U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, said Wednesday he supports Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations that ramped up in his hometown of Lewiston and in the Portland area this week as long as the detention efforts focus on people “engaged in criminal activities.”
Golden issued a brief statement Wednesday afternoon after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed ICE agents are focusing on Maine under “Operation Catch of the Day,” which launched Tuesday.
“So long as this remains a targeted law enforcement operation focused on individuals who have engaged in criminal activities, then I believe it legitimately serves the public interest,” Golden said in a statement.
The Trump administration said the operation is focused on the “worst of the worst” criminals in Maine who are in the country illegally. An administration official said agents made 50 arrests Tuesday and have identified more than 1,000 people they are targeting in Maine. State and local Democratic leaders along with immigrant advocates warned that people without criminal records were among those detained in the early stages of the operation.
Golden’s tepid praise for the operation is not entirely surprising given he has frequently bucked his party and voted with Republicans on issues tied to immigration since first taking office in 2019. Golden, citing increasing political incivility and threats against him and his family, is not seeking reelection this year to represent the rural district that has backed Trump three times in presidential races.
The responses from Maine’s members of Congress are notable given the tense mood in their home state. Last week, rumors began circulating that ICE would descend on Portland, Lewiston and other parts of the state for a high-profile operation akin to those that have drawn controversy and violent encounters in cities such as Minneapolis, Chicago and Los Angeles.
This week, the rumored operations became reality.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, the lone Republican in Maine’s delegation, had not yet commented as of Wednesday afternoon on the initial set of ICE arrests in the state.
Last week, Collins said she supported the deportation of criminals but did not “see the rationale for a large number of ICE agents to come” to Maine.
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a 1st District progressive, and U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, have condemned this week’s ICE actions as inhumane.
In a statement, Pingree spokesperson Gabrielle Mannino criticized the way the administration is communicating about the operation, noting that federal officials are not answering the questions the office asks on behalf of constituents.
“It’s interesting that (ICE) let the Fox news crew ride along with them, but they won’t talk to us,” Mannino said.
In a statement, King said he intends to vote to cut ICE’s federal funding until “they respect our Constitutionally-guaranteed rights (and take off the masks).”
ICE Deputy Assistant Director Patricia Hyde told Fox News the agency had arrested people in Maine who had committed crimes of assault, sexual assault, drug trafficking and driving under the influence. The arrestees came from Senegal, Honduras, Somalia, Guatemala and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, she said.
This is a developing story.
Sun Journal staff writer Joe Charpentier contributed to this story.