrat media propagandists and lunatic left “public servants “ aiding & abetting the invasion of our homeland should be considered TRAITORS !
I hope that Homan arrests this asshat
There is fear if you do some thing illegal and Joe Biden is not there to help, he is on a beach some were.
Is the BSD committed to the success of Hometown students or do they spend their tax dollars on illegals. What a bunch of BS. Your test scores could be better And why did you not get rid of the foam years ago with all your concern “for the children”?
Since when is it the business of a school superintendent to give legal advice to students who may face legal proceedings?
This is what democrats do extremely well. It’s their go in times of need. Play on ultra impressionable kids emotions with a heavy and consistent dose of fear. I can’t imagine what many teachers and administrators in Maine and across the nation are doing to kids of all ages in school. This makes their CRT, BLM, lgbtq, activist training, pro abortion, trans affirmation and climate change indoctrination seem like child’s play. Evil refuses to move on.
Trump authorized schools it does not mean he is going to order swat teams to descend into classrooms. He is not a democrat that sent swat teams in the middle of the night to arrest pro life supporters in front of their young family.
Talk with your kids as the very young are easily led by their school teacher.
They always use kids , just think how they use them to further the mental illness the left calls transgender. I feel sorry that year kids have been put in this position by their criminal parents.
Wasn’t Kamala going to fix this situation?
The Center for Immigration Studies said there were between 225,000 to 250,000 U.S. births to illegal immigrants in 2023. To put the figure into context, those figures are greater than the total number of births in all but two states taken individually. Legal immigrants accounted for 12.4% (494,000) of all births and illegal immigrants accounted for 7.5% (297,000). This is great, in 10 years well have sharia law and get woman back to the kitchen.