U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that the mass deportation effort in Maine, dubbed “Operation Catch of the Day,” officially got underway Tuesday.
PORTLAND, Maine — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that it launched a targeted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement effort in Maine, which the agency has dubbed “Operation Catch of the Day.”
The effort began Tuesday, according to a DHS news release, and aimed to target the “worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in the state.”
Reports of a surge in immigration arrests have struck fear in immigrant communities of Portland and Lewiston and prompted backlash from Maine Gov. Janet Mills and other Democrats, including a refusal to help ICE agents obscure the identity of their vehicles by issuing undercover license plates.
Mills said Wednesday that if federal agents have warrants, they should show them, but if they are separating parents who have committed no crime from their children, they are “only sowing intimidation and fear and fostering division and suspicion among neighbors.”
Citizens have formed networks to alert neighborhoods to the presence of ICE agents and bring food to immigrants in their homes. Portland’s superintendent said the school district is developing an online learning plan for its students — more than half of whom aren’t white. Many businesses have posted signs saying ICE agents aren’t welcome.
Elsewhere in the state, Penobscot Nation Chief Kirk Francis urged tribal members to carry tribal identification amid reports of federal detentions of Native Americans in other states. He said no ICE activity had been reported on tribal lands in Maine but cautioned members to stay informed.
“We know that many of you have heard reports of ICE interactions involving individuals who are, by law and by birthright, citizens of Tribal Nations,” Francis said in a statement. “News and social media reports indicate that ICE has detained several Native Americans throughout the country and have conducted raids on facilities located on Tribal lands. The Tribal government has verified that some of these reports are true, and some are false.”
Maine Republicans have criticized the governor and Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows for their response to reports of heightened ICE activity.
Meanwhile, federal officials are continuing to apply political pressure on the Pine Tree State to assist in the operation.
“Governor Mills and her fellow sanctuary politicians in Maine have made it abundantly clear that they would rather stand with criminal illegal aliens than protect law-abiding American citizens,” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant DHS secretary, said in a statement.
ICE Deputy Assistant Director Patricia Hyde told Fox News the operation has resulted in about 50 arrests so far. Hyde said the agency is targeting about 1,400 individuals in Maine.
Hyde also criticized Maine’s law enforcement ban on collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying it has hindered operations.
She told Fox News “agitators” in the state impeded enforcement actions but added that the agency will continue until it has arrested all its targets.
DHS did not immediately provide additional details on the specific locations of arrests or the identities of those targeted.
No new undercover license plates
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said state officials received a request from U.S. Customs and Border Protection for confidential, undercover Maine license plates and decided against issuing them. The licenses plates are used on unmarked vehicles, and Bellows said she wants more assurance they will be used appropriately.
ICE’s use of undercover license plates in other states has raised concerns: Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, a Democrat, issued a warning to ICE agents last year that swapping or altering license plates is illegal.
“These requests in light of rumors of ICE deployment to Maine and abuses of power in Minnesota and elsewhere raise concerns. We have not revoked existing plates but have paused issuance of new plates. We want to be assured that Maine plates will not be used for lawless purposes,” Bellows said.
Bellows, a Democrat who has repeatedly clashed with the Trump administration, cited accountability concerns and vowed to oppose the administration’s immigration policies.
“When it comes to protecting new Mainers, I’ll do everything in my power to hold the Trump administration accountable and protect our state,” Bellows said Wednesday.
Customs and Border Protection did not respond to a request seeking comment, but a top Maine Republican said withholding the undercover plates would jeopardize public safety.
“That really, one, puts us at odds as a state. Puts us at one end of an extreme that we really shouldn’t be on,” Senate Leader Trey Stewart said.
Maine’s top federal prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Andrew Benson, joined Democrats in calling for any demonstrations in the state to remain peaceful and civil. Benson, a Trump appointee, warned people to stay out of the agents’ way or be prosecuted.
NEWS CENTER Maine, a TEGNA station, contributed to this report. Associated Press journalist Leah Willingham contributed to the AP report from Boston.
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