Most Maine ICE Arrests Lacked Criminal Convictions, New Data Shows

Rep. Chellie Pingree said newly released data confirm what she had been arguing since January: the ICE sweep that prompted student walkouts from Bath to Brunswick was not the high-risk crackdown on dangerous criminals that federal officials described.

Of the 192 people ICE arrested in Maine between Jan. 20 and Jan. 28, only 12 had criminal convictions. Another 27 had pending criminal charges. The remaining 153, roughly 80 percent of those detained, were cited solely for immigration violations. The dataset carries a further detail: while less than half of the arrests are classified as "targeted," the majority are labeled "collateral." The dataset provides no definitions for either term.

The figures come from the Deportation Data Project, a research effort run by teams at UCLA and UC Berkeley that compiles federal enforcement records through Freedom of Information Act lawsuits. Co-director Graeme Blair said ICE does not release this kind of data voluntarily, which is why his team had to sue to obtain it.

ICE had publicly characterized the operation as targeting the "worst of the worst." Blair's findings contradict that framing directly.

"It's great to have confirmation of what we've been saying all along," Pingree said, noting that many of those detained appeared to have had non-criminal immigration cases or were already navigating active immigration court processes.

An ICE spokesperson disputed that portrayal, maintaining that every person arrested was in violation of U.S. immigration law and that many had committed serious crimes. The agency also said some detainees were released because local jurisdictions declined to honor federal detainer requests.

The operation included arrests in Brunswick, where neighbors and faith leaders organized responses in the weeks that followed. Students from Morse High School in Bath, Mt. Ararat in Topsham, and Brunswick High School walked out Feb. 2, converging at the Sagadahoc Bridge. Of the 192 people arrested statewide, how many were Sagadahoc County residents or commuters cannot be confirmed from the publicly available dataset; no local case has been independently verified at this time.

Thirty-seven people arrested during the surge have since been deported or voluntarily left the country. Lawmakers and advocates say the dataset will be used to press for greater transparency and protections for people with pending asylum claims or immigration court dates.