Maine immigrant detentions outside court, at airport follow national trends

People in Cumberland County have been detained outside court and at the airport in recent weeks, following a national trend of federal immigration authorities employing new tactics to boost arrest numbers. 

Federal immigration agents arrested more people in July than in any previous month of President Donald Trump’s administration.

On Tuesday, the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition received a report through its hotline indicating that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained a married couple of African descent outside the Cumberland County Courthouse around 12:10 p.m. 

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the two arrests to Maine Morning Star late Wednesday, writing that the immigrants both entered the country legally but stayed years longer than authorized and that one had an arrest for theft. They will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings, an unnamed spokesperson said.  

The coalition has received other reports of ICE activity near that courthouse in Portland and the Lewiston District Court this year, which the group warns can discourage victims and witnesses from reporting crimes or participating in legal proceedings. Meanwhile, the unnamed DHS spokesperson defended the courthouse arrests as “common sense.” 

“It conserves valuable law enforcement resources because they already know where a target will be,” the spokesperson wrote. “It is also safer for our officers and the community. These illegal aliens have gone through security and been screened for weapons.”

In the statement, DHS repeated what it often has when asked about immigration detentions in Maine and elsewhere: “ICE is targeting the worst of the worst.”

With new tactics, ICE reaches new high in monthly arrests

However, less than a third of current detainees have a criminal conviction and 40% have never been accused of anything but non-criminal immigration violations, according to statistics reviewed by Maine Morning Star’s sister outlet Stateline through early July.

The reported detentions come shortly after ICE detained MaineHealth nurse Debora Kapisha on July 30 at the Portland Jetport (not Logan Airport in Boston, as originally stated by her union). Kapisha, an asylum seeker from Zambia, was released last week, following public outcry. 

According to a Homeland Security document obtained by MainePublic, two ICE officers were conducting “targeted surveillance” at the Jetport by the security checkpoint, where they identified Kapisha with assistance from TSA and then took her into custody. 

A May 2025 agreement finalized information-sharing between TSA and ICE, made known late last month through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit from American Oversight. 

Over the past two weeks, the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition said it has received reports of at least five detentions at the jetport. ICE and DHS did not respond to requests about how many detentions have occurred there. 

The coalition is advising people with temporary or uncertain immigration status to consult a qualified immigration attorney before flying. 

Homeland Security said that last month it arrested an average of 20-40 people per day at airports, as federal agents targeted passengers with expired visas. Arrests based on expired visas are likely to accelerate in September when a new rule takes effect that sets stricter time limits on visas for students, exchange visitors and foreign media.

In addition to surveilling courthouses and airports, immigration agents have conducted roadside checks in several other states. For example, last month in North Carolina, immigration agents set up a checkpoint at a creek in a National Forest popular with Hispanic residents.

Stateline reporter Tim Henderson contributed to this story.