Press Releases

Amid reports of increased immigration enforcement operations in Maine, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) released the following statement:

Over the past year, Kristi Noem’s Department of Homeland Security and its untrained, masked, and violent immigration officers have terrorized and traumatized entire communities on orders from a truly lawless and morally corrupt Administration. Their assaults came to a tragic head last week in Minnesota, where agents murdered an innocent observer in cold blood. In Minneapolis and across our country, these agents continue to indiscriminately detain immigrants and U.S. citizens, forcefully trample on First Amendment and due process rights, and cause utter chaos in our communities. 

That we could soon see these reckless tactics unleashed in Maine is incredibly concerning. My team and I remain in constant communication with the Governor, the Mayors of Lewiston and Portland, and community organizations to prepare for increased enforcement activity. We are doing everything in our power to protect Mainers and immigrant communities. 

Tomorrow, more than two dozen of my Democratic colleagues and I will be in Minnesota to get a better sense of what’s happening on the ground, to meet with state leaders and advocates, and to hopefully learn how communities in our home states can prepare themselves for—and protect their citizens from—any potential federal operations. 

It’s important that Mainers who choose to protest do so peacefully, and that everyone, regardless of their background or immigration status, knows their rights. 

Republicans are in control of both the House and the Senate, and given their endless capitulation to the President, no matter how illegal or immoral his actions, Congressional Democrats have limited power to stop ICE’s operations outright. But let me be clear: We are using every available tool at our disposal to demand accountability and oversight—forcing votes on the record, documenting abuses, and keeping public pressure on this Administration so that, when Democrats retake control of Congress, meaningful change and accountability actually happens. I’m working with my colleagues to use the appropriations process to impose restrictions on ICE and to claw back funding for DHS approved in the Big Ugly Bill.

This week, I joined more than 70 Democrats in bringing Articles of Impeachment against Noem. Her lies, incompetence, and moral failings undermine the protections she swore to uphold, and she needs to be removed from office. 

It’s critically important to keep the pressure on in this Administration and show the American people that their abuses of power will not go unchallenged.

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