As President Trump hits the afterburners, taking anti-illegal alien deportation vertical, Maine should be in formation, wingtip-to-wingtip. We are the opposite.
Consensus data say Maine is a blue state headed for “crash and burn,” although we will get one more chance in 2026 to get rid of Democrat leadership. We must.
Today, like California, Maine is dominated by a Democrat Governor and legislature pushing mass illegal immigration. To date, Maine has between 6,200 and 8000 known illegals, and a Democrat plan is to bring in 75,000 more.
While drug and human trafficking, elevated addiction, homelessness, shootings (especially in Lewiston), and crime all tie back to illegal aliens, illegal voting arguably tops the threats. Maine’s Secretary of State admits illegals on the voter rolls.
While Democrats award benefits to illegals, expecting a return at the polls, illegals push taxes higher, prey on Mainers, weigh on Maine’s “weakest in the nation” infrastructure, and bring schools down (50 of 50), while apparently on the voter rolls.
So, what can be done? Democrats say, “nothing,” or “do not bother them,” or “have compassion, let them do drugs, give them needles,” or a “new normal.”
Smart Mainers are on a different flight path, want change. They think it can be fixed before Maine becomes Los Angeles. Mainers – above all – are not interested in California values, or in importing California’s lawless norms.
They are right. The answer is not hard to identify; it requires a focus on public safety, new leadership, a restored compass, political will, and the resolve to stop it.
First, to end the proliferation of illegals in Maine and new lawlessness, ICE should be invited to sweep, flood the zone from Kittery to Fort Kent, and surge into all hot spots.
Second, regardless of criminal histories, felons are detained – if necessary, in contracted prisons. Trump’s Justice Department should be asked to help with a federal immigration court in Maine, even if temporarily.
With respect for the 4th Amendment (search and seizure), 5th and 14th Amendments (due process), cooperation with ICE should not just be allowed – but mandated.
State and local police should have their former authorities, discretion, and self-oversight restored with up-funding – federal and state – to make Maine safe.
Federal law is not a mystery; it is a certainty. It should be respected by the State. Today, official websites confirm – in states other than Maine – “ICE officers and agents are on the streets every day, prioritizing public safety by locating, arresting, and removing criminal aliens and immigration violators.” That should be Maine.
ICE does not need “judicial warrants” to arrest, just “reasonable suspicion” of illegality. ICE – and those cooperating with ICE – can “arrest people they believe are illegal aliens,” initiate deportation. That should be encouraged in Maine.
Maine’s northern border, under increasing pressure, should be shut with advanced technology, more federal agents, and state support. ICE officers and agents already have full authority to “detain and search people crossing the border.”
For the record: “All aliens who violate U.S. immigration law are subject to arrest and detention, regardless of their criminal histories,” and “those with final orders of removal” can be removed. They should be from Maine.
Contrary to Democrat preferences, ICE is entitled to “use reasonable and necessary force when someone resists arrest,” and ICE agents are experts at de-escalation.
Worth noting: “Applying for asylum doesn’t mean a person has legal status,” which is why those entering illegally, reasonably suspected of illegal presence, facing criminal warrants, or unable to prove legal status – are subject to a hearing and deportation if appropriate, including expedited removal. Maine should be on it.
Democrats block these protections for Maine citizens. Why? The absence of resolve is literally killing Mainers. We should be facilitating, not blocking action.
What else? ICE should be invited to arrest illegal aliens outside benefit centers, DMVs, polling places, courtrooms, businesses, and in any other public place.
If an illegal alien shows a “well-founded fear of persecution” by his own government, individuated to him and not from a competing gang, he gets “immigration proceedings to pursue asylum.” That hearing should happen swiftly.
On the other hand, “if an illegal alien has a final order of removal from a…Justice immigration judge,” ICE should be invited to immediately remove the alien.
The process is not hard. Illegals are deportable for “criminal acts,” “threat to public safety,” or “violating their visa.” Maine should cooperate in the process, and “expedited removal” is proper when a noncitizen enters “without proper travel documents,” “uses forged documents, or “did not comply with their visa.”
To speed up adjudication of asylum claims, President Trump just “approved sending up to 600 military lawyers to the Justice Department to serve as temporary immigration judges.” We should ask for some of those in Maine.
Earlier this year, Congress approved three million dollars to accelerate immigration judge hiring. Maine should get some of that. Does Maine need an “Alligator Alcatraz,” a new holding center? Maybe. One way or the other, we need to elect leadership that will take us vertical to get rid of illegal aliens. I will.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is the National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor (please visit BobbyforMaine.com to learn more)!
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