Mayor Mark Dion of Portland, Maine, speaks at a news conference on January 21 [Patrick Whittle\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nParallels with Minnesota<\/h2>\n Trump\u2019s focus on the Somali community comes after a handful of members were implicated in a fraud scandal in Minnesota, a midwestern state where immigration enforcement operations were launched in December.<\/p>\n
Those efforts have been marked by violent clashes between federal agents and protesters, and one woman, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, was shot dead in her car after an interaction with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).<\/p>\n
Fears that those tensions could spill into Maine dominated a Wednesday news conference with city officials in Portland.<\/p>\n
Mayor Mark Dion told reporters that immigrant communities in the region felt \u201canxious and fearful\u201d as ICE agents began their crackdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey see this action as unpredictable and a threat to their families,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
He also questioned whether a heavy-handed operation was necessary to address immigration infractions in the area, and he called on ICE to adopt different tactics than it had in Minnesota.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to underscore one important point: While we respect the law, we challenge the need for a paramilitary approach to the enforcement of federal statutes,\u201d Dion said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFederal immigration law is lawful. Its administration and enforcement is lawful,\u201d he added. \u201cWhat we\u2019ve been concerned with, as a council, is the enforcement tactics that ICE has undertaken in other communities, which to our mind appear to threaten and intimidate populations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Dion expressed optimism that ICE would adopt a more tailored approach to apprehending local suspects.<\/p>\n
While the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, has seen nearly 2,000 immigration officers flood its streets, the mayor predicted that Maine would not see the same \u201cmassing of federal agents\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing very individualised activity by ICE. A person here, a neighbourhood there,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir conduct, at least as it is current in Maine, seems to be focused, which would indicate to me \u2013 and this is the speculation \u2013 that they\u2019re functioning on the basis of an actual court warrant.\u201d<\/p>\n
That, he said, marked a departure from the \u201crandom, show-me-your-papers kind of experience\u201d that residents had experienced in Minnesota.<\/p>\nWell-wishers on January 20 visit a makeshift memorial for Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis [Angelina Katsanis\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOutrage at ICE operations<\/h2>\n Still, while Dion advocated for a wait-and-see approach to the ICE operation, other city officials took a harder stance.<\/p>\n
One Portland city councillor, \u200aWesley Pelletier, described the unfolding raids as part of \u201can agenda of white nationalism and might makes right\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a war of terror that\u2019s being waged on our city by the federal government,\u201d Pelletier said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen people of all ages getting thrown on the ground and getting thrown into trucks.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far, Fox News quoted ICE Deputy Assistant Director Patricia Hyde as saying the agency had made 50 arrests so far as part of operation \u201cCatch of the Day\u201d. Hyde added that ICE had identified nearly 1,400 individuals to detain in Maine.<\/p>\n
Wednesday\u2019s statement from the Department of Homeland Security highlighted four arrests as examples, showing people from Sudan, Guatemala, Ethiopia and Angola.<\/p>\n
It described the four individuals as \u201cthe worst of the worst\u201d and accused them of crimes ranging from aggravated assault to endangering the welfare of a child, though it was unclear in one case if the accusation had resulted in a conviction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are no longer allowing criminal illegal aliens to terrorize American citizens,\u201d McLaughlin said in the statement.<\/p>\n
But Democratic officials in the state suggested that the Trump administration had refused to coordinate in the lead-up to \u201cCatch of the Day\u201d, heightening anxiety on the local level.<\/p>\n
On January 14, nearly a week before the operation was launched, Governor Mills posted on social media that she had \u201cattempted, unsuccessfully thus far, to confirm\u201d the upcoming surge in federal immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n
In a video statement, she said the state had reached out to local governments in Portland and Lewiston to prepare. She added that she too felt \u201cangry\u201d about the expected surge.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal, as always, will be to protect the safety and the rights of the people of Maine,\u201d Mills said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the federal government, I say this: If your plan is to come here to be provocative and to undermine the civil rights of Maine residents, do not be confused. Those tactics are not welcome here to the people of Maine.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also took a jab at the trend of federal agents using masks and other facial coverings to conceal their identities.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, Maine knows what good law enforcement looks like because our law enforcement are held to high professional standards,\u201d Mills said. \u201cThey are accountable to the law. And I\u2019ll tell you this: They don\u2019t wear a mask to shield their identities, and they don\u2019t arrest people in order to fill a quota.\u201d<\/p>\nDemocratic Governor Janet Mills has openly opposed Trump administration policies [File: Robert F Bukaty\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nA political rivalry<\/h2>\n Mills and Trump have long been political adversaries, with their feud erupting in a public forum. In February last year, shortly after Trump returned to office for a second term, he hosted a White House gathering for governors, where he called out Mills personally.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Maine here? The governor of Maine?\u201d Trump said while outlining policies barring transgender athletes from sporting events. \u201cAre you not going to comply with it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m complying with state and federal law,\u201d Mills responded. The tension escalated from there.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019d better comply because otherwise you\u2019re not getting any, any federal funding,\u201d Trump shot back.<\/p>\n
\u201cSee you in court,\u201d Mills replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood. I\u2019ll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a really easy one. And enjoy your life after, governor, because I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll be in elected politics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The interaction made national news and cemented the frosty relationship between the two leaders, with Trump demanding an apology and slamming the Democratic governor for months afterwards.<\/p>\n
His administration also took a series of escalating actions designed to target Mills, including launching an education probe in her state, suspending a marine research grant and freezing other federal funds to Maine.<\/p>\n
In response to this week\u2019s ICE deployment, Mills issued a short statement acknowledging the Trump administration\u2019s latest efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether, we will continue to place the safety and civil rights of Maine people above all else, and remain vigilant in our defense of due process and the rule of law,\u201d she wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\nMaine is set to hold its next gubernatorial race in 2026, as part of the year\u2019s midterm election cycle.<\/p>\n
Having served two terms as governor, Mills is not eligible for re-election and will instead be making a run for the US Senate, challenging Republican incumbent Susan Collins.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The administration of United States President Donald Trump has announced its latest immigration enforcement operation, this time in the northeastern state of Maine. On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that immigration raids had begun a day earlier, under the name \u201cOperation Catch of the Day\u201d. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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