These immigrants do one of Maine’s most dangerous jobs. Then came Trump’s crackdown.
Immigration authorities have rounded up Ecuadorian roofers from Aroostook to southern Maine since Donald Trump took office. The trend provides a window into how the president’s deportation agenda has targeted a community that has quietly shaped the region’s blue-collar economy.
What is Maine Focus?
Maine Focus is the Bangor Daily News’ investigative team, telling important stories that hold public figures and institutions accountable and make an impact in communities across the state. Its reporters focus on bringing new perspectives to the forefront. The team began as a community engagement project in 2013. Its reporters have done the state’s most ambitious journalism since then, chronicling the life and death of a young man who was addicted to heroin, illuminating a culture of sexual misconduct in the Maine National Guard, and telling the story of a man who spent years in solitary confinement. In 2025, BDN partnered with The Maine Monitor to strengthen investigative journalism in Maine and expand public access to the reporting. All reporting from this collaboration is free to read on bangordailynews.com.
Maine Focus Staff
Callie Ferguson is the deputy investigative editor and a reporter who focuses on Maine’s criminal justice system. She was a finalist for the Livingston Award in 2022. The next year, she joined the inaugural class of local investigations fellows at The New York Times. Callie graduated from Bowdoin College and lives in Westbrook.
Contact Callie: cferguson@bangordailynews.com / 207-990-8258
Sawyer Loftus is a reporter covering housing as part of a fellowship with the investigative outlet ProPublica. He was named the state’s journalist of the year by the Maine Press Association in 2024. Sawyer is a University of Vermont graduate who is based in Bangor.
Contact Sawyer: sloftus@bangordailynews.com / 207-217-1450
Lori Valigra is the environment reporter. She was a Knight journalism fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has extensive international reporting experience in Europe and Asia. Lori graduated from Boston University. She designed the western Maine log cabin in which she lives.
Contact Lori: lvaligra@bangordailynews.com / 207-990-8272
Michael Shepherd is the editor who oversees Maine Focus. He has led the BDN’s political coverage since 2019. He is a University of Maine graduate with a masters degree from the Muskie School of Public Service. He lives with his family in Augusta.
Contact Michael: mshepherd@bangordailynews.com / 207-370-7652
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Latest Stories
Maine landfill plans to finally treat contaminated water that goes into the Penobscot River
The state is requiring a treatment system for PFAS chemicals as part of a controversial 61-acre expansion plan at Juniper Ridge.
Video shows Graham Platner with ‘troubling’ tattoo that appears to be a Nazi symbol
The Democratic U.S. Senate candidate told a podcast he got the skull-and-crossbones tattoo in 2007 after getting “very inebriated” with fellow Marines in Croatia, saying he is no “secret Nazi.”
Sheriff directed investigation into Maine lawmaker over dropped electioneering charges
Rep. Nina Milliken, D-Blue Hill, called her prosecution politically motivated and has history with Hancock County Sheriff Scott Kane.
Graham Platner asked why Black people ‘don’t tip’ and referenced rape in old Reddit posts
The Democratic U.S. Senate candidate posted to the online social media site Reddit more than 1,800 times between 2009 and 2021.
What we know about the Maine ballots reportedly found in an Amazon box
The incident, days before absentee voting started in the state, could have been deliberate, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has intimated.
Bangor nonprofit serving people with disabilities lost money in ‘sophisticated’ cyber scam
Staff were tricked into giving access to the organization’s bank accounts, according to a notice obtained by the BDN.
A Maine prosecutor questioned a state trooper’s competence after an arson arrest
Maeghan Maloney’s letter gives a fuller picture of concerns she and other officials had about a trooper who allegedly made several violent arrests.
Ballots went missing the same day a Mainer reportedly found 250 in an Amazon package
Ellsworth reported that it was missing 250 ballots on the same day a Newburgh woman alleged she found that many in her Amazon package.
Inside the talks that led a contaminated Maine compost plant to be shut down
Tests showing a Unity Township compost plant contaminated wetlands more than two miles away sped a decision to close the facility, according to emails obtained by the BDN.
Police investigating allegation that Maine woman received election ballots in the mail
Law enforcement is investigating an allegation that a private resident in Newburgh received hundreds of 2025 Maine election ballots in the mail.
Lawyer calls for criminal investigation into troopers who beat a man in handcuffs
The attorney for Justin Savage also called for independent oversight of the Maine State Police’s use of force.
Janet Mills quiet on BDN/Maine Monitor investigation into violent state police arrest
State lawmakers are reviewing the matter to see whether they should take any action to ensure troopers are meeting “the policing standards we expect of our officers,” Rep. Tavis Hasenfus said.
Beating of handcuffed man casts doubt on Maine State Police’s perfect record of clearing officers
The agency has reviewed nearly three dozen complaints about use of force in the past decade. None were found to be excessive.
Watch the footage of Justin Savage’s arrest and read how police described it
The Maine Monitor and BDN are publishing video and police reports obtained during investigation into a violent arrest by Maine State Police.
Maine police described a combative suspect trying to escape. Video shows otherwise.
An analysis found that the state police’s characterization of Justin Savage’s arrest was at times incomplete and at others incorrect.
A trooper repeatedly punched a handcuffed man in the face. The Maine State Police promoted him.
The chaotic 2024 arrest captured on video raises questions about state police’s use of force policy and its process for reviewing complaints.
AI-generated child sexual abuse images are being created in Maine. Police can’t investigate.
Across the country, 43 states have outlawed sexual deepfakes, and 28 banned AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
A former Maine probation officer pleaded guilty to having child sex abuse images
Jeffery Furlong’s case is notable because he has gotten recognition for his work overseeing people convicted of sex crimes.
Pontoon boat crash that killed 3 in Maine is the latest involving ‘death trap’ vessel
The 2024 18-foot Sea-Doo Switch was one of thousands recalled due to an increased risk of the boat nosediving into the water.
A Maine compost operation heavily contaminated by PFAS is closing
For almost four decades, Hawk Ridge, the state’s largest composting facility, turned sewage sludge into compost used in Maine and beyond.
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