News

Portland mayor anticipating ICE agents in city within two weeks

Portland City Hall Photo: 560 WGAN Newsradio


Portland Mayor Mark Dion will be speaking at a press conference on Friday about an anticipated surge of immigration agents in the city.

Mayor Dion said Thursday he confirmed with a source in the federal system that ICE agents will be sent to the city within the next two weeks.

Dion told our info partners at CBS 13 news that having local police step in if necessary isn’t out of the question.

On the WGAN Morning News this week, Dion also said Portland Police will not collaborate or cooperate with ICE moving forward.

The press conference with Dion and Cumberland County District Attorney Jackie Sartoris is set to get underway Friday morning.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has not officially confirmed plans to send immigration agents to Maine.

City leaders in Lewiston are also reminding residents of their rights if immigration enforcement is stepped up.

The Trump administration has said ICE agents will not back down and will continue to fulfill their duties despite pushback.

It comes as a new law that limits the ability of Maine law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration agents has yet to take effect.

A state law passed last year allows police in Maine to work with ICE on issues like human and drug trafficking, but not directly on immigration enforcement.

Because Gov. Janet Mills allowed the bill to become law without her signature, it won’t take effect until 90 days after the current legislature adjourns, which will be in the summer.

Gov. Mills called the new law “uniquely necessary” while the Trump administration is in power.

Latest Headlines

1 day ago in Entertainment

‘Dancing with the Stars’ pro Mark Ballas leaps back to Broadway in ‘Chicago’

Mark Ballas is returning to Broadway in "Chicago" and the "Dancing with the Stars" pro will be reuniting with an old friend. Ballas, playing slippery lawyer Billy Flynn starting April 6, will share the stage with his Roxie, Whitney Leavitt, the "Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" star who was his dancing partner on "Dancing with the Stars" last year.

2 days ago in Entertainment

Multiple gunshots fired near Rihanna’s LA home and a woman is taken into custody

Los Angeles police took a woman into custody after she fired gunshots outside Rihanna 's gated home, according to authorities and news reports on Monday.

2 days ago in Entertainment

Pixar’s ‘Hoppers’ bounds to No. 1 as Warner Bros.’ ‘The Bride!’ is on life support

Disney and Pixar's environmental adventure "Hoppers" topped the North American box office this weekend with $46 million in domestic ticket sales in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

2 days ago in Entertainment, Music

‘Country’ Joe McDonald, ’60s rock star, proud protest counterculture icon, dies at 84

"Country" Joe McDonald, a hippie rock star of the 1960s whose "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag" was a four-lettered rebuke to the Vietnam War that became an anthem for protesters and a highlight of the Woodstock music festival, died Sunday. He was 84.

2 days ago in Trending, World

Iran names Khamenei’s son to succeed him, signaling no letup in war as oil prices surge

Iran named the hard-line Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his late father as supreme leader on Monday, signaling no letup in the war launched by the United States and Israel. Oil prices surged as Iran attacked regional energy infrastructure and the U.S. and Israel bombed targets across Iran.