Trump unleashes ICE on Somalis in Maine as agents go door-to-door in huge roundup: ‘Operation Catch of the Day’
Donald Trump has ordered ICE agents to begin rounding up Somali immigrants in Maine as part of the administration’s latest crackdown on immigrants.
Federal agents are circling the state’s two largest cities, Portland and Lewiston, as the Department of Homeland Security announces ‘Operation Capture of the Day’ on Wednesday.
Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin announced that agents arrested several people on the first day of the operation.
Local officials in Maine’s two largest cities are warning residents that ICE will begin stepping up enforcement operations in the next few days.
Meanwhile, the U.S. attorney’s office in Maine warned citizens against obstructing the operations of ICE agents.
“Anyone who forcibly assaults or obstructs a federal law enforcement officer, knowingly destroys government property, or unlawfully impedes federal law enforcement activities is guilty of a federal crime and shall be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Andrew Benson, the U.S. attorney for the state.
Following the reaction of local and state officials, Maine’s Democratic Governor Janet Mills said aggressive immigration enforcement that violates civil rights is ‘not welcome.’
Maine has accepted thousands of refugees from African countries under the Biden administration. There has been a sizeable Somali population in the state since the early 2000s.
Department of Homeland Security sent immigration agents to Maine as part of its latest crackdown on Somali immigrants
Maine has had a sizeable Somali population since the early 2000s
Immigration agents arrested 50 people with more than 1,000 targets in the state on Tuesday
The wave of immigration comes as thousands of ICE agents face sustained opposition from protesters in Minneapolis following the fatal shooting of Renee Good.
The presence of ICE agents in Portland is causing fear in the city’s immigrant communities, according to Pious Ali, a city council member from the West African country of Ghana.
‘We saw that about a quarter of the immigrants in our schools do not come to school,’ Ali said. ‘There are immigrants living here, working in our hospitals, working in our schools, working in our hotels, who are part of the economic engine of our society.’
‘The federal government has the opportunity to engage with these people without instilling fear in our communities.’
The immigration enforcement action coming to Maine, a rural state of about 1.4 million residents, shows the White House is doubling down on Trump’s mass deportation agenda in the face of widespread pushback.
ICE Deputy Director Patricia Hyde told reporters that agents made 50 arrests Tuesday as authorities had more than 1,000 targets in the state.
School officials in Portland also oppose a crackdown on immigrants by preventing officials from entering campuses.
Portland Public Schools announced Wednesday that it is preventing anyone from entering the buildings of its two educational facilities due to concerns about nearby ICE activity.
Trump calls on all Somalis to leave US as he attacks Democratic lawmakers
ICE agents make arrests in Maine’s two largest cities
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has pushed back against Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a longtime rival of Trump.
Agents requested classified, confidential Maine license plates, but state officials resisted issuing them, according to Bellows.
Moreover, Trump called on Somalis to leave the United States in a scathing attack on Democratic lawmakers, while Minnesota was in the grip of riots over its crackdown on immigrants.
“Minnesota is a very corrupt place and the elections are completely corrupt,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.
‘I feel like I won all three times. No one has won since Richard Nixon. This is a fraudulent state. Even though Somalis are not citizens, they vote as one group. They all need to get the hell out of here. These are bad for our country.’
