Maine Enacts Sweeping Restrictions on Police Cooperation With Federal Immigration Enforcement

Maine’s government is implementing comprehensive legislation on Wednesday designed to curtail how state and local law enforcement interact with federal immigration authorities. The trio of measures represents one of the nation’s most restrictive approaches to civil immigration enforcement coordination, creating significant barriers between local police operations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities.

Under the “ICE Out of Policing” statute, state and local agencies—including correctional facilities—are now barred from assisting federal immigration officials with civil enforcement matters. Law enforcement cannot request translation services from ICE or Border Patrol when encountering non-English speakers, nor may they share personal information related to civil immigration cases, though exceptions exist for criminal investigations and legally authorized information sharing.

The policing law also prohibits jails from detaining individuals solely on civil immigration grounds and restricts notification to ICE about inmate release dates or compliance with civil detainer requests. Exceptions apply for serious criminal offenses, outstanding warrants, final deportation orders and legitimate public safety concerns.

Two companion laws take effect simultaneously, with one barring employees at public schools, state colleges, libraries, hospitals and childcare facilities from voluntarily permitting immigration officers into restricted areas or providing access to protected records without judicial warrants. A third measure prevents landlords from disclosing tenant information—including immigration status details—without consent, while maintaining carve-outs for warrants and legitimate housing purposes.

The policing measure became law without Governor Janet Mills’ signature in January, while she signed the schools and healthcare bill in April. The tenant privacy law also became statute without her signature later that month. Several Maine municipalities, including Portland, Lewiston, Waterville and Rockland, had already enacted similar ordinances.

Maine State Police announced in December they would voluntarily comply with the restrictions ahead of the Wednesday deadline. However, Scott Stewart, president of the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, warned that limiting cooperation could jeopardize federal funding and invite increased federal enforcement action against the state.

Immigrant advocacy organizations—including the ACLU of Maine, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Maine Equal Justice—held a news conference Tuesday praising the laws. Sue Roche, executive director of the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, reported more than 50 incidents last year where state and local police contacted immigration officials, resulting in arrests of individuals with no criminal records who were in lawful immigration proceedings.