Immigration enforcement arrives in Maine as a court freezes restrictions on tactics in Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Maine became the latest target of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown, while a federal appeals court on Wednesday suspended a decision that prohibited federal officers from using tear gas or pepper spray against peaceful protesters in Minnesota.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was persuaded to freeze a judge’s ruling that bars retaliation against the public in Minnesota, including detaining people who follow agents in cars, while the government pursues an appeal. Operation Metro Surge, an immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities, has been underway for weeks.
Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the appeals court on X, saying the Justice Department “will protect federal law enforcement agents from criminals in the streets AND activist judges in the courtroom.”
After the stay was issued, Greg Bovino of U.S. Border Patrol, who has commanded the administration’s big-city immigration campaign, was seen on video repeatedly warning protesters on a snowy Minneapolis street “Gas is coming!” before tossing a canister into the crowd that released green smoke.
Minnesota is a major focus of immigration sweeps by agencies under the Department of Homeland Security and is where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer on Jan. 7. State and local officials who oppose the campaign were served with federal grand jury subpoenas Tuesday for records that might suggest they were trying to stifle enforcement.
A political action committee founded by former Vice President Kamala Harris urged donors to contribute to a defense fund in aid of Gov. Tim Walz, her 2024 running mate.
“The Justice Department is going after Trump’s enemies,” Harris’ email said, referring to President Donald Trump.
Feds turn to Maine as next target
In Maine, the Department of Homeland Security named the enforcement operation Catch of the Day in an apparent play on the state’s seafood industry. Maine has relatively few residents who are in the United States illegally but has a notable presence of refugees in its largest cities, particularly from Africa.
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, said she won’t grant a request for confidential license plates sought by Customs and Border Protection, a decision that reflects her disgust over “abuses of power” by immigration enforcers.
“We have not revoked existing plates but have paused issuance of new plates. We want to be assured that Maine plates will not be used for lawless purposes,” Bellows said.
A message seeking comment from CBP was not immediately returned.
Portland City Council member Pious Ali, a native of Ghana, said there’s much anxiety about ICE’s presence in Maine’s largest city.
“There are immigrants who live here who work in our hospitals, they work in our schools, they work in our hotels, they are part of the economic engine of our community,” Ali said.
Conflicts emerge in shooting incident
Bovino said more than 10,000 people in the U.S. illegally have been arrested in Minnesota in the past year, including 3,000 “of some of the most dangerous offenders” in the last six weeks during Operation Metro Surge.
Julia Decker, policy director at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, said advocates have no way of knowing whether the government’s arrest numbers and descriptions of the people in custody are accurate.
Separately, a federal judge said he’s prepared to grant bond and release two men after hearing conflicting testimony about an alleged assault on an immigration officer. Prosecutors are appealing. One of the men was shot in the thigh by the officer during the encounter last week.
The officer said he was repeatedly struck with a broom and with snow shovels while trying to subdue and arrest Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna following a car crash and foot chase.
Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis denied assaulting the officer. Neither video evidence nor three eyewitnesses supported the officer’s account about the broom and shovels or that there had been a third person involved.
Aljorna and Sosa-Celis do not have violent criminal records, their attorneys said, and both had been working as DoorDash drivers at night to avoid encounters with federal agents.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko said they still could be detained by ICE even if released from custody in the assault case.
___
Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit and Mark Vancleave in Minneapolis contributed.