ICE has arrested about 100 people in Maine since Trump took office, according to statistics released by the Deportation Data Project that shine new light on the agency’s operations.
That’s a roughly 50 percent increase in the average daily arrest rate, compared with 2024.
Sue Roche, with the Portland-based Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, said it’s having a broad chilling effect.
“Even those with permanent legal status are choosing not to take jobs where they might be driving, not to send their children to school or day camps, not going to the doctor and often not contacting law enforcement when they might be victims of crimes,” she said.
The data show a jump in arrest rates in Maine and across the country beginning in June. The timing corresponds with Trump aide Stephen Miller reportedly demanding that ICE arrest 3,000 people per day.
Martha Stein, with the immigrant support group Hope Acts, said she’s aware of more than a dozen arrests of people who were seemingly doing everything right.
“Minding their own business, going to work, and just trying to live their lives and follow all the laws and rules like everyone else,” she said.
According to the data, nearly 80 percent of those arrested in Maine this year have not been convicted of a crime.
The numbers do not include arrests made by Border Patrol, which said it arrested more than 100 people in April alone.
This story appears through a partnership with Maine Public.
