Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents blitzed through the solidly blue state of Maine, conducting “Operation Catch of the Day,” with the help of local law enforcement agents, despite receiving major pushback from the state’s Democratic governor. ICE, along with other federal immigration officials kicked things off on January 22, 2026, just as the sun took to the eastern sky, launching a series of coordinated raids in counties across Maine.
Drama was kept to a minimum without widespread protests or obstructions from left-wing activists, thanks in large part to the cooperation of local police departments assisting federal authorities in their duties. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills has issued repeated warnings for local law enforcement not to assist with the operations and gave her stamp of approval for a state law that would prohibit police from working alongside federal law enforcement. The law has not yet taken effect.
“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,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in an epic statement DHS published on Wednesday, January 21.
She said, “We have launched Operation Catch of the Day to target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in the state. On the first day of operations, we arrested illegal aliens convicted of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and endangering the welfare of a child. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, we are no longer allowing criminal illegal aliens to terrorize American citizens.”
An article from Breitbart revealed that a handful of reports claimed left-wing activist groups weren’t doing much in the way of protesting due to being caught off guard by the large scale of the operation and the quickness with which ICE conducted them across the state. Unsurprisingly, this left a number of folks on the left upset.
Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree slammed the raids and stated that federal enforcement officers would be held accountable for any “illegal actions.” Pingree went on to say, “Please know that I stand firmly with our immigrant communities and the people of Maine. We will NOT stand by as ICE, CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection), or any other agency tries to terrorize our communities and unlawfully abduct our neighbors.”
U.S. Attorney Andrew Benson, however, made it crystal clear that activists do not have any legal right to obstruct federal law enforcement. Benson reiterated that while they have the Constitutional right to free assembly, they do not have the right to riot, commit acts of violence, or obstruct.
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“In the coming days, if Maine citizens seek to exercise their rights to assemble and protest, it is vital that these protests remain peaceful. Anyone who forcibly assaults of impedes a federal law enforcement officer, willfully destroys government property, or unlawfully obstructs federal law enforcement activity commits a federal crime and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.
According to WABI, Gov. Mills held a press conference on January 22, 2026, addressing the ICE operations, where she revealed that not only were activists caught off guard by the operation, the state government was too. During the event, Mills called ICE agents “secret police,” saying state police officers do not wear masks during operations. She also said that no one in her administration had been contacted by the Trump administration about the operation. All she learned about what took place came from the news.
“I’m hearing that many of the people being detained, or on that list I think, are family members here in Maine, people who are working here in Maine, people who have children in the school system, people who have children in homes in Maine, people with no criminal record, and that’s concerning,” Mills stated during the press conference.
The Department of Homeland Security revealed that within the first several hours of the operation, four dangerous criminals were apprehended, including a man named Dominic Ali, a kidnapper and violent offender from Sudan. A total of 50 of the “worst of the worst” criminal illegals were taken into custody.