How the Scarborough ICE facility is feeding the nationwide detention apparatus

The U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement facility in Scarborough had been set up as an administrative facility. But more detentions are happening there this year, including overnight, often just the first stop for people being detained in multi-state stays. 

“This is one piece of the machine,” said Ruben Torres, advocacy and policy manager for the Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition.

The latest detention data obtained by the Deportation Data Project through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit paints a more complete picture of how the role of the short-term processing facility has changed under President Donald Trump’s second term. 

Unlike many other states, Maine does not have a standalone ICE detention center. The Scarborough facility is intended for routine check-ins and has just three small, short-term holding cells. This has meant local jails were often relied on for detentions — that is until last January when ICE pulled its detainees from the state’s largest jail in a rebuke to the sheriff, after he criticized the detention of one of his employees.

According to the data available through early August, detentions in the Scarborough facility increased after that change and now more directly align with overall apprehensions made by ICE in the state. 

More ICE arrests so far this year in Maine than previous two combined, data show

Eight people were held in the Scarborough facility overnight in 2026. That’s an increase from four in 2025 and zero in both 2024 and 2023, which is based on the number of stints listed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., according to an analysis by the Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition. 

Scarborough residents have requested the town look into whether ordinances and zoning are consistent with what is happening at the facility in practice. Last month, the town committee submitted a proclamation calling for Maine’s congressional delegation to review the facility and consider alternatives. 

Legality aside, Torres said the increase in overnight holds is particularly notable because it shows that increased demand has altered how the facility is used. 

Most people detained at the Scarborough facility are moved within six hours and taken out of state. The data also show that people who come through Scarborough are being moved much more frequently.

Two years ago, the average length of time between transfers was 46 days. Now, it’s an average of 12.6 days in a single facility during a detention stay, which often includes stints at multiple facilities.

“That makes it a lot harder for people to be able to secure legal counsel and to be able to get ahold of their loved ones,” Torres said. 

Overall in 2026, people processed out of the Scarborough facility had stints in a total of 30 other facilities in 11 other states. While detainees in the Scarborough facility used to stay in Maine, now they are mostly transferred to Massachusetts and New Hampshire, before often being sent to facilities in the South. 

“Those regions are typically much more conservative in their immigration court, which means that they have a higher chance to have claims denied and also have more rapid mega master hearings,” Torres said, referring to the bundling of immigration court cases — sometimes more than 100 at a time — into a single docket, which the Trump administration began doing in the spring to speed up proceedings.