Nine local clergy and faith leaders were arrested on charges of criminal trespassing outside of Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins' downtown Portland office at One Canal Plaza on Tuesday.
They were among at least 30 people from different denominations who gathered for a "pray-in" to urge Collins to reject the Homeland Security funding bill being considered by the Senate this week, and for ICE to end its operations in Maine.
Demonstrators, many dressed in religious garb, sang, chanted, read scripture and prayed outside Collins' office while awaiting a response.
Rev. Allison Smith, with the Cumberland Congregational United Church of Christ, says she thinks it's wrong that immigrant neighbors are being targeted because of their accent or the color of their skin.
"It is just breaking our hearts to know that our country is taking this turn. And we aren't going to stand for it," Smith said. "We're going to stand with our neighbors."
Robert Levin, a member of the Portland Friends Meeting, helped organize the demonstration. He told Maine Public he was willing to be risk arrest, and that this wasn't his "first rodeo."
"My Quaker faith is deeply bound with a sense of justice," said Levin. "And nothing lights my fire more than seeing injustice. And my fire is lit these days, unfortunately, by what I'm seeing."
Collins' state office representative, Halsey Frank, agreed to meet with a few demonstrators at a time, but asked the rest of the crowd to disperse multiple times.
When they refused, Portland police officers arrived and arrested those still on the premises without incident.
