Ice Has Ended 'enhanced' Operations In Maine, Collins Says

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have ended enhanced operations in Maine, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Thursday, as the White House continues to pivot on immigration activities and messaging amid the fallout from the killing of a Minneapolis nurse last week.

“There are currently no ongoing or planned large-scale ICE operations here,” Collins wrote in a post on X. “I have been urging Secretary Noem and others in the Administration to get ICE to reconsider its approach to immigration enforcement in the state.”

The agency launched an immigration enforcement campaign in the Pine Tree State last Tuesday, arresting more than 50 people in its first day and panicking local officials, including Maine Gov. Janet Mills. Since then, ICE officials have arrested more than 200 people in the state.

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of its operations in Maine.

But the agency has attempted to soften some immigration enforcement tactics around the country since Border Patrol agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday, touching off a wave of public outcry.

The White House has sidelined controversial Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, sending border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to calm tensions. And the Border Patrol agents involved in Pretti’s killing were placed on administrative leave. Administration officials have also distanced themselves from statements made in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, when Noem and others characterized Pretti as a “domestic terrorist.”

Collins spoke with Noem on Monday and told reporters Tuesday that she urged the DHS secretary to pause the surge in Minnesota and Maine.

Mills, who is running to replace Collins in the Senate, warned lawmakers in her State of the State address Tuesday that the ICE surge represented an attack on Democracy in Maine.

“Today, I say to the people of Maine: We will not be intimidated. We will not be silenced,” Mills said, to cheers from the Democratic side of the chamber. “And to anyone outside these halls, including any federal officials, I say: If you seek to harm Maine people, you will have to go through me first.”