Bangor-area faith and community leaders speak out against plan for Newport ICE facility
Bangor‑area faith leaders and community heads have urged the town’s attorney to refuse a proposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lease for a former courthouse in Newport, Maine.
In a letter delivered to Bangor attorney Charles Cox on Thursday, the signatories—11 reverends and heads of several local cultural groups—requested that Cox not rent the 12 Water St. building to ICE. The letter says the federal agency “threatens the neighbors we are called to love” and appeals to Cox’s conscience.
“It is an agency that threatens the neighbors we are called to love,” the letter reads. “We feel strongly that aiding ICE abets a clear and present danger to our most vulnerable neighbors, especially people of color, refugees, Muslims and migrant workers.”
The letter cites a range of incidents that it says demonstrate ICE’s “atrocities” and the agency’s loss of public trust, including the killing of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, the month‑long detention of Portland’s Olivia Andre, and the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota. It also references reports of undertrained agents and inhumane conditions at ICE detention centers and notes that most of the individuals arrested by ICE in Maine this summer had no criminal convictions.
“As an attorney, we are sure you believe in due process, the rights of the accused, and the importance of trust and transparency to the functioning of law enforcement and our judicial system,” the letter says. “We are calling on you to take a stand on your beliefs and deny ICE an outpost in our community. … We do not want their chaos, wanton cruelty and craven flouting of the rule of law in our community.”
The proposed site is the former Newport District Courthouse, a building that has been vacant for more than a year after mold was discovered in the structure. The court system stopped using the facility in 2025, and its lease has since expired. According to town officials, Charles Cox has obtained permits to address the mold problem.
Rep. Mike Soboleski, Republican of Phillips, posted on Facebook last week that a “new facility will soon be under construction” at 12 Water St. The post did not provide details of any contract or timeline.
ICE spokespersons have declined to confirm or deny the plans. They cited concerns for the safety of their officers as the reason for withholding information.
Cox was unavailable for comment when the letter was delivered. The town of Newport has not yet announced a decision on the lease.
The letter, signed by 11 reverends and several community leaders, was presented to the attorney on Thursday. It calls on the town to “reconsider” the potential lease, arguing that an ICE facility would undermine the community’s sense of safety and trust. The matter remains unresolved as officials weigh the legal and public‑relations implications of the proposal.
