U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has increased its presence at Portland International Jetport, where immigrant advocates say federal agents have arrested at least five people in recent weeks as the Trump administration expands immigration enforcement at airports and other transportation hubs nationwide.
The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition has reported at least five arrests at the Jetport, including detentions occurring during passenger check-in and boarding. The figure comes from the advocacy organization and has not been independently confirmed by ICE.
The activity appears to be part of a more coordinated effort involving ICE and the Transportation Security Administration.
A Portland city spokesperson told Maine Public that TSA officials announced during an Aug. 5 meeting with airline and Jetport personnel that ICE activity was being planned for airports, including Portland International Jetport.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson defended the cooperation, saying information sharing between ICE and TSA is considered essential for identifying people traveling within the country, including individuals wanted for violent crimes.
The increased enforcement comes as immigration advocates accuse the administration of using airports and other predictable locations to identify people with unresolved immigration cases.
Ruben Torres, policy and advocacy director for the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, told Maine Public that he believes the airport arrests are less focused on public safety threats and more aimed at increasing the overall number of immigration arrests.
The coalition says the arrests have occurred during check-in and boarding, a pattern advocates say mirrors enforcement activity taking place at airports elsewhere in the country.
MaineHealth Nurse Arrested During Jetport Screening
One of the most closely watched cases involved Debora Kapisha, a MaineHealth nurse who was taken into ICE custody at the Portland Jetport on July 30.
Initial reports from her union incorrectly stated that Kapisha had been detained at Boston Logan International Airport. Her attorney later confirmed that the arrest actually occurred in Portland.
According to a Department of Homeland Security document cited by Maine Public, two ICE officers were conducting targeted surveillance near the Jetport security checkpoint when they identified Kapisha with assistance from TSA personnel.
She was taken into custody and transported to Massachusetts.
Kapisha, who is originally from Zambia, has a pending asylum claim. Her attorney, Kerry Doyle, said Kapisha had overstayed a visa but was pursuing immigration relief when she was arrested.
Kapisha was later released from ICE custody, although federal officials continued pursuing her removal case.
The case generated protests from nurses and immigration activists and intensified scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement in Maine.
The Jetport arrests also suggest that individuals who once may have viewed domestic air travel as routine could increasingly encounter immigration enforcement before ever reaching their departure gate.
TSA and ICE Sharing Information
The cooperation between TSA and ICE is particularly significant because commercial airline travel requires passengers to provide identifying information and identification before boarding.
In Kapisha’s case, DHS records specifically indicated that ICE agents identified her near the Portland security checkpoint with assistance from TSA.
DHS has openly defended that cooperation.
The agency said sharing information between ICE and TSA helps federal authorities identify travelers who may present immigration or public-safety concerns.
Immigration advocates see the policy differently.
They argue airports give ICE access to predictable locations where federal officials already know who is traveling and when, potentially making it easier for agents to identify visa overstays or others with unresolved immigration issues.
The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition has consequently warned some immigrants with uncertain immigration status to speak with an attorney before traveling by air.
ICE Could Soon Carry Electric Shock Gloves
At the same time ICE is expanding enforcement at locations such as airports, the agency is also preparing to give some officers a striking new piece of equipment: gloves capable of delivering painful electrical shocks.
ICE plans to spend as much as $20 million purchasing thousands of devices known as the G.L.O.V.E. — Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, according to a Department of Homeland Security procurement notice reviewed by the Associated Press.
DHS describes the technology as a “conductive distraction and de-escalation device.”
The gloves are manufactured by Kentucky-based Compliant Technologies and look much like ordinary patrol gloves until an officer activates their electrical function. The device must make direct contact with a person’s skin to deliver an electrical pain stimulus intended to obtain compliance.
ICE intends to purchase the devices for officers and agents, with thousands potentially acquired by March. The procurement could ultimately become one of the largest purchases of the technology to date.
Supporters of the equipment argue the gloves could give officers another option when dealing with combative detainees, potentially allowing officers to end physical struggles more quickly without resorting to higher levels of force.
The manufacturer says officers must complete training before using the device and undergo recertification every two years.
Company guidance also warns officers not to use the gloves as punishment, against people who are merely verbally defiant, or against certain higher-risk populations, including children, pregnant women, elderly people and people with disabilities.
Civil liberties organizations have sharply criticized the planned purchase, arguing that because the electrical component is built directly into a glove, the use of force could be more difficult for bystanders to detect than a Taser or other visible weapon.
The controversy comes while ICE’s use-of-force policies remain under scrutiny nationally and in Maine.
Maine Becoming a Front Line in Immigration Debate
The Jetport enforcement adds Portland’s airport to a growing list of Maine locations where federal immigration operations have generated political and legal controversy.
The larger dispute has increasingly centered not simply on whether the federal government has authority to enforce immigration law — it does — but over how aggressively that authority should be exercised and which individuals should be prioritized.
The Trump administration has repeatedly argued that expanded cooperation among federal agencies gives immigration officers the information and tools necessary to locate people who are subject to arrest or removal.
Immigrant advocacy organizations counter that increasingly visible enforcement at airports, courthouses and other public locations could discourage immigrants from traveling, appearing in court or otherwise interacting with government institutions.
For travelers at the Portland Jetport, however, the debate is no longer theoretical.
ICE agents have been operating near security checkpoints, TSA has acknowledged that immigration enforcement activity was being planned for the airport, and at least five arrests have now been reported there by Maine’s largest immigrant advocacy coalition.
And as ICE increases its presence in places where Mainers live and travel, its officers could soon be carrying another enforcement tool with them, an electrified glove designed to gain compliance with the touch of a hand.
