On Saturday, February 7, as temperatures barely crested double digits, over 300 people across Maine gathered at the Maine Irish Heritage Center in Portland for a community meeting put on by the No ICE for ME coalition, aimed at educating residents on rights and skills to know in light of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) recent heightened activity throughout the state.
It’s been almost three weeks since ICE started their statewide “Operation Catch of the Day” on January 20, 2026; a focused flood of federal immigration agents into Maine with the sole purpose of raiding communities to abduct immigrants and refugees who they allege are violent criminals in the country illegally. Evidence has shown, however, that a good number of the people they detained are here legally, or are refugees already following the legal process; and, in the vast majority of instances, have no violent criminal history.
In light of the agency’s crude and often illegal tactics (which include stalking school drop off and pick up times, quickly disappearing people across state lines to disrupt access to legal representation, using bear spray on civilians recording their actions, and in a number of cases across the country shooting people who presented no threat), thousands of Mainers have not only bristled at the danger ICE presents to their communities, but have organized into networks of rapid response teams and mutual aid efforts in order to help protect their neighbors.
No ICE for ME, a group of resident volunteers with a number of organizational endorsements, has been at the forefront of planning and organizing community networks in case ICE decided to make a push into the state. Indeed, as soon as the ICE surge began in January, community networks organized by No ICE for ME jumped into action on Signal group chats, communicating and documenting what they observed, joining with school watch teams, and funneling people into mutual aid efforts in order to help families who didn’t feel safe leaving their homes.
According to Tophe, who works with Presente! Maine and organizes with No ICE for ME, the group formed last Spring in order to demand Cumberland County end its contract with ICE, wherein the Sheriff’s Dept. held ICE detainees in the county’s jail. But, as the year went on, he says they knew they would have to expand their mission. “We knew this moment was going to come, it was not a matter of if, but when. […] In 2025 alone, immigration detentions in Maine increased by 75%, so this was already a marked escalation that made it impossible for people to ignore.”
No ICE for ME was not the only community group to organize around an expected surge in ICE activity around the state. In October, the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Peoples’ Coalition for Safety and Justice (PCSJ) launched the Maine ICE Watch Hotline. Their mission is to receive and verify tips about ICE and Border Patrol activity in Maine communities, providing real time updates and connecting families to supportive resources. There is also the Maine Solidarity Fund, a project of the PCSJ, which collects donations in order to help with legal support, familial support, and healthcare access for immigrant and marginalized people facing increased harassment, discrimination, and detention across Maine.
And while all these groups surely have overlapping participation, Saturday’s community meeting in Portland was officially the work of No ICE for ME. Tophe clearly laid out why the group thought it was necessary. “So many people were suddenly volunteering to fill emergency food distribution shifts at Presente, to donate to the Maine Solidarity Fund, they were flyering about the Hotline in their communities and protesting almost every day. And that power cannot be ignored, it has to be cultivated, grown, and nurtured. There are so many people asking ‘what can I do?’ […] So, the idea behind this event is to hold sessions on real tangible skills that not only can people learn themselves, but to share with their communities.”
The day’s events went from 12 to 4 PM, with panels and workshops covering a plethora of topics. The first session lasted until 2:30, and attendees got to choose among four different workshops depending on their areas of interest and need. One of the first workshops was a training on workplace preparedness, involving a number of teachers and restaurant workers who went over the Fourth Amendment right protecting against unconstitutional searches and seizures. They shared how ICE is not constitutionally permitted to enter restricted workplace areas, and how workers can physically set up their workplaces to make them safer.
There was also a very well attended noncompliance workshop, which focused on the history and theory of resisting unjust and immoral laws through noncooperative tactics. At the same time there was a presentation on how folks can learn to become a trained verifier when observing and documenting ICE activity in their communities, and an important workshop on digital security where attendees could learn the basics on how to protect one’s self or organization from being doxxed or infiltrated via communications.
After a brief break, where could mingle and partake in a zine designing work area to contribute to an anti-ICE zine build, which was fairly busy throughout the day, the second session started. Three simultaneous workshops were offered; upstairs, there was a de-escalation training on skills to identify different levels of escalation, de-escalation strategies, and on how one can focus on grounding and centering themselves and others during moments of crisis and tension in order to keep things from escalating. Downstairs was where attendees could find two other workshops, one being a presentation on mutual aid primarily helmed by members of Presente! Maine, focused on how to help meet community needs via raising funds but also how to get connected to provide direct food, rent, and utility assistance to their neighbors.
Also downstairs was a panel on protest and picketline safety, which has become more pertinent given the increased number of rallies and actions that have sprung up nationwide in response to ICE, as well as increased union activity under an anti-labor Trump administration. Speakers brought a range of different experiences, including Todd Chretien, candidate for State House District 112 and longtime organizer; Arthur Phillips, Maine AFL-CIO Campaigns Director; Troy Jackson, gubernatorial candidate and union member; and Arlo, a longtime community organizer in southern Maine. They focused on how to make safety and security decisions based on different scenarios, considering the size of the action, whether it is in a friendly or hostile area, and considering nearby establishments like schools and houses of worship.
In the end, over 300 attendees walked away having learned skills they previously lacked in hopes of sharing and applying them in their own communities in order to keep their neighbors safer. As to why it’s important, Tophe of Presente! noted, “We know that there’s a space for everyone to do something at this moment. We can’t all do everything, but everyone can do something. This event is to help people find their niche, see where they fit in. Because we know another surge is going to come, and we need to be even more prepared.”
This idea that the surge will come again, or perhaps that it hasn’t even left, has been a popular chorus with organizers. While Sen. Collins and ICE have claimed that they’ve ended their surge in Maine; volunteers still observe and document daily instances of ongoing ICE and Border Patrol activity in their communities. It’s clear to many that the immigration agencies are merely playing possum, feigning retreat while shifting tactics to be less visible. When asked why it’s important to keep up and build out these community groups in the aftermath of ICE’s recent operation, Portland City Councilor Wes Pelletier, who has been active in these community defense efforts, had this to say. “Trump and ICE think they can de-escalate the situation by telling us they’ve left, but we know they haven’t. It’s important during this time when their activity seems low to keep building. Because, if and when they do re-escalate, we need to be ready to protect our neighbors again. We need to maintain a level of awareness and vigilance.”
When asked for his final reflections on the event, panelist and State House candidate Todd Chretien summed up his thoughts. “This provided a place for people who have been working for many months, who all came together and blunted ICE’s intention to kidnap 1,400 people. We lost 206 family members, which is terrible and we want all those people brought home; but, it’s important to say that the collective efforts everyone engaged in prevented ICE from stealing another thousand people out of our community. I firmly believe that if everybody had not participated in the ways they have, ICE would still be publicly camped out in Portland, in Lewiston and Bangor. Our collective efforts have forced them back underground, and we have to be vigilant because that threat is not over. But, we are stronger and better prepared for the next round, and eventually to abolish ICE.”
