AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills will delay her decision on a proposal that pushes back against President Donald Trump’s policies by limiting Maine police and jails from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement officials in certain circumstances.
Mills will hold the measure from Rep. Deqa Dhalac, D-South Portland, until the next legislative session, spokesperson Ben Goodman said Tuesday. Under the Maine Constitution, the governor will have three days at the start of the next session expected to start in January to either veto the bill or let it become law without her signature.
Dhalac’s bill was watered down in committee before seeing a few narrow floor votes and reaching the Democratic governor’s desk. The initial version would have prevented Maine police from holding anyone at the request of immigration agents unless the person was suspected of committing a crime. The amended version still says police cannot hold someone based solely on a federal agency’s immigration-related request, but other limits were removed.
For example, it does not apply to police activity if it is not solely focused on immigration after the Maine Chiefs of Police Association noted there are joint task forces dealing with drugs and other issues that could have been affected under the original proposal.
But Mills currently thinks Dhalac’s bill is “overly broad and confusing, as it establishes a complicated legal regime of the type of interactions that are or are not permitted with federal law enforcement,” Goodman said.
Since Trump returned to office in January, the Republican has moved forward with his aggressive immigration enforcement agenda. The Trump administration has been met with lawsuits tied to its controversial detention and deportation of people in Maine and other states who have legal status or have followed the established process to apply for asylum.
The Bangor Daily News also reported earlier in June how a tip from a “concerned citizen” in Calais led to Border Patrol agents wrongfully arresting a Venezuelan man earlier this year who had lawful documentation to work and reside in Maine. The man spent 65 days in detention before a federal judge ordered his release in May.
Formal agreements between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local police departments have come up for debate in Maine communities. The Wells Police Department paused its partnership in May with ICE after receiving backlash from residents in the liberal-leaning community.
Dhalac and supporters of her proposal nodded to the fear and uncertainty in immigrant communities amid the controversial cases of masked and plain-clothed ICE officers detaining people around the country.
They said it would free up local and state police to focus on their work within their jurisdictions and pointed to the controversial traffic stops initiated by Maine police, including one in February that led to the detention of a 17-year-old who arrived in the U.S. years ago as an unaccompanied minor and has since been reunited with his family in Lewiston. A few Maine jails have held people for immigration agents for no longer than 48 hours at a time.
Dhalac, who immigrated to the U.S. three decades ago, noted she became the first Somali-American mayor in the country when elected to lead South Portland in 2021. She testified earlier this year that local police in Maine are currently diverting public safety resources to engage in immigration enforcement, which is “causing widespread and growing harm.”
“I would like to emphasize that nothing in this bill impacts local law enforcement in Maine from being able to do their important work,” Dhalac had said. “This is about ensuring that our public safety resources are being spent in ways that promote public safety for everyone.”
Republicans asked Mills to veto the bill. Rep. Alicia Collins, R-Sidney, called it a “dangerous attempt to interfere with local law enforcement and make their jobs even more difficult.”