More than a hundred people rallied outside Portland City Hall Friday morning, calling for the release of two Brazilian men who were arrested by Border Patrol near Portland earlier this week.
According to friends and family members, Marcos Henrique and Lucas Segobia were detained by Border Patrol following a traffic stop on Memorial Day by Maine State Police and held at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscassett.
Segobia's fiancée, Laura Anderson, said the two men are carpenters and were travelling to a jobsite. She said neither of them have a criminal record.
"How ironic that we need these workers to build our homes, make our food and clean our houses, yet we turn our backs on them," she said.
Segobia's stepfather, Marco Silva, said the two men are not criminals, and that his stepson had an active green card application.
"I have nothing against the country fighting crime," he said. "That's not the point. It's messing up families' lives."
In a written statement, a Border Patrol spokesperson said agents responded to a Maine State Police request to identify two individuals following a traffic stop, and "determined that one of the individuals had overstayed their B2 visa and neither had legal status in the United States." Both were turned over to ICE for removal proceedings, according to the spokesperson.
Border Patrol apprehensions in Maine last month were the highest in nearly 25 years. Today, the agency announced it had recently flown 42 detainees from Presque Isle to Detroit for further processing, at least the second such flight so far this year.
