Amid heightened rumors of a possible increase in ICE operations in Maine, hundreds rallied in Portland Sunday night to denounce the agency.
Isabel Paredes, of Biddeford, said her family is originally from Guatemala, and that she personally knows at least 20 people arrested by immigration agents in the past year.
"I'm representing all my friends who are too scared to be here, my family members who are too scared to be here, anybody who is just too scared to be here," she said.
Details of any potential operation remain scarce, but Gov. Janet Mills said in a video statement last week that her office was coordinating with state and local officials to "protect the safety and the rights of the people of Maine."
Todd Cretien, who works in Portland Public Schools, said many immigrant families are already hunkering down.
"Hundreds of kids are not going to school. Within a mile of us, hundreds of people are afraid to go to work," Cretien told the crowd. "People need food in their homes. They need legal support."
Other rallygoers expressed concern that increased ICE presence in Maine could bring chaos and violence similar to what's been taking place in Minneapolis, where an ICE agent fatally shot a woman earlier this month amid a surge of federal agents and ongoing protests.
