Maine immigrant groups launch interactive ICE mapping tool

The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition unveiled a digital mapping tool Wednesday to connect immigrants and other Mainers with resources and data based on calls to the group’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement watch hotline. 

The tool, called “Lighthouse ME,” includes information about the location of hotline calls, the nature of the calls — as they range from agent sightings to legal aid requests — and data on enforcement obtained through public records requests. 

“The central issue is not just that violence happens, but that oppressors often control the narrative, the records, the investigation, the analysis, and the consequences,” said Keyko Torres, the community health and wellness director at Presente! Maine, which launched the tool in partnership with the coalition. 

“Independent data collection and documentation matter, because that’s what allows us to distinguish between official claims and material realities.” 

Hotline volunteers, immigrant advocates and service providers gathered at Good Theater in Portland for a live demonstration of the tool, which provides information in nearly 30 languages, such as a resource hub with details about immigrant rights and making plans in case of detention. The tool also includes a map with verified historic ICE sightings — not live tracking — and a dashboard of data on apprehensions based on age, gender, country of origin and more.  

“Most of the time we’re trying to work with imperfect evidence or with no data at all,” said Ruben Torres, advocacy and policy manager for the coalition. “This gives us an opportunity to finally be able to look at the numbers and directly support the most impacted organizations, most impacted groups, and most impacted regions.” 

The launch of the tool comes as Maine has been seeing more ICE activity and less from Border Patrol over the past few weeks, according to community groups, who have also reported increased cases of people being targeted and arrested at home.

Some of this insight comes from the hotline, which the coalition that represents more than 100 organizations across the state launched in October. When rumors began circulating in January of an ICE surge, an uptick in hotline calls marked its start before President Donald Trump’s administration confirmed the operation. 

The hotline has since tipped off communities in Maine to swings in ICE activity in the absence of communication from the federal government and helped connect people with support both during and after detention. 

The coalition also released its own analysis on Wednesday of public records data from the January operation, which aligns with earlier findings that agent actions on the ground didn’t align with the administration’s stated goal of improving public safety through enforcement targeted on people with serious criminal backgrounds.

“T.S. Eliot once wrote that ‘Between the idea and the reality falls the shadow,’ and Lighthouse Maine and this report are meant to shed light on that shadow,” said Torres, who will be hand delivering the report to Maine’s congressional delegation next week. 

The analysis found that out of the nearly 200 people detained during that operation, 55% of arrests were classified as collateral and only 6% of people apprehended had a criminal conviction. 

The operation also disproportionately impacted working-age African and Latin American immigrants, which the analysis concludes suggests targeting based on racial profile and legal vulnerability rather than criminal risk.

As the primary election approaches on June 9 and the general election in November, the coalition’s Executive Director Mufalo Chitam ended Wednesday’s event by calling on those running for office to build on the work communities across Maine are already doing to keep each other safe. 

“We are calling Maine’s elected officials to strengthen due process, protect workers and ensure local resources are used for local needs and not federal immigration enforcement,” Chitam said.