Immigrant communities on edge as advocates report increased ICE arrests in Maine

On a Sunday in southern Maine, a man who asked to be identified simply as Pastor Antonio helps lead a multilingual service at an evangelical church that draws from the local African communities.

About a dozen adults have joined in person, while a handful of kids play in the room next-door. Antonio says that’s a fraction of typical turnout, as he believes a resurgent fear of ICE is keeping people away.

“Some of them, when you call, try to reach out to them, they say ‘Listen, Pastor, we are scared. We can’t come anymore in person. We prefer to stay home,’” he said.

Antonio asked to be identified only by his last name because, like many of his congregants, his immigration case is still in process. And even as he tries to maintain a consistent presence at the pulpit, he’s wrestling with his own fears.

“Yes, I have concern,” he said. “Because you know, as a parent, I don’t know what can happen to me.”

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson did not directly answer a question about how many immigration arrests have been made in Maine over the last couple months.

But the Portland-based Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project said it’s seeing an uptick in ICE activity, particularly concentrated in the Lewiston-Auburn area, with agents often detaining people near their homes.

The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition is also reporting an increase in arrests being called in to its ICE hotline.

And some of the informal networks that formed during the January surge to document ICE activity are reactivating.

“I got out of my car, I approached the situation, I was recording,” said a woman named Sara, who said she witnessed – and filmed – several ICE agents making an arrest near downtown Portland on Tuesday.

In the video, an agent tells her to “Back the hell up” as they put a man into an unmarked car.

“I’m a peaceful observer,” Sara responds.

“You’re observing too close,” the agent said. “Back up.”

Sara, who asked to be identified only by her first name for fear of being tracked by ICE, said the whole incident was over in minutes. But she tried to get the man’s information before the agents drove him away, so that community groups might be able to identify him.

“It looks like they [are] targeting people,” said Patrick Mulonda, president of Maine’s Congolese community association. “And they wait for you when you get out from your home, or from your work, or you know, they stop you in the middle of the road, and they just take you.”

This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.