As the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency were at the height of their brutal onslaught in Minnesota, they were also in Maine, a rural state with a population of 1.4 million people, carrying out an operation they called ‘Catch of the day’ with a target list of 1400 people. Hundreds of people in Maine have been arrested, and there have been big protests, Counterfire spoke to Becca Brown in Maine

What’s it been like having ICE on your doorstep? How has it changed your day to day?

It feels tense and scary here, in a place where I used to feel safe and fairly removed from the goings-on of the world. I worry when my family members leave the house in the morning. I check in with my partner every few hours. Instead of just making sure I packed my kids’ lunch, I also double-check that her identification papers are with her (even though we were all born here). I’m more cautious and aware as I drive through town. The other day, a man wearing a nondescript/slightly militaristic outfit went into the grocery store as I was parking. We made eye contact and something about it made me feel so uneasy that I just left rather than getting the groceries. When I scroll social media, now I see people being abducted, hear them screaming. My first thought is “oh how awful that is happening to them, ‘over there’”. And then I quickly realise that the ‘over there’ is here – it’s in my state, my town, the places that I frequent, that my loved ones frequent. 

I passed a friend the other day on the highway. We gleefully waved at each other. I was so happy to see he wasn’t alone in the car. He’s an American citizen that was born here but he has dark skin in this super white state, and so he stands out. It’s not safe for him to go out alone anymore.

Maine is unlike a lot of the others places ICE has been in, there aren’t big cities, it’s very rural, small population and very white, what do you think the reaction of Mainers has been overall?

People here are quiet and reserved. Being loud and outspoken is generally frowned upon. Yet, even quiet people who rarely speak negatively are furious at this administration.

It’s still a mixed bag of reactions though. I went to a meeting last week where people were discussing what’s going on. We were discussing ways to stay safe, and tactics that were being used to track people. As we left the meeting, I overheard a woman say to her friend, “Wow. I just don’t know what to believe. Can it really be that bad? I don’t know how much of this is just paranoia!” And then they both laughed. I wanted to shake them, but I kept walking. Sadly, it’s not paranoia. Unfortunately, this is where we’re at. Maine is mostly an older demographic and mostly white. These people are used to a quiet existence. They live here so that they don’t have to ‘think about these things’. But enough of them have witnessed the brutality of ICE that the calm rural facade is beginning to crack. They’re beginning to understand that they are not safe. None of us are. And that’s really messing with people’s heads. People here barely lock their doors, let alone think about turning off location on their phones.

Maine can feel like quite a divided place politically these days , do you think the sheer brutality of ICE and the Trump administration and also the resistance to it has won some people to a more pro-immigration stance?

Resistance and solidarity has been a mixed bag. Maine is poor and there has always been a deep mistrust of “people from away”. That’s not just immigrants and refugees – Mainers are skeptical of literally anyone not from Maine.

Too many people don’t have enough to meet their basic needs. If there’s a protest in the middle of the day – many working people can’t risk their jobs to go. I have been pleasantly surprised to see high school students and retired people coming together to protest. That’s been really beautiful to see.

There have been so many donations made to places that are trying to help people who are sheltering in place. I’m also really glad to see that and I’ve certainly donated as well. However, there is also a lot of anger and frustration from poor Mainers that they don’t receive the same kind of attention and help. Suddenly, there is this extremely heightened attention on immigrants and the “Real Mainers” (as they refer to themselves) feel like they’ve been neglected.They think the “newcomers” take up everything that could have gone to them. There’s even been talk about a 60 day moratorium on rent payments since people are scared to go to work. And then you have people who are always unable to work, always unable to feed themselves and they don’t get the same breaks. So I can understand the frustration, although I completely disagree with the origin of it.

There was also a huge successful strike in Minneapolis and one in Maine last week, what was that like?

If I hadn’t heard about the strike on social media, I wouldn’t have known about it at all. All of the businesses that I know of were still open. Many made statements on social media about staying open so they could be a place of “community gathering – a safe place”. I don’t really know where I stand on that. I tend to think it was a cop out. There are a few businesses that I follow where I know the owners and I’ve always been suspicious of where they stand when it comes to race and being progressive.

I don’t live in one of the heavily targeted cities though. It may have felt different there.

There will be a visit from a prominent member of the administration coming to my town this week. It’ll be interesting to see how that goes. I’ve heard of some planned protests but also counter-protests. I’d love to go to the protest but I’m not sure if I feel safe doing that. I’d leave my car parked across town, take my papers, leave my cellphone behind, wear different clothing than I normally do, etc; but I still don’t know if that’s a prudent idea. I want to stand up and fight back.

Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins said ICE have ended enhanced activities is this true?

Susan Collins – is a joke. She’s very careful to never quantify what anything means. So there’s no definition of ‘enhanced activities’ and therefore we can’t say for sure if anything has changed. Her claiming to have negotiated to end the ‘enhanced ICE activities’ is just a tactic being used to just keep Mainer’s quiet. Susan Collins wants to keep her Republican voter base happy and save face. She’s doing the same thing she’s always done.

But I have a lot of questions for her and I won’t stop calling her office until we get answers. What happened to all the people who were taken? Where are they being detained and under what conditions? They need proper medical care and access to their lawyers. They need to be released and allowed due process. Currently, this administration is disappearing people and Susan Collins is most definitely part of the cover up.