Lawyers and other legal advocates react to cars honking in support as they march across Park Avenue in Portland on Friday to protest increased federal immigration enforcement. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)
PORTLAND — Lawyers and other legal advocates marched through the city’s Bayside neighborhood on Friday to protest what they called unlawful arrests in Maine by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Many in the crowd have participated in other organized events that have responded to the ways they say the Trump administration has attacked the “rule of law.”
Those events have included protests across from the Cumberland County courthouse and a forum at the University of Southern Maine campus in September. A couple of dozen people turned out for the march on Friday.
“Lawyers are officers of the justice system,” attorney David Webbert, a member of the Maine Lawyers for the Rule of Law, said Friday. “This is not normal, this is outrageous and Mainers need to know that lawyers recognize that.”
The Maine State Bar Association issued a statement Friday afternoon, condemning recent ICE activity in Maine “that appears to violate fundamental constitutional principles.”
“The MSBA acknowledges that immigration law is complex and that some individuals are present in the United States without lawful documentation,” the statement reads. “What the MSBA unequivocally condemns is illegal and unconstitutional conduct carried out in the name of enforcement.”
The nonpartisan association also said it respects the “diversity of views” among its more than 2,800 members.
The group, however, said it is concerned by some of the reported conduct by agents, including warrantless searches, misuse of force, racial profiling and the use of enforcement surges as perceived retaliation against regions of the state that aren’t politically in line with the current administration.
“The Maine State Bar Association calls upon all law enforcement agencies operating in Maine to uphold their obligation to defend the constitutional rights of all Mainers,” the group said. “As lawyers, judges, and officers of the court, we have a duty to speak plainly when the rule of law is threatened and to affirm that constitutional limits on government power are not optional, they are essential to liberty, safety and justice for all.”
Webbert said his group is concerned about the increased ICE arrests and activity in Maine, including news that the agency had moved roughly 50 detainees from the Cumberland County Jail in Portland after the sheriff criticized agents who arrested a county corrections officer.
Court records show that a federal judge had temporarily barred the federal government from moving at least four of these detainees out of Maine.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine said in a court filing Friday that ICE violated U.S. District Judge John Woodcock’s order in the case of a detainee who was moved Thursday night.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Lizotte wrote that his office was not informed of ICE’s decision to stop holding detainees in Portland until Friday afternoon.
ICE did not respond to a question about the transfers Friday.
“They don’t care about following court orders,” Webbert said. “They’re just mad at the sheriff, they want to punish him.”
Webbert said he was also frustrated with a recent statement from U.S. Attorney Andrew Benson, who was appointed by President Donald Trump last year. Benson recently advised the public to respect federal officers as they uphold the Constitution and urged against “divisive, bombastic public statements.”
His comments followed remarks from the governor, the Cumberland County district attorney, and local officials in Portland and Lewiston that were critical of ICE’s tactics in other states.
“I was disappointed that the U.S. Attorney issued a statement that didn’t acknowledge the evidence that we have reason to be concerned about ICE violating civil rights,” Webbert said. “Because he should be standing up to ICE, to the extent they are violating the constitutional right of Mainers.”
As he lagged behind the rest of the protesters to speak with the press, Webbert stopped briefly at a crosswalk to adjust his “Rule of Law” sign. When a driver asked what he was protesting, Webbert told him actions by ICE.
“Come on,” the man said, adding that ICE is “cleaning up” after the Biden administration.
“Open your eyes,” Webbert said.
