ICE has arrested more people in Maine this year than in previous 2 years combined, data shows
Federal immigration agents walk a person from a passenger van to a larger vehicle in the back parking lot of Cabela’s in Scarborough during the enforcement surge in January. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)
Data from the federal government shows that immigration officers have apprehended more people in Maine this year than the previous two years combined and a majority of those arrested had no record of criminal charges or convictions.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement apprehended 482 people in Maine between Jan. 1 and July 31, according to an analysis by the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition of data obtained by the Deportation Data Project.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has said it is targeting criminal offenders and people who endanger public safety. According to the coalition’s analysis, about 69% of the immigrants who have been arrested by ICE this year have no criminal convictions or charges.
ICE apprehended 311 people in 2025, up from 169 in 2024, according to the analysis.
The data comes from the Deportation Data Project, which is based at the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA, and gets the data on a rolling basis through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against DHS.
An ICE spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday that the agency has not verified the accuracy or methodology of the Deportation Data Project’s records, which the organization said it has obtained directly from DHS. In a response from a media email address, which doesn’t provide staff names, an ICE spokesperson said the agency is “continuing to go after the worst of the worst” and that it believes many of those arrested have committed crimes.
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“They just don’t have a rap sheet in the U.S.,” the spokesperson said. “Further, every single one of these individuals committed a crime when they came into this country illegally.”
Nationally, the data shows that there were nearly 50,000 ICE arrests in July — the highest monthly total yet.
The data shows there were 73 arrests in Maine by ICE in July, the state’s second highest monthly total in the past two and a half years. The data shows there were 200 people detained — meaning they were booked in an ICE-run or contracted facility — in January, when DHS carried out an enforcement operation in Maine.
Only about 30 of those 200 detainees were held in Maine facilities, according to the coalition’s analysis. Others were transferred to facilities outside the state, including detention facilities in New England and larger ICE holding centers farther south.
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The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition has also reported a rise in ICE activity. The coalition runs a hotline, where people can report sightings of immigration agents and arrests. The hotline received more than 18,700 calls between Jan. 1 and Aug. 12, according to the coalition. About 68% of calls were about ICE sightings and 21% were requests for resources for immigrants who were detained or at risk.
“Behind every data point is a person, a family, and a community living with fear and uncertainty,” Mufalo Chitam, executive director of the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, said in a statement. “These numbers show the scale of ICE enforcement, but they cannot capture the tears shed by families torn apart, or the pain community members share with us every day. Making this information public helps communities name what is happening, demand accountability, and act together.”
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The coalition’s analysis of the data obtained by the Deportation Data Project shows that most of the arrests since January 2024 — nearly 80% — occurred “at large,” either at homes or in public settings.
Between January 2024 and July 2026, one in five at-large arrests occurred in Scarborough, where ICE’s field office is located and conducts check-in appointments on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, according to the analysis. A Scarborough father was recently apprehended in front of his children at that facility and at least one person was detained there during the January enforcement surge.
Ruben Torres, the coalition’s director of advocacy and policy, said on Wednesday that the organization noted a high concentration of arrests happening in Scarborough on Tuesdays, corresponding with the known check-in days. Torres said ICE has also recently changed its policy for regular check-ins, requiring most people to appear at the Scarborough facility in person, despite previously offering remote options.
If a person fails to appear, that can be used against them in their immigration proceeding.
Torres said the coalition offers a variety of planning and transportation resources for immigrants on its website, LighthouseME.org. Torres said the organization has helped arrange transportation to the Scarborough site, in case a person is afraid to go alone or if they’re coming from farther north. There’s also information on how to contact an immigration attorney and legal rights.
The other arrests by ICE this year involved taking custody of people from other agencies, like county jails, according to the coalition’s analysis.
According to the analysis, the highest number of arrests recorded this year have been in South Portland (64), Lewiston (64), Scarborough (63), Portland (51), Biddeford (43), and Auburn (31).
Since January 2024, roughly 960 people have been detained by ICE in Maine, according to the analysis. More than 90% of them were men and more than quarter of the detainees have been from Angola. The coalition also reported a high number of immigrants apprehended in Maine from Ecuador, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Honduras.
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Tagged: immigration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition
Emily Allen covers courts for the Portland Press Herald. It's her favorite beat so far — before moving to Maine in 2022, she reported on a wide range of topics for public radio in West Virginia and was. More by Emily Allen
