Topline
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has ended its “large-scale” enforcement operation in Maine, Sen. Susan Collins, said on Thursday, adding Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem confirmed the end of the agency’s “enhanced activities” in the state after Collins asked the Trump administration to “reconsider” its approach.
Customs and Border Protection and ICE will still continue their “normal operations” in the New England state, Collins said.
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Key Facts
In a statement shared on social media, Collins, Maine’s longtime Republican senator, said she appreciated Noem’s “willingness to listen to and consider my recommendations and her personal attention to the situation in Maine.”
The Maine senator also said that ICE and Customs and Border Protection will continue ”normal operations” in the state, while she would continue working to address “illegal immigration, drug smuggling, and other transnational criminal activity.”
The end of ICE’s operation comes only two days after Collins said she asked DHS to “pause” their activities in her state, in addition to calling for an “independent investigation” into the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents conducting another large operation in Minnesota.
DHS did not immediately return a request for comment from Forbes, but Collins said the department “does not confirm law enforcement operations.”
Chief Critic
Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, said she could not “independently confirm” Collins’ announcement on Thursday, insisting in a press release that the DHS “has not provided my office with basic information about this operation, despite repeated requests for weeks.” Pingree said she received no response from Noem after she sent a formal oversight letter asking for details about the Maine operation, and her and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, received no response when they asked for a meeting with the secretary. “The unfortunate reality is, ending this surge and removing additional officers does not mean a return to how immigration enforcement functioned in Maine for many years,’ Pingree said in the statement. She called the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies “radically different” and promising to keep fighting for information about “who was detained, what their immigration status was, and where they are currently located” in the Maine operation.
Key Background
ICE announced a wide scale operation in Maine on Jan. 21, which they dubbed “Operation Catch of the Day.” On Monday, the DHS said federal authorities already arrested over 200 “illegal aliens” in Maine since the operation began. The operation has been controversial in the state—last week, Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce said one of his corrections officer recruits was arrested by ICE. Joyce criticized federal authorities for the arrest, calling the recruit “squeaky clean” and saying he was vetted and had permission to work in the U.S. In response, the DHS pulled all detainees out of the state’s largest jail, located in Cumberland County, the Maine Morning Star reported. The operations in the New England state coincided with another large enforcement operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which have led to widescale protests in the Twin Cities and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents: Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse on Saturday, and Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother earlier in January.