SCARBOROUGH, Maine — The Scarborough Town Council unanimously approved a proclamation this week urging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Maine’s congressional delegation to review, relocate or close the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing facility at 40 Manson Libby Road, adding another chapter to Maine’s increasingly contentious debate over federal immigration enforcement.
While the vote was unanimous, it carries no legal authority. The ICE processing center is owned and operated by the federal government, leaving the town without the power to close the facility, terminate its lease or direct its operations.
Instead, the proclamation asks federal officials to review the necessity of the facility, consider relocating or ending its lease if it continues to erode public confidence, and require greater transparency and accountability from ICE agents operating in Maine.
The council’s action follows weeks of demonstrations, petitions and public testimony from residents and activist groups demanding that ICE leave Scarborough.
Biddeford Shooting Fuels Political Response
The renewed opposition stems from the July 13 fatal shooting of 25-year-old Colombian national Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero during an ICE operation in Biddeford.
The shooting remains under investigation by multiple federal agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General. No findings have been released, and investigators have not announced whether agency policies or procedures were violated.
Despite those investigations remaining active, the incident has become the catalyst for a broader political campaign against ICE in Maine.
Local organizations, including Indivisible Scarborough, organized petitions that gathered hundreds of signatures while demonstrations were held outside Scarborough Town Hall and the Manson Libby Road processing center. Speakers argued the federal facility creates fear within immigrant communities and no longer reflects the values of the town.
Democratic Leaders Renew Calls Against ICE
The Scarborough proclamation mirrors positions already advanced by several prominent Maine Democrats.
House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, whose district includes Biddeford, has been among the Legislature’s most vocal critics of ICE. Prior to the shooting, Fecteau argued that ICE’s activities in Maine did not reflect the state’s values and questioned the agency’s enforcement practices. Following the shooting, he renewed calls for increased federal oversight and accountability.
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree has also been a longtime critic of ICE policies and, following the Biddeford incident, joined calls for greater oversight and transparency surrounding the agency’s operations in Maine.
Gov. Janet Mills likewise called on Congress to fundamentally reform ICE, stating that if meaningful reforms cannot be achieved, lawmakers should consider abolishing the agency altogether.
That effort expanded further when roughly 80 Democratic members of the Maine Legislature signed a letter urging Congress to abolish ICE, arguing the agency cannot be effectively reformed in the wake of the Biddeford shooting.
Investigation Continues as Political Pressure Mounts
At the same time many Democratic officials are calling for sweeping changes, Maine’s entire congressional delegation, including Republicans and Democrats, has requested a full, transparent and expedited federal investigation into the shooting.
The investigations remain ongoing, leaving unanswered questions about the circumstances surrounding the fatal encounter and whether any federal policies were violated.
The timing of the Scarborough Town Council’s proclamation has become part of the broader debate.
Supporters argue immediate action is necessary to restore public trust in federal immigration enforcement. Critics counter that calls to relocate or close a federal facility, or abolish ICE altogether, are being made before investigators have completed their work or the public has received a full accounting of what occurred on July 13.
Symbolic Resolution, Federal Decision
Ultimately, the Scarborough Town Council’s vote is symbolic.
Because the processing center operates on federal property under federal authority, any decision regarding its future rests exclusively with the Department of Homeland Security and Congress, not municipal officials.
Whether federal policymakers choose to alter ICE’s presence in Scarborough is likely to depend not only on the outcome of the ongoing investigations, but also on the broader national debate over immigration enforcement that has increasingly played out in Maine in recent weeks.
