(Chris Wade, The Center Square) The number of arrests by Border Patrol in Maine reached its highest level in more than two decades last month, according to newly released federal immigration data.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection said 113 “illegal aliens” from 16 countries were arrested in Maine by agents in April, the highest in a single month in nearly 24 years. The Houlton Sector coordinated air transport with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sunday to transport 29 apprehended subjects to other parts of the country for further processing, the agency said.
The agency said the uptick in apprehensions were not the result of more people illegally crossing the border into Maine, but stepped up enforcement operations across the largely rural state.
“If you attempt to cross the border illegally, you will be apprehended,” Maine’s Houlton Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Craig Shepley said in a statement. “If you are present in the United States without a legal status, you will be detained and removed in accordance with all applicable immigration laws.”
The Houlton Sector coordinated air transport with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to transport apprehended subjects to other parts of the country for further processing, the agency said.
Shepley said illegal entries from Canada along the Maine border are decreasing, which he attributed to stronger law enforcement partnerships and a “back-to-basics approach balancing personnel, technology” and increased infrastructure to secure the northern border.
The uptick in arrests along the northern border come as encounters by Border Patrol agents on the southwest border plummeted by 93% in April, compared to a year ago. That included just 1,342 arrests in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas – an 84% drop from the same month last year, according to the federal agency.
Maine lawmakers are considering a pair of bills that would limit cooperation with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns, but the move is opposed by state and county law enforcement officials who say it would force them to violate federal law. This is the seventh consecutive year Maine has had a Democratic trifecta in state government, meaning Democrats in the office of governor and majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives.
Backers of the proposals say allowing local police to cooperate with ICE actions makes communities less safe because it dissuades people from reporting crime for fear of deportation. They say it wouldn’t restrict ICE from apprehending dangerous criminals in the state.
Law enforcement officials are urging lawmakers to reject the plans, arguing they would hamper communication between local, county, and state law enforcement and our federal immigration officials.
Maine isn’t considered a “sanctuary” state, such as by the Center for Immigration Studies. Several communities have local laws aimed at preventing local police from acting as immigration agents or enforcing federal immigration laws, which are both civil and criminal in nature.
The Wells Police Department in York County has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Homeland Security to join the 287(g) program, allowing local police to arrest and detain immigration suspects sought by federal immigration officials.
