ICE watchers stand guard all day, every day outside Scarborough facility
A small group of volunteers has transformed the monitoring of Scarborough’s sole federal immigration detention center into a around-the-clock operation, driven by fear and a desire to protect their neighbors.
For nearly three months, a core group of about five individuals has dedicated themselves to watching the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility at 40 Manson Libby Road. They spend up to 14 hours a day positioned across the street, in cars or on lawn chairs, meticulously documenting the comings and goings of federal agents and the immigrants they detain. Their work intensified following the July 13 killing of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero by an ICE agent in Biddeford, an event that many in the community believe signaled a new level of aggression.
The watchers, who speak on the condition of anonymity for their safety, do not see themselves as mere observers. They describe themselves as a support network, providing rides, groceries, childcare, and legal resources to immigrants and their families. Their mission is twofold: to create a record of ICE activity and to mitigate the immediate harm caused by detentions.
On a recent morning in late September, their vigilance was on full display. As two unmarked cars with black windows departed the facility, two watchers quickly recorded the license plate numbers and the time. Moments later, a convoy of five more vehicles emerged, prompting an urgent scramble. Alerts were sent out across their network. “They’re going hunting,” one watcher whispered.
Their system is meticulous. They maintain a printed sheet of 39 license plates observed at the facility, noting whether the vehicles are present or have left to conduct operations. They track arriving immigrants with detailed logs, noting age, sex, race, height, hair color, clothing, and even whether they are carrying an umbrella or a bag. The goal, they say, is to ensure that if someone is detained, their fate is known. “If there’s nothing else that we can give people, we know what happened to them,” one watcher explained.
The watchers report observing an average of 2.5 detentions per day in August, which decreased to 1.8 per day in September, with a total of 101 detentions observed over those two months. They believe eight of those occurred during routine check-ins, a process they describe as an “every-day emergency.” “ICE is detaining people every single day. People don’t realize it,” one said. ICE did not respond to requests for comment.
The watchers attribute the decrease in observed detentions not to a decline in activity, but to increased efforts by ICE to conceal its operations. A black mesh fence has recently been installed around the facility, obscuring the view of detainees with shackled feet being brought inside. They have also seen vehicles depart by driving over a small ditch, a route they cannot always monitor.
The emotional toll is significant. The watchers describe a constant state of anxiety, especially during the 10-12 daily check-ins that typically occur between 8 and 11 a.m. They recount watching sick and pregnant immigrants wait in the rain for hours. When an immigrant they knew entered for a check-in, they waited anxiously for 50 minutes, calling the man’s wife to provide updates until he emerged safely. “The fear just doesn’t end,” one said. “ICE says, ‘come back in a week, come back in a day.’”
This work has become deeply personal. One watcher described immigrant families with newborns who have never seen the outside of their house since returning from the hospital. “One person detained means one family irreparably damaged,” they stated. Reflecting on their sacrifice, they added, “Why is this on us? We’re just a couple of weirdos sacrificing everything to be out here.”
The watchers’ efforts are part of a broader movement across southern Maine, where residents have formed groups to monitor ICE activity since a January enforcement surge. However, the recent focus on the Scarborough facility represents a new level of commitment, born from a belief that the community’s survival depends on bearing witness.
