The Trump administration is considering sending federal immigration enforcement to Maine to target Somali immigrants in the coming weeks, according to two people familiar with the planning.
The operation is being designed to arrest and detain Somali refugees for reviews that could last around 30 days, according to the people familiar with the plan. The sweep by the Department of Homeland Security, including officers from ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, is expected to focus partly on unspecified suspicions of fraud and other alleged crimes among refugees who have already been admitted to the United States.
The potential movement comes as President Donald Trump ramps up attacks on Somali immigrants, repeatedly saying he wants them out of the U.S. and calling them “garbage.” On Tuesday, Trump cited Maine’s Somali population during a speech to the Detroit Economic Club, claiming “Somali scams” were happening “in Maine, too.”
“They’re scammers. They always will be, and we’re getting them out,” Trump said. “In Maine, it’s really crooked as hell, too.”
After MS NOW’s inquiries to the mayor’s office in Lewiston on Tuesday, Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline posted on Facebook Wednesday evening it was his “understanding” that ICE is heading to his town “soon.”
“I urge residents and businesses to know their rights and have a plan of action,” Sheline posted. “I understand that this is an unsettling time for many of our residents.”
After this story was published, Maine Gov. Janet Mills addressed the potential ICE campaign in a video posted on X.
“I have directed the Maine State Police to work closely with local law enforcement, as necessary, to provide whatever support is needed in advance of and during any potential Federal operations,” Mills said, adding that her office has been in contact with officials in Portland and Lewiston to “coordinate our response and we will remain in touch in the coming days if any operations take place.”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told MS NOW that “we do not discuss future or potential operations.”
“Every day, DHS enforces the laws of the nation across the country including in Maine,” the spokesperson said. “Under the leadership of Secretary Noem, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations are conducting operations to identify, arrest, remove criminals who are defrauding the American people in Maine, Minnesota, and across the country. We will root out this fraud and hold those who steal from American taxpayers accountable.”
The timeline for potential operations in Maine is fluid and could come as early as next week, according to a person familiar. The administration is also eyeing other cities for deployments; before surging hundreds of agents to Minneapolis, DHS was planning to move into Phoenix, Arizona.
The architect of Trump’s deportation campaign, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, referred to the fraud cases in Minnesota as “mass Somali fraud.”
“Americans by overwhelming majorities, just opposed Somali, opposed Somali refugee resettlement in principle,” Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, said Tuesday night on Fox News, citing no evidence. “Minnesota was once a pristine state, perfect education, no crime, no violence, and then they ruined all of it.”
Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the country, and Maine also has a substantial Somali community. Minnesota is home to roughly 80,000 people of Somali descent, many of whom are American citizens.
Trump targeted Minneapolis at the start of the new year, dramatically increasing the number of immigration agents and officers on the ground after allegations of widespread fraud at Somali-run day care centers.
The planned Maine operation would be similar to the one being carried out in Minnesota. ICE’s Homeland Security Investigation agents and members of the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate — an arm of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, known as USCIS — are re-examining thousands of refugee cases in Minnesota under a Trump administration directive that the White House says is aimed at rooting out alleged fraud.
It’s a move that comes months after the administration previously said it would re-review all refugees — who already undergo extensive vetting — admitted to the country under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden.
“Nothing about this is normal,” said Sarah Pierce, a former policy analyst for USCIS who left in July. “It is so unprecedented that USCIS would go back and re-review applications that it had previously granted, go back and re-review en masse.”
Updated Jan. 14 at 6:45 P.M. with remarks from Maine Gov. Janet Mills.
Updated Jan. 15 at 7:52 A.M. with a statement from a spokesperson for DHS.
