“Worst of the Worst” or Political Theater? DHS, ICE Ramp Up Maine Arrests as Officials Condemn Crackdown

LEWISTON/PORTLAND — Federal immigration agents fanned out across Maine this week under a new enforcement push branded “Operation Catch of the Day,” a DHS-backed effort the agency says is aimed at the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal aliens and one the department used to take direct aim at Democratic Governor Janet Mills. 

Fox News first reported that ICE made more than 50 arrests on the first day of the operation, with ICE Deputy Assistant Director Patricia Hyde telling the outlet there are roughly 1,400 targets in Maine. 

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6388008505112

DHS framed the operation as a public-safety sweep focused on offenders convicted of violent crimes and cases involving child welfare. The agency’s assistant secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, accused Mills and other Maine Democrats of siding with “criminal illegal aliens” over law-abiding residents, saying the crackdown would continue under President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. 

Federal officials said those arrested on Day 1 included individuals convicted of crimes such as aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and endangering the welfare of a child. 

Among the arrests highlighted in the Fox report were individuals described by ICE as foreign nationals with criminal records that included false imprisonment, aggravated assault, drug possession, and operating under the influence of alcohol. 

Local leaders push back — and refuse cooperation

While DHS is selling the operation as a necessary cleanup of dangerous offenders, municipal leaders in Maine’s population centers are signaling resistance.

Portland Mayor Mark Dion, for example, publicly opposed an expanded ICE presence, saying residents were “anxious and fearful” and asserting there was “no evidence of unchecked criminal activity” requiring a “disproportionate presence” of federal agents. Dion also emphasized that Portland police do not cooperate with ICE or enforce federal immigration law.

Dion did then say on Wednesday. “I will remind the public to allow officers to do their work,” Dion said. “Do not obstruct. The best thing you can do is be the best possible witness should the facts that come before you are needed by any future investigation or judicial inquiry. If officers are acting with warrant, they are within the law and this is not the place or the time to challenge that. I want everyone safe.”

The political fault line

DHS has made Governor Mills a central foil in its messaging, casting Maine’s top Democrat as the face of what it calls “sanctuary” governance as the agency tries to define the operation as a straightforward public-safety move, not a political stunt. 

Supporters of the crackdown argue the debate should not be complicated: if ICE is taking dangerous offenders off the street, they say, elected officials shouldn’t be wringing their hands, they should be thanking the agents doing it. Opponents counter that sweeping enforcement operations can spread fear well beyond the people being targeted and risk turning local communities into collateral damage.

For now, DHS is betting the “worst of the worst” framing wins the argument and it’s making clear it has no intention of slowing down.