A message from the Hancock Country Democrats:
Background: A bill titled “An Act to Protect Workers in This State by Clarifying the Relationship of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies with Federal Immigration Authorities” (LD 1971 aka HP 1315) was passed (“enacted”) in the legislature on June 18 and sent to Governor Mills, who deferred signing it until the next legislative session, starting in January 2026. A spokesperson for the Governor wrote the following in an email to WMTW (channel 8) back in June:
“The governor understands the motivation behind the legislation. She believes, however, that the legislation as enacted — which is billed as attempting to provide clarity to Maine law enforcement — does the opposite. The bill is both overly broad and confusing, as it establishes a complicated legal regime of the type of interactions that are or are not permitted with federal law enforcement.“(1)
Mills is running for the Senate, so it’s a good time to give the Governor your opinion, as she will be hoping for your support. Do some homework first, though. At least take the time to read some of the 266 items of testimony (2) if not the entire bill itself (3) and its comprehensive committee amendment (4) or at least the summaries at the ends of these two documents. Under the bill, local law enforcement agencies would no longer be allowed to arrest or detain a person for immigration purposes. Basically, this means our local police couldn’t act as an auxiliary arm of ICE. The legislation would also bar correctional facilities from informing ICE that a person who may be undocumented is being held at that facility (for whatever reason). This means they couldn’t decide on their own that, say, some dude with a broken taillightlooks like he might be here illegally, so they keep him in jail and call ICE.
“This bill does not prevent Maine law enforcement agencies from doing their job. Instead, it provides clarity. It will be sure that Maine law enforcement can focus on their primary mission,” said Rep. Deqa Dhalac, a Democrat from South Portland who is a sponsor of the bill. (1)
”Expedited removal is allowed and enforceable when certain non-citizens lack proper entry documents or have produced fraudulent documents at the border, and I would suggest that’s 99% of people who have crossed our border,” said Rep. MarygraceCimino, a Republican from Brighton who opposed the bill. (1) Whether or not this is a fair representation of fact, this strange statement does not address whether Maine should require its local law enforcement officers to become mini-ICE agents.
Some of the more interesting testimony in opposition comes from the Maine County Commissioners Association. I did not realize until reading it that Maine county jails get paid for holding federal suspects. Fair enough, but doesn’t it incentivize incarceration? A recent article from Cumberland County would strongly suggest so – they get $150 per day per inmate held for the feds (5). The Maine Chiefs of Police Association also opposes the bill, because they want the freedom to enter into agreements with ICE, (such as the infamous “287g program”) (6). Almost all the rest of the testimony is in support of the bill. It’s also curious that we should be contemplating using our local law enforcement people to assist a federal agency that just received a presidentially-decreed, enormously bloated budget that they are scrambling to figure out how to spend. (7, 8) Wouldn’t it be a better idea to reform the tactics of ICE and other feds so that they stop rounding up innocent legal citizens, terrorizing children, and injuring elderly protesters? (9)
Action: Contact Governor Mills: ask her to reconsider her position on LD 1971, and sign it into law as soon as the legislative session begins in January. Send a copy to your local legislator. According to the roll call (10) all Hancock County Republican state legislators were opposed, and all Democrats in favor.
Contacts: https://www.maine.gov/governor/mills/contact
Find your State Representative:
By name: Here
By district: Here
Find your State Senator:
By name: Here
By district: Here
Urgency: Before the end of the year, definitely!
Extra Credit:
(1) https://www.wmtw.com/article/maine-bill-on-ice-relationship-gov-mills-delay/65270800
(2) https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/display_ps.asp?snum=132&paper=HP1315PID=1456
(3) https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=HP1315&item=1&snum=132
(4) https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=HP1315&item=2&snum=132
(6) See Action item # 105, sent May 3, and Action Item 159, sent August 22
(7) https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/big-budget-act-creates-deportation-industrial-complex. Another bill , LD1259, was not reported out of committee during the last session. “An Act to Enhance Public Safety in Maine by Defining the Relationship Between Local and Federal Law Enforcement” is much shorter and simply prohibits local law enforcement from entering into agreements with ICE and other federal agencies. It says “A law enforcement agency or law enforcement officer may not enter into a written or oral contract, agreement or arrangement that grants federal immigration enforcement authority or powers to the law enforcement agency or law enforcement officer, including an agreement pursuant to 8 United States Code, Section 1357(g).” There are 365 items of testimony. https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/display_ps.asp?snum=132&paper=HP0834PID=1456 It may re-appear in January.
(8) https://federalnewsnetwork.com/budget/2025/07/dhs-prepares-for-unprecedented-spending-surge-under-big-beautiful-bill/
(10)https://www.mainelegislature.org/LawMakerWeb/rollcall.asp?ID=280099282&chamber=Senate&serialnumber=634
