The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a list of jurisdictions with “sanctuary” policies that obstruct immigration enforcement late last week, including three in Maine, before removing the list on Sunday following backlash from cities objecting to their inclusion.
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“We are exposing these sanctuary politicians who harbor criminal illegal aliens and defy federal law. President Trump and I will always put the safety of the American people first. Sanctuary politicians are on notice: comply with federal law,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
The now-deleted list (archived here) accused the city of Portland, and the counties of Cumberland and Hancock, of “deliberately and shamefully obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws, endangering American communities.”
The list was compiled in compliance with an April executive order demanding the creation of a public list of all states and local jurisdictions that obstruct immigration enforcement.
According to the DHS, each jurisdiction on the list will receive a formal notice of non-compliance with federal law, demanding that they immediately revise their policies.
It is unclear whether all of the over 500 jurisdictions listed received notice before the list was taken down. At least some have received the notices; Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce confirmed in a statement to Maine Public that he received the notice on Thursday night.
Joyce claimed that he received an almost identical notice in January and is unsure why Cumberland is considered to be in violation of federal law, because the Cumberland County Jail currently houses inmates on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“We are housing ICE inmates for ICE, so I am not sure how it can be claimed that we are not cooperating. With that said, we are not doing the work of ICE because we don’t have the expertise or authority to do so,” said Joyce.
He suggested that the county’s inclusion could have to do with its failure to sign up for ICE’s 287(g) program, which allows a local law enforcement agency to partner with ICE to aid in immigration enforcement activities.
Currently, only Wells is part of that program and has paused its agreement, suggesting that every other Maine jurisdiction would also be on the list of sanctuary cities if failure to participate were alone enough to warrant inclusion.
The real reason for Cumberland’s inclusion on the list is likely because of a 2017 policy implemented by Joyce, which states that the county will not comply with immigration detainer requests unless a warrant or probable cause is provided.
Hancock County has similar policies. The Maine Wire reached out to Hancock County Sheriff Scott Kane, asking about his jurisdiction’s inclusion on the list, but he did not immediately respond.
Portland currently has a policy preventing staff and police officers from asking about immigration status in many cases, likely running afoul of the DHS’s criteria, which includes jurisdictions on the list based on failure to comply with federal law enforcement, information restrictions, and legal protections for illegal aliens.
Portland Police Chief Mark Dubois also confirmed that Portland Police officers will not contact ICE for any reason.
Though the Maine jurisdictions on the list do appear to have policies constituting some level of non-compliance with ICE, other jurisdictions protested their inclusion, which appeared to lead to the list’s deletion.
Shawano County, Wisconsin, for example, which voted for President Donald Trump by a significant margin, has “no idea” why it was included on the list, though County Administrator Jim Davel suggested that the inclusion may have sprung from a misunderstanding of the county’s 2021 Second Amendment sanctuary policy.
The DHS has not indicated when or if the list will be amended and reposted.
