- Following warnings last week from Governor Mills and other officials, ICE launched Operation “Catch of the Day” in Maine this week with a focus on the cities of Portland and Lewiston. Although Maine has a relatively small immigrant population, it, like Minnesota, has a sizable African refugee population, particularly refugees from Somalia. This fits into the existing pattern of targeting African and Muslim populations. Governor Mills has also been a frequent critic of Trump policies, making her and the state a target for retribution by the administration.
- As militarized enforcement actions spread further across the country, a federal appeals court overturned a lower court order temporarily barring the use of tear gas and other “nonlethal” munitions against people engaging in peaceful protest or stopping and detaining drivers without a “reasonable articulable suspicion”. The lower court had issued its order on Friday in a lawsuit brought by protesters in Minnesota following ICE’s enforcement surge in the state. The administration quickly appealed this decision, and the appeals court issued a stay on Tuesday pending the outcome of the full case in the lower court.
- In a shocking move, an internal ICE memo authorizes the use of unconstitutional home invasion by ICE officers. Under American Constitutional norms, the 4th Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, and law enforcement generally needs a judicial warrant to legally enter someone’s home with their permission. However, a whistleblower report obtained by the AP reveals that an ICE memo, which the agency has been trying to hide, purports to authorize officers to forcibly enter someone’s home with only ICE administrative paperwork, not a judicial warrant. The whistleblower complaint alleges that, while written training materials still honor the Constitution, new officers are being verbally instructed to follow the memo rather than their written materials, adding to significant concerns around how new DHS officers are recruited, vetted, and trained.
- On Thursday morning, the House Rules Committee advanced a new DHS appropriations bill, sending it to the floor for consideration by the full House. Under this proposed bill, funding for immigration detention would rise from $3.43 billion to $3.84 billion and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations funding would go from $5.08 billion to $5.45 billion. Opponents to the bill have been seeking more oversight on an out of control agency before handing them even more money, but the proposal falls far short of providing either accountability or transparency. While Democratic leadership in the House has announced that they will oppose the funding bill, it is highly unlikely that the minority party will be able to stop it. Assuming it passes, it will need to be passed by the Senate before the end of the month to maintain enforcement operations.