SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
There's news of another shooting involving federal agents in Minneapolis today. We'll bring you there elsewhere in the program. But first, the expansion of President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement to Maine, which has one of the smallest immigrant populations in the country. Department of Homeland Security says it has arrested more than a hundred people in Maine since Tuesday. Ari Snider is an immigration reporter with Maine Publicwho joins us now. Thanks for being with us.
ARI SNIDER, BYLINE: Yeah. Thank you.
SIMON: And how did Maine become an objective?
SNIDER: Maine is an unusual target, right? There are only about 50,000 immigrants in the whole state, and about half are already citizens. But rumors that something like this could come have been building for a couple weeks, really ever since President Donald Trump, some state-level Republicans and right-wing media started trying to draw connections between the fraud scandal happening in Minnesota and Maine's Somali community, which is one of the largest outside of Minnesota. Trump has also sparred publicly with Maine's Democratic governor, Janet Mills. And, of course, as we've seen with past ICE operations, they have also targeted states or cities with Democratic elected leaders.
SIMON: And, Ari, what have you learned about this operation so far?
SNIDER: Yeah. So this operation began on Tuesday, according to DHS - over a hundred people arrested so far, as you mentioned at the top. That's a huge increase in the pace of arrests compared to last year, as we've seen here in Maine. We don't know how many agents are involved, but the operation for now seems mostly focused on Maine's two largest cities - those are Portland and Lewiston - and some nearby smaller cities and towns. Local elected officials here say this is not warranted. Here's Portland City Councilor Wes Pelletier.
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WES PELLETIER: No one asked the federal government to come here. This is one of the safest cities in the country.
SNIDER: DHS has dubbed this, quote, "Operation Catch Of The Day." That's an apparent reference to Maine's fishing economy. Some state officials have criticized that language, saying it sounds like agents are hunting people for sport. And as of now, it's unclear how long it's going to last.
SIMON: Ari, who has been arrested so far, and what do officials say?
SNIDER: So as in other cities, DHS says it's arresting, quote, "the worst of the worst," people with serious criminal records. But it's only publicly acknowledged four people, it says, have specifically been arrested during this operation that have criminal records. And so far, we've only been able to verify two of those four. Immigration lawyers, meanwhile, are telling me it's mostly people without criminal records who are being arrested - people who are also following legal immigration pathways, such as seeking asylum.
Some of the strongest words have actually come from Sheriff Kevin Joyce of Cumberland County, which includes Portland. One of his corrections officers was arrested by ICE this week, and Joyce says the man had no criminal record and had legal authorization to work. He spoke with reporters the day after the arrest.
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KEVIN JOYCE: We're being told one story, which is totally different than what's occurring or what occurred last night.
SNIDER: A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the corrections officer had illegally crossed the southern border in 2019. Sheriff Joyce has said his office had every indication that the man was following legal immigration pathways. And Sheriff Joyce says he's got no problem with ICE arresting criminals, but he feels that this situation just is different.
SIMON: And, Ari, what's been the reaction from Mainers in places like Portland and Lewiston, where this has been occurring?
SNIDER: Yeah. So there have been several protests against ICE - more in the works, including some today, and we're keeping an eye on some potential planned counterprotests. In the Portland area, people have been tracking ICE, trying to document the arrests and, you know, blowing whistles, honking horns when they see agents. But that's been challenging to do in some cases because ICE seems to be moving quite quickly here. They seem to be going after one, two, maybe a few people at a time, making the arrest and leaving. There's not always a chance for observers to get on the scene in time to witness the arrest.
Meanwhile, fears in the immigration community are just so widespread right now - growing reports of students skipping school, parents staying home from work. But one Congolese man I spoke with the other day says he can't stay home. He's got bills to pay, so he's still going to work, even though he's anxious. Volunteers are trying to help. They're delivering food, walking kids to school, accompanying people to appointments and raising money for rent 'cause there's concern that breadwinners are being arrested or afraid to go to work.
SIMON: Maine Public's Ari Snider. Thanks so much for joining us.
SNIDER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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