People return to Monument Square after marching up Congress Street in Portland on Friday during a protest against the recent surge of ICE arrests in Maine. (Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer)
PORTLAND — While the temperature dropped, emotions remained high as hundreds of protesters took to Monument Square on Friday night after a week in which federal immigration officials said they had detained over 100 people in Maine.
Small demonstrations have been held throughout the week — in Portland and beyond — but Friday night’s appeared to be the first to attract such numbers since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement began a large-scale operation this week.
“No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” protesters chanted as a symphony of car horns blared on Congress Street shortly after the protest began at 5 p.m.
Protesters began marching down Congress Street around 6 p.m., chanting “No justice, no peace, get ICE off our streets” to the steady beat of drums.
A protestor flies an inverted flag while people holds signs at the base of the Our Lady of Victories statue in Monument Square in Portland during a protest on Friday against the recent surge of ICE arrests in Maine. (Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer)
Portland police cruisers appeared quickly to close off the street, though one lane of traffic remained open for vehicles caught up in the march.
The crowd marched all the way from Monument Square to Longfellow Square, shouting, among other chants, “Whose streets? Our streets!”
Then they circled around and returned back to Monument Square.
By then, police had blocked many Congress Street intersections, while organizers in high-visibility vests blocked others. The march lasted about 30 minutes.
Elena Molson, of Portland, said it was important to her to “show up” for Maine’s immigrant community.
“It felt really empowering and it lifted the weight that has been in the air for weeks now,” she said as the protest started to wind down around 6:30 p.m. “There’s a lot of work to do, but it felt like one step in the right direction.”
Colby Howland, now a Windham resident, grew up in Portland and said he has been feeling anxious, scared and a bit angry this week.
“This is a small enough city where we’re pretty tight-knit,” he said. “It’s not going to go well here for this type of enforcement: people are going to record, people are going to protest peacefully.”
“We care about our community members here.”
People fill Monument Square in Portland on Friday night to protest the recent surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in Maine. (Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer)
The rally was the second of the day in Portland. Earlier, a couple of dozen lawyers and other legal advocates marched through the city’s Bayside neighborhood to protest what they say have been unlawful arrests in Maine by ICE.
That march was organized by Maine Lawyers for the Rule of Law, a group that has organized other events to raise awareness of the ways it believes the Trump administration has attacked the “rule of law.”
“Lawyers are officers of the justice system,” said attorney David Webbert, a member of the group. “This is not normal, this is outrageous and Mainers need to know that lawyers recognize that.”
Webbert said the group is concerned by the increase in ICE arrests and activity in Maine, which he said has included targeting people based on their race and appearance, entering homes without judicial warrants, and using excessive force. He said that he is planning to sue ICE under the Federal Tort Claims Act for alleged wrongdoing by a federal agency.
The protests came on a day when Gov. Janet Mills, who has strongly criticized the actions of ICE agents, issued a call for Congress to curtail funding for the agency “until they stop their aggressive tactics.”
Sen. Angus King also suggested not funding ICE’s budget going forward and said he is considering pressing for federal agents to be required to wear body cameras and remove masks.
Staff Writer Emily Allen contributed to this story.
