Mills Pushes “Warrant-Only” Shield for Schools, Hospitals, Libraries Amid ICE Backlash

AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills is backing emergency legislation that would block federal immigration officers from entering private areas of Maine schools, hospitals, childcare centers and libraries, or accessing nonpublic records, unless they produce a judicial warrant.

In written testimony submitted Thursday, Mills urged lawmakers to pass LD 2106, An Act to Prohibit the Disclosure of Nonpublic Records Without Proper Judicial Review, sponsored by Rep. Ellie Sato (D-Gorham). The bill would prohibit turning over personal records to federal immigration officers without a judicial warrant and would restrict access to private areas of schools, institutions of higher education, health care facilities, childcare centers and public libraries absent that court order.

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“As I have said, if the Federal government has warrants, then it should show them. Therefore, I strongly support a change to State law prohibiting any Federal agents who do not have a valid judicial warrant from entering private areas of our public schools, institutions of higher education, health care and childcare facilities or public libraries,” Mills wrote. “The bottom line is this: while the Federal government ignores the Constitutional rights guaranteed to us all, Maine will defend them — and this bill accomplishes that.”

The governor’s push comes as she continues to escalate her public feud with federal immigration authorities over what her office has described as “enhanced” ICE operations in Maine. In her State of the State Address just days ago, Mills framed the dispute in confrontational terms: “We will not be intimidated. We will not be silenced. And to anyone outside these halls, including any Federal officials, I say: if you seek to harm Maine people, you will have to go through me first.”

Mills’ office also pointed to her response to reports that ICE has ended its “enhanced operations” in Maine. On Thursday morning, the governor reiterated her demand that the Trump Administration provide details on arrests and detentions, calling for “the identities of every person taken from here, the legal justification for doing so, where they are being held, and what the Federal government’s plan for them are.”

On Wednesday, Mills convened what her office described as a roundtable with mayors from Auburn, Biddeford, Lewiston, Portland, South Portland and Westbrook, alongside Attorney General Aaron Frey, House Speaker Ryan Fecteau and Senate President Mattie Daughtry, to discuss what the administration called the “fallout and fear” created by ICE actions in Maine communities.

The governor has also asked Congress to remove Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, urged the Senate to reject the Department of Homeland Security funding bill until “safeguards” are in place, pressed Congress to curtail ICE funding until aggressive tactics end, and requested a meeting with President Donald Trump to demand ICE leave Maine.