The town of Wells has terminated a cooperation agreement between its police department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The agreement had been on pause since May.
Wells formally entered into an agreement with ICE in April through the agency’s 287(g) program, which allows local police to enforce certain aspects of federal immigration law. Wells was the only police department in Maine to join the program.
At a Select Board meeting Tuesday night, Town Manager Michael Pardue read a letter on behalf of Police Chief Jo-Ann Putnam, who said she saw the program as a training opportunity, but acknowledged the deep divisions it had sparked.
“Both the command staff and I take great pride in equipping our officers with the training and resources necessary to do their jobs effectively and professionally,” Putnam wrote. “I have consistently maintained that politics and policing should remain separate. Unfortunately, as of late, these lines have become blurred.”
The decision to join the agreement sparked months of protests in Wells, localizing fierce national divisions over immigration.
Wells was the only town in Maine to sign onto the 287(g) program, which has expanded rapidly across the country as the Trump administration seeks to enlist the support of local law enforcement in its push for mass deportation.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
