AUGUSTA, Maine – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has ended its recent “enhanced” enforcement operations in Maine, according to Sen. Susan Collins, but federal officials and state leaders are still locked in a fight over what that means on the ground.
Collins said she spoke with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and was told there are no ongoing or planned large-scale ICE operations in the state. She also stressed that routine immigration enforcement is still in place.
The shift comes after weeks of heightened activity in Maine tied to what federal officials described as an “enhanced” operation. The scope of that surge has not been publicly detailed, but state officials have said the activity triggered widespread concern in immigrant communities and raised questions about transparency and due process.
Gov. Janet Mills has demanded detailed information from the federal government about who was detained during the operation and under what authority. Mills has said that any federal action that harms Maine residents would have to go through her administration, casting the dispute as a state oversight and accountability fight, not simply an argument over whether immigration laws should be enforced.
Federal officials, however, are pushing back hard on the idea that enforcement is easing up. In a response to The Maine Wire, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the agency “will continue to enforce the law across the country, as we do every day,” and highlighted arrests in Maine that DHS described as involving serious criminal convictions.
The DHS spokesperson cited several cases, including Dominic Ali, described as a criminal illegal alien from Sudan convicted of offenses including false imprisonment and aggravated assault; Ambessa Berhe, described as a criminal illegal alien from Ethiopia convicted of aggravated assault and cocaine possession; Elmara Correia, described as a criminal illegal alien from Angola previously arrested for endangering the welfare of a child; and Dany Lopez-Cortez, described as a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala convicted of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.
Those dueling claims capture the larger battle over how Maine’s recent enforcement surge should be understood. Federal officials have framed the arrests as targeting what they call the “worst of the worst,” while Maine officials say they still don’t have full information about who was detained, or the impact on families and communities.
The debate is also drawing fire from the left. Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner mocked the reported pause as a “pinky promise” and has called for ICE to be disabled, arguing that scaling back a single operation doesn’t address deeper concerns about federal immigration enforcement.
Taken together, the statements from Collins, Mills, DHS and Platner point to a political standoff, not a clean ending. The surge-style operation in Maine appears to be over, but DHS insists enforcement continues, Mills is pressing for answers about what happened during the operation, and candidates are using the moment to stake out sharply different positions on immigration enforcement in Maine.
Gov. Janet Mills has demanded detailed information from the federal government about who was detained during the operation and under what authority.
On the other hand, she is refusing to hand over the information on the fraud and misuse of funds in Maine.