Overview
- ICE officials say roughly 50 people were arrested on day one and about 1,400 individuals are on a target list statewide, figures first disclosed in a Fox News interview.
- DHS says initial detainees include people convicted of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and endangering a child, and ICE publicly named several arrestees in a press release.
- Gov. Janet Mills and local leaders in Portland and Lewiston criticized the surge, and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows declined a CBP request for additional undercover license plates for federal vehicles.
- Portland schools briefly initiated lockouts near reported enforcement activity, and district leaders reported attendance declines of roughly 15% to 20% at some schools.
- U.S. Attorney Andrew Benson warned that obstructing federal officers would be prosecuted, as the Maine action follows recent heavily scrutinized operations in Minneapolis after the killing of Renée Good.