Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it detained more than 100 people statewide during a Maine enforcement operation it called “Operation Catch of the Day,” framing the arrests as targeting some of the state’s most dangerous criminals. In a public statement, ICE said it was arresting the “worst of the worst,” including “child abusers and hostage takers,” according to the Associated Press.
AP reviewed court records that, in some cases, showed detainees did not fit ICE’s characterization as simply “worst of the worst” criminals. The records AP reviewed included people with unresolved immigration proceedings and people who were arrested but had not been convicted of a crime.
Immigration attorneys and local officials told AP that similar concerns have arisen in other cities when ICE conducts enforcement surges and the agency detains people with limited or no criminal records.
One ICE example was Dominic Ali, which ICE highlighted as involving serious felony offenses and criminal convictions. ICE said Ali was convicted of false imprisonment, aggravated assault, assault, obstructing justice and violating a protective order, and AP’s review of court records found multiple convictions listed by ICE. Court filings AP reviewed said Ali was convicted in 2004 of violating a protective order, and in 2008 of second-degree assault, false imprisonment, and obstructing the reporting of a crime.
AP reported that prosecutors described the 2008 case as involving Ali allegedly throwing his girlfriend to the floor of her New Hampshire apartment, kicking her and breaking her collarbone. In 2009, Judge James Barry said in connection with sentencing that “His conduct amounted to nothing less than torture,” before sentencing Ali to five to 10 years in prison, AP reported. The story said Ali was later paroled to ICE custody, and that in 2013 an immigration judge ordered his removal, though AP said it remains unclear what happened after that order because no further information was available from the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
ICE also promoted another case as an example of the operation’s focus. The agency highlighted Elmara Correia and said she was “arrested previously for endangering the welfare of a child.” But AP reported that Maine court records showed someone with that name had been charged in 2023 with violating a law related to learner’s permits for new drivers, a case that was later dismissed.
AP reported that Correia filed a petition Wednesday challenging her detention, and that a judge issued a temporary emergency order barring authorities from transferring her from Massachusetts, where she is being held. Correia’s attorney said she entered the United States legally on a student visa about eight years ago and has never been subject to expedited removal proceedings.
Portland Mayor Mark Dion said during a news conference that ICE did not adequately distinguish between arrests and convictions or explain whether sentences were served. Dion said, “Was she found not guilty, or are we just going to be satisfied that she was arrested?” The mayor also raised questions about another person named in ICE’s release: Dany Lopez-Cortez, which ICE described as a “criminal illegal alien” from Guatemala convicted of operating under the influence.
Attorneys involved in related litigation told AP that habeas petitions were being used to contest detention and prevent transfers that could disrupt access to counsel. Boston immigration attorney Caitlyn Burgess said her office filed habeas petitions Thursday on behalf of four clients detained in Maine and transferred to Massachusetts, and said habeas petitions are often the only tool available to stop rapid transfers that sever access to counsel and disrupt pending immigration proceedings. Burgess told AP that the most serious charge any of the four faced was driving without a license, and that all had pending immigration court cases or applications.
AP reported that attorney Samantha McHugh filed five habeas petitions on behalf of Maine detainees Thursday and expected to file three more soon. McHugh said none of these individuals have any criminal record and that they were simply at work, eating lunch, when unmarked vehicles arrived and immigration agents trespassed on private property to detain them.
AP also reported that court documents involving criminal-conviction cases can remain unresolved or be revisited years later. Another detainee whose mug shot appeared in ICE materials on “the worst of the worst” in Maine was Ambessa Berhe, who AP said was convicted of cocaine possession and assaulting a police officer in 1996 and cocaine possession in 2003. AP reported that in 2006 a federal appeals court in Boston vacated a removal order for Berhe and sent the case back to the Board of Immigration Appeals for further consideration.
ICE said the operation targeted about 1,400 immigrants in a state of about 1.4 million people, roughly 4% of whom are foreign-born, AP reported. The AP story credited Associated Press journalist Rodrique Ngowi for contribution.