By PATRICK WHITTLE and KIMBERLEE KRUESI, Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said Thursday that immigration officials have ceased their “enhanced operations” in the state, the site of an enforcement surge and more than 200 arrests since last week.
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Collins, a Republican, made the announcement after saying she had several direct communications with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
“There are currently no ongoing or planned large-scale ICE operations here,” Collins said in a statement. “I have been urging Secretary Noem and others in the Administration to get ICE to reconsider its approach to immigration enforcement in the state.”
The announcement came after President Donald Trump seemed to signal a willingness to ease tensions in Minneapolis after a second deadly shooting by federal immigration agents.
Collins said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and border patrol officials “will continue their normal operations that have been ongoing here for many years.”
Her announcement came more than a week after immigration officers began an operation dubbed “Catch of the Day” by ICE. Federal officials said about 50 arrests were made the first day and that roughly 1,400 people were operational targets in the mostly rural state of 1.4 million residents, 4% of whom are foreign-born.
By late last week, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin touted that some of the arrests were of people “convicted of horrific crimes including aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and endangering the welfare of a child.” Yet court records painted a slightly different story, revealing that while some were violent felons, others were detainees with unresolved immigration proceedings or who were arrested but never convicted of a crime.
Collins, a veteran senator, is up for reelection this year. Unlike a handful of Republican senators facing potentially tough campaigns, Collins has not called for Noem to step down or be fired. She’s also avoided criticizing ICE tactics, other than to say that people who are in the country legally should not be the target of ICE investigations.
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who announced her Senate candidacy in October and could possibly face Collins in the general election, has challenged immigration officials to provide judicial warrants, real-time arrest numbers and basic information about who is being detained in Maine. She also called on Collins to act after the House’s GOP majority defeated efforts by Democrats to curtail ICE funding.
Mills’ office did not immediately respond to an Associated Press email seeking comment from the governor on Collins’ announcement.
Meanwhile, first-time Democratic candidate Graham Platner — who is running against Mills in the primary — has criticized both Mills’ and Collins’ handling of ICE and has demanded the agency be dismantled. On Thursday, Platner organized a protest outside of Collins’ office in Portland, Maine, where dozens of supporters held signs and sang along with him.
Platner said he would host a separate protest later outside Collins’ office in Bangor, Maine.
Kruesi reported from Providence, Rhode Island. Associated Press writer Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.
