ICE ends enhanced immigration operations in Maine, Collins says
Washington — Federal immigration officials have brought an end to enhanced immigration enforcement operations in Maine, Sen. Susan Collins said Thursday.
"While the Department of Homeland Security does not confirm law enforcement operations, I can report that Secretary Noem has informed me that ICE has ended its enhanced activities in the State of Maine," Collins, a Republican, wrote on social media. "There are currently no ongoing or planned large-scale ICE operations here."
The senator from Maine said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will continue normal operations, which have been ongoing in the state for years.
"I have been urging Secretary Noem and others in the Administration to get ICE to reconsider its approach to immigration enforcement in the state," Collins said. "I appreciate the Secretary's willingness to listen to and consider my recommendations and her personal attention to the situation in Maine."
The Department of Homeland Security announced last week that it would be launching new immigration enforcement operation in Maine, dubbed "Operation Catch of the Day" and said it had detained people from Angola, Ethiopia, Guatemala and Sudan who had criminal histories. A Homeland Security official told CBS News that Somali immigrants were among those who ICE was targeting as part of the effort.
The department said immigration agents arrested more than 200 people who are in the U.S. illegally since the surge in enforcement operations began in Maine.
The effort, however, sparked pushback from state and local leaders, particularly after ICE came under intense scrutiny for its tactics in the Minneapolis region, where thousands of officers were deployed in recent weeks. Two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were shot and killed by federal immigration authorities in Minneapolis.
Collins' announcement came shortly before the Trump administration border czar, Tom Homan, announced there would be a "drawdown" of immigration agents in Minnesota, saying he had made an agreement with local officials.