The short answer is: It didn’t. It hasn’t. And it probably won’t . . . unless ICE marauders begin inciting trouble and breaking the law as they have everywhere else they’ve shown up.

In fact, Maine is considered the fourth safest states in the nation, with a crime rate that has fallen steadily over the last four years.

Some 56,000 to 66,000 of the state’s residents — fewer than 5% of the total population — are foreign-born, with the largest share of those being from Canada. It is one of the loveliest corners of the world, and a wonderful place to raise a family and live in peace (if you like snow and lobster . . . and even if you don’t).

But it’s a “blue” — meaning primarily Democratic — state, which makes it a target of Trump’s goon squad. And now he has launched “Operation Catch of the Day” — apparently a snide reference to the local fishing/lobstering industry — turning his federal agents loose on the innocent population in their search for the “worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.” [Morgan Womack, Portland Press Herald, January 21, 2026.]

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement, saying:

“Governor Mills and her fellow sanctuary politicians in Maine have made it abundantly clear that they would rather stand with criminal illegal aliens than protect law-abiding American citizens.” [Id.]

What Governor Mills actually did was encourage the people of Maine to know their rights, and — if they planned to exercise their constitutional right to protest — to do so peacefully.

And incidentally, Maine is not considered a “sanctuary” state, according to the Justice Department’s own list of sanctuary jurisdictions. [Justice.gov, as of August 5, 2025.] So, it’s just more bullshit from Kristi Noem’s DHS to cover their own backsides and justify their brutal, illegal rampages.

Since the first day of “Operation Catch of the Day,” people in places such as Portland and Lewiston have reported seeing masked agents, unmarked cars, and immigration detentions. Attendance at Portland schools is down; business owners are preparing for possible invasions by immigration officers; and neighbors are alerting one another if they see any ICE activity.

According to McLaughlin’s statement, ICE agents have arrested four people in Maine, accused of committing such heinous crimes as aggravated assault and driving under the influence of alcohol — not federal offenses to begin with, and clearly not the “worst of the worst.”

But, whether it’s Portland, Oregon to the west, or Portland, Maine on the east coast, if it’s not in one of Trump’s “red” Republican states, then it’s fair game . . . unlike Texas, for example, which is crawling with immigrants and criminals (not necessarily one and the same).

Welcome to Amerika, folks.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/22/26