Maine Legislature passes restrictions on federal immigration enforcement

This story was updated following Senate action and enactment votes.

Both chambers of the Maine Legislature approved a bill to restrict local authorities from carrying out federal immigration enforcement.

After about three hours total of debate across chambers, the Senate voted 21-14 for passage on Tuesday, following the House of Representatives that approved it earlier by one vote. Both chambers enacted the bill on Wednesday, sending it to the governor.

Meanwhile, both chambers on Tuesday rejected a competing proposal that would prevent local agencies from adopting any policies that restrict them from assisting in such enforcement. 

During both the House and Senate debate, Republican legislators argued restricting local police from collaborating with federal authorities on immigration matters would make Maine a “sanctuary state,” putting a target on Maine in light of President Donald Trump threatening to withhold federal funding from and conduct immigration raids in so-called sanctuary jurisdictions. 

Meanwhile, Democrats argued the bill would do no such thing. Rather, they said, adding such restrictions is necessary to ensure the rule of law is upheld since the Trump administration has violated legal norms and ignored court orders in a mass push to remove noncitizens.

LD 1971, the bill the House advanced, passed with a 74-73 vote. It would place restrictions on some immigration enforcement activities, but it is more limited in scope than originally proposed. 

Effort to restrict Maine police from carrying out federal immigration enforcement splits lawmakers

After law enforcement authorities raised concern about the proposal hindering federal partnerships that sometimes touch on some immigration issues, such as drug enforcement task forces, the amended version clarifies that only work done by local police for the primary purpose of immigration enforcement would be banned. 

“This bill does not prevent Maine law enforcement agencies from doing their job,” bill sponsor Rep. Deqa Dhalac (D-South Portland) said on the floor, pointing out that immigration enforcement is an authority generally reserved to federal authorities. “Instead, it provides clarity. Especially, it will ensure that Maine law enforcement can focus on their primary mission, safeguarding our communities and upholding the state laws.”

Consideration of these restrictions comes amid state and national scrutiny of immigration enforcement. 

Trump announced late Sunday that he was directing ICE officers to conduct immigration raids in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, the nation’s three most populous cities that are all led by elected Democrats in heavily Democratic states.

“I want ICE, Border Patrol, and our Great and Patriotic Law Enforcement Officers, to FOCUS on our crime ridden and deadly Inner Cities, and those places where Sanctuary Cities play such a big role,” Trump wrote on social media, referring to cities that don’t coordinate with federal immigration officials for civil enforcement.

The announcement escalates a week-long conflict in Los Angeles, where large protests started after immigration officials began arresting people at work sites across the city. Trump directed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to L.A. amid the protests without California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s consent.

“I never imagined that I would be standing here questioning whether the state of Maine should regulate when and how our police officers interact with their federal counterparts,” Rep. Tavis Rock Hasenfus (D-Augusta) said on the floor. 

Hasenfus went on, “But nor could I have imagined that I’d be living in a country where federal agents would appear in our communities in unmarked vans and masks, executing orders without question, simply to meet arbitrary quotas. Nor did I imagine a time when our federal government would so routinely ignore lawful court orders instructing them to abide by basic constitutional principles.”

Pointing to other injustices in the nation’s history, Rep. Victoria Doudera (D-Camden) argued that some of the Trump administration’s actions are in line with that legacy. 

“I think it’s been all too American in our past,” Doudera said, “but I think it represents the worst of what America is and we need to stand up in this Legislature and be for the best that America has.”

Others praised the Trump administration on immigration enforcement. “We should not stand in their way when they come into our great state to do their job and arrest these criminals,” said Rep. Michael Soboleski (R-Phillips).

Soboleski is the sponsor of the immigration bill the Legislature rejected, LD 1656, which would prevent local agencies from adopting any policies that restrict them from assisting in the enforcement of federal immigration law. After the House voted against passage 77-71, the Senate followed suit with a 20-14 vote against it.

“This legislation is a critical step towards ensuring that Maine remains a law-abiding partner with federal government particularly,” Rep. Jennifer Poirier (R-Skowhegan) said of LD 1656. “In the realm of immigration enforcement, the Trump administration has made it clear that states and localities that impede federal immigration enforcement risk losing significant federal funding.”

Wells Police pauses ICE agreement in light of pending legislation that would ban it

In an executive order in late April, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, a move a judge has since blocked. 

In the Senate Tuesday night, Assistant Minority Leader Matthew Harrington (R-York), a 17-year veteran of law enforcement and current reserve police officer for the Kennebunk Police Department, said that he has personally detained suspects for federal immigration authorities under multiple administrations. 

“This is nothing new to our state,” Harrington said, “but this bill is going to handcuff law enforcement’s ability to assist those agencies with those investigations.”

Sen. Joe Baldacci (D-Penobscot) disagreed. 

“In normal times, the arguments of my Republican friends might persuade me or influence me on this decision,” Baldacci said. “But the fact of the matter is, we do not live in normal times. We actually have an administration that does not respect law, that runs roughshod over the law.”

Representatives made similar points in the House earlier Tuesday.

“I say this as someone who has often been critical of my party’s view on border security — this isn’t about border security anymore. It’s about cruelty,” Rep. Adam Lee (D-Auburn) said. 

Not all in the Democratic Party agreed. Rep. Dani O’Halloran (D-Brewer) argued, “Criminal networks do not stop at city or state lines, and neither should our collaboration as law enforcement agencies.”

But a violation of immigration law, the enforcement that LD 1971 seeks to ban, is a civil rather than criminal violation, Rep. Ellie Sato (D-Gorham) pointed out. 

Other legislators who voted against LD 1656 amplified concerns raised by the Maine Municipal Association during the bill’s public hearing that municipalities would be on the hook to pay for their local police taking on federal immigration enforcement work, expanding their legal risk with no compensation

“For me, that is also terribly concerning,” said Rep. Amy J. Roeder (D-Bangor).

In the upper chamber, it is also troubling to at least one senator from across the aisle. 

Sen. Rick Bennett (R-Oxford), who voted for LD 1971, said, “I, for one, am concerned about the use of Maine resources and the taking of those resources for activities that are governed by whatever party is in the White House. We need to focus on Maine, and I believe that this amended version actually accomplishes that.” 

Concerns about these costs have been raised by residents in the town of Wells, whose police force became the only in Maine to enter into an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under what’s called the 287(g) program.

After the 287(g) program was discontinued in 2012 due to the discovery of discriminatory practices such as racial profiling, Trump revived it to bolster ICE’s capacity by deputizing local police officers to detain immigrants.

But Wells Police Department has since paused its agreement to see if the Legislature votes to ban such contracts. On Friday, Wells residents submitted a petition to their town manager with more than 900 signatures calling for the department to permanently terminate the agreement.

The Judiciary Committee opted to postpone until next year consideration of another bill, LD 1259, that seeks to explicitly prohibit these contracts, but LD 1971 would also have this effect.