The Trump administration has begun another targeted immigration crackdown, sending a surge of federal personnel to Maine, an ocean fishing state, in a plan dubbed by the government Operation Catch of the Day.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is aiming the push at Somali immigrants living in the north-eastern state, according to reporting by the New York Times.
The initiative officially began on Tuesday. In comments provided to the Guardian, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the parent agency of ICE, said: “Some of the arrests of the worst of the worst from the first day of operations include criminal illegal aliens convicted of horrific crimes including aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and endangering the welfare of a child.” The government provided criminal histories related to four arrestees out of approximately 50 ICE said had been arrested so far, with no details on the backgrounds of the others.
The move follows similar efforts occurring in Minneapolis over recent weeks that have sparked demonstrations and prompted criticism of forceful methods used by ICE and border patrol officers, both on people pursued for deportation and on protesters and activists who warn communities when immigration enforcement activity is spotted nearby.
Thousands of enforcement officers have been mobilized to Minnesota. ICE has faced a storm of criticism, including from local officials, after the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this month by an ICE officer, followed by the FBI excluding local prosecutors from the official investigation into the tragedy. The large Somali American community in Minnesota has been a particular and repeated target for Donald Trump.
Patricia Hyde, deputy assistant director of ICE, told Fox News on Tuesday that close to 50 people have been detained so far in Maine as part of what she described as an immigration enforcement surge.
Hyde also said ICE has compiled a list of 1,400 individuals in Maine it intends to target. ICE officers shown in TV footage on Fox News making arrests so far were masked and all had their faces blurred, while the faces of those being apprehended were not.
Many asylum seekers from a number of African nations who have entered the US have made Maine their home, adding to the Somali community that began forming there in the early 2000s when refugees settled in Lewiston. Maine is still largely white and has one of the oldest populations nationwide.
Meanwhile, many businesses have increasingly turned to immigrant workers to address labor shortages, as many native-born workers have retired or left the labor force.
The US attorney’s office in Maine had hinted at the coming operation in a statement issued Monday urging the public to demonstrate peacefully.
“In the coming days, if Maine citizens seek to exercise their rights to assemble and protest, it is vital that these protests remain peaceful,” said Andrew Benson, the US attorney in the state. “Anyone who forcibly assaults or impedes a federal law enforcement officer, willfully destroys government property or unlawfully obstructs federal law enforcement activity commits a federal crime and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
On Tuesday, the mayor of Lewiston, Carl Sheline, said in a statement that ICE agents had increased their presence in the state’s second-largest city. He urged calm and encouraged residents to “check in on one another”.
Last week, the Trump administration said it would end temporary protected status (TPS) for Somalis living in the US, giving hundreds of people two months to depart or face removal.
The administration had first signaled plans to revoke protections for Somali nationals in November, when Trump posted on his Truth Social account about Minnesota, which has a large Somali population, writing: “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from. It’s OVER!”
