As you may have seen in the news headlines or social media posts, we are witnessing a rise in ICE activity across the state again. Our Immigrant Defense Hub team has been analyzing the recent Hotline data alongside ICE data over the past year in Maine. 

We want you to see for yourself what we’ve been seeing, so we’re launching a new tool to help Hotline volunteers and the public at large track the data with a series of maps and reports. We’re calling it LighthouseME because it exists to illuminate the way for immigrants in our state, connecting people with resources, offering support, and promoting policies that will help us all thrive. 

We’ll be unveiling it publicly with a presentation on June 3rd, 11am in Steven’s Square Theater, 631 Stevens Avenue, Portland. All Hotline volunteers are invited.

Here's a draft of what the LighthouseME page looks like

Calls keep coming in

Many of you volunteering as operators know first hand that Hotline reports are still coming in. While call volume has been lower, the Hotline has remained active.

Since publishing our last Switchboard newsletter we received 1,508 calls, 105 texts and 34 photos. Calls and texts continue coming in from speakers of French, Spanish, Portuguese, and other languages.

In addition to the calls we answered, operators made almost 534 outgoing calls responding to texts and voicemails.

Inbound (grey) and outbound (blue) calls from March 22 to May 18

Over the past month, we’ve seen a noticeable spike in the number of reported detentions from the month before, but this hasn’t correlated in a spike of general sightings being called into the Hotline.

From this data, we've gathered that ICE activity is much more coordinated and targeted than Operation Catch of the Day in January and the workplace raids of February. The previous strategy of collateral arrests and racial profiling to flaunt the federal administration’s disregard for constitutional protections had proven unpopular in national surveys.

Today’s detentions look different than the smash-and-grab door-to-door dragnet but they’re having similar ripple effects of stirring fear and terror into communities of asylum-seekers and migrant workers in Maine.

These recent arrests appear to target asylum seekers in various stages along the path to citizenship who’ve come across the radar of a federal agency in one way or another. The majority of instances continue to show little or no relation to criminal convictions.

Join the workplace defense hub planning session from 6-7:30pm. Register here, now!

This strategy session will focus on the work of canvassing and outreach to owners or workers, planning 4th amendment workplace trainings, and mapping at-risk workplaces/rapid response.

We're hoping to come out of the meeting with people from as many verifier districts as possible who agree to act as a liaison between the statewide hub and their local district. It would be great to have the folks there that are already doing/thinking about this work! 

Other trainings

There are two de-escalation trainings coming up. These are crucial for verifier and active bystanders. On May 19, and June 16. Register for either here.

Next Operator training is on June 1.

Verifier trainings continue to be on the first Tuesday 5-7pm. Register here.

Hotline background

There are over 2,000 volunteers in the Maine Immigrant Defense Hotline universe. This newsletter was created to provide updates, data and trends we’re seeing in the world of ICE watching and immigrant defense resource referral.

First, thank you to all who have stepped up! Because of your dedication, we've been able to provide the most accurate and reliable information available in this time of fear and confusion created by DHS’s “enhanced immigration enforcement” in Maine and nationally.

Stay active (and healthy!)

Tips to stay active and healthy!

Check out this no cost 8-week community dialogue series to target and unpack racial trauma in a community space for BIPOC individuals throughout Maine.

If you haven’t told your congressional representatives that you want major reforms from ICE and CBP before further funding is provided to DHS, use this link to send an email and make a call today, and then pass it on.

Your donations and volunteer hours are keeping this Hotline running. If you can’t make an operator shift or respond to a call for a verifier, you can make a donation to keep us on the lines.

Thank you for the ongoing dedication and support.

Mufalo Chitam

MIRC Executive Director

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