Citing pushback from local residents, police departments in Monmouth and Winthrop have rescinded their application to join a program through Immigration and Customs Enforcement that gives local officers the authority to enforce certain aspects of federal immigration law.
Paul Ferland, who is the chief of police for both towns, said at a Monmouth select board meeting last week that he had hoped to give local officers training on how to handle interactions with undocumented immigrants.
"What are the legal boundaries? What do we have the rights to do? Do we have the right to detain them?" Ferland said. "We don't want to violate anybody's constitutional rights."
But he said he withdrew the application when he saw how divisive the issue had become among local residents.
"Our officers love working here. They love the community. And we're not here to divide the community," he said.
Over the weekend, the town of Winthrop posted a statement online citing potential costs and legal liability as other factors in its decision to drop the application.
Hundreds of law enforcement agencies across the country have joined the program, known as 287g, but so far Wells is the only town in Maine to do so.
Immigration advocates have criticized the program as an effort by the Trump administration to coopt local law enforcement resources to boost deportations.
