ICE Officially Launches Operation 'Catch of the Day' as Maine Braces for Authoritarian Surge

"Even the name" chosen for the Trump administration's ramp-up of immigration enforcement in Maine was denounced as "racist and degrading" by one state politician on Wednesday as reports mounted about federal agents arresting dozens of people in the Portland and Lewiston areas.

"Nothing about this is normal or okay," said Hannah Pingree, a Democratic former state lawmaker who is running for governor. Referring to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, she added, "ICE OUT OF MAINE."

Pingree was one of several officials in Maine who condemned "Operation Catch of the Day" as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it had officially surged federal agents to the state.

Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that those arrested included people who had been convicted of "aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and endangering the welfare of a child," but DHS records have shown that just 5% of people booked into ICE detention in recent months have had violent criminal convictions and nearly three-quarters have had no convictions at all.

The agency did not mention that one of the people detained on Wednesday was Micheline Ntumba, a mother of four who was followed home by ICE agents after she dropped her child off at school. Ntumba has a pending asylum application and no criminal record, according to her daughter and a background check system checked by the Maine Monitor.

DHS also did not include in its statement the reported arrest of a pregnant woman in Westbrook or the fact that school attendance in Portland Public Schools—the state's most diverse school district, with more than 30% of students being English language learners—was down by 5% on Tuesday, with families evidently keeping their children home for fear of immigration enforcement.

Westbrook Mayor David Morse told WMTW, an ABC News affiliate, that a housing rights advocate had witnessed the arrest of the pregnant woman, an immigrant from Ecuador. The ICE agents later returned to the area and "yelled at her saying they knew her name and where she lived," reported WMTW.

The woman was "targeted for intimidation by a masked federal law enforcement officer," Morse said. "This is outrageous behavior from a federal authority, and I stand by our citizens’ rights to peacefully observe and/or protest."

Portland Mayor Mark Dion joined other city leaders Wednesday afternoon at a press conference where he said immigrants in the community were "anxious and fearful" over ICE's arrival.

“We believe in their right to be safe and we’ve tried to direct resources their way to support their capacity to stay here in Portland," said Dion, noting that schools are offering hybrid learning options.

City Council Member April Fournier noted that families across the Portland area are likely to face social as well as economic impacts in the coming weeks as ICE continues operations.

"Immigrants are what make Portland just such an incredible place to be," said Fournier. "And what we're all going to see is not only the social impact and what we all feel... we're also going to see an economic impact. These are now families that will have potentially the primary breadwinner in their household has been disappeared, so how are they going to make rent? So we're going to have a potential increase in evictions."

Schools and businesses may also see a growing number of staff members disappeared by ICE, said Fournier.

"If we saw that this immigration enforcement was consistent and was following the law with this administration, I don't think any of us would have the level of anxiety as I know we have today," she added.

The Maine People's Alliance (MPA) urged community members to testify in writing, virtually, or in person at an upcoming hearing by the Maine Legislature's Judiciary Committee regarding an emergency bill to ensure ICE can't enter private spaces in hospitals, schools, and childcare centers. The hearing is being held January 29.

"We want to be very clear: ICE is not welcome in Maine. Masked militia do not belong in our communities, let alone armed and willing to commit murder. Mainers won’t fall for divisive rhetoric from the Trump regime," said MPA co-director Amy Halsted. "We will protect ourselves, our family members, and our communities from the violence, chaos, and fear ICE agents bring with them. Because in Maine, we look out for one another."

"While ICE is sending masked agents in unmarked cars to disappear our neighbors, hanging around while our kids board the school bus, and kidnapping parents as they pick up their kids after school, Mainers will not be bullied," she added.

Community members have volunteered in recent days to deliver groceries to families who are housebound out of fear of ICE arrests, and the Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition has trained people to verify reports of ICE sightings to help organize efforts to protect neighbors.

The Trump administration's surge of federal agents in Maine comes after President Donald Trump claimed members of the state's Somali community, which has grown in recent years and is largely centered in Lewiston and Portland, are involved in "scams." Similar allegations preceded the ongoing deployment of immigration agents in the Minnesota, where a tiny fraction of the state's nearly 80,000 people of Somali descent were involved in a fraud scandal involving the social services system.

The mayor of Lewiston, Carl Sheline, also made clear his outrage over the Trump administration's nationwide mass deportation and detention operation, in which ICE agents have fatally shot at least nine people since September. At least 32 people died in ICE custody last year, and reports of torture and inhumane conditions in the facilities have mounted.

“These masked men with no regard for the rule of law are causing long-term damage to our state and to our country,” said Sheline. “Lewiston stands for the dignity of all people who call Maine home."