By Andy O’Brien
Governor Janet Mills announced on December 15 that she will let LD 1971 pass into law. The bill limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal authorities on civil immigration enforcement.
LD 1971, “An Act to Protect Workers in This State by Clarifying the Relationship of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies with Federal Immigration Authorities, was sponsored by Rep. Deqa Dhalac (D-South Portland) and passed the Maine House and Senate in June. However, Gov. Mills did not sign the bill at that time. Instead, she chose to carry it over to the next legislative session, which begins in January.
Immigrant rights groups have long pressured Gov. Mills to pass LD1971, in order to prevent police and sheriffs from assisting with the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.
Although LD 1971 clarifies that local and state agencies can continue working with federal partners to investigate serious crimes including terrorism, drug trafficking, and human trafficking, LD 1971 prohibits local law enforcement from stopping, investigating, interrogating, arresting, or detaining someone solely for the purpose of immigration enforcement.
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LD 1971 also bans law enforcement from complying with requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain individuals solely for immigration enforcement purposes.
In an op-ed in the Portland Press Herald, Gov. Mills described the bill as “imperfect,” but wrote that “the times call for it.” She denounced the detentions of new Mainers who have been “needlessly taken from their families and communities in Maine because of the broken immigration policies of Washington, D.C.
She explained why she did not immediately sign the bill in June, but has decided not to veto it now.
“As a former district attorney and attorney general and now as governor, I carefully considered this bill,” Mills wrote. “I’ve weighed my concerns that it imposes confusing restraints on law enforcement about when they can and can’t interact with federal authorities against the extraordinary and horrifying actions of a federal agency that has been weaponized by the president to undermine the rights of us all. And I also agree with the bill’s aim of ensuring that Maine law enforcement are enforcing Maine laws, not federal immigration law.”
By law, Mills has three days after the next legislative session starts on January 7 to either veto LD1971 or allow it to become law without her signature. In her column, Mills wrote that she still has concerns about the bill’s impact on law enforcement, but she believes the state’s “extraordinary and talented law enforcement officers can and will adapt.”
In addition to allowing LD 1971 to go into law, Mills said she is also repealing former Republican Governor Paul LePage’s 2011 executive order requiring enhanced cooperation between state and federal officials on immigration enforcement. Mills wrote that under the Trump administration, the executive order “…has become a broad and dangerous promise that Maine will not make.”
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Deqa Dhalac (So. Portland), issued a statement praising the Governor’s decision to allow LD 1971 to become law, but expressed disappointment that she waited so long.
“When the Legislature enacted this bill last June, we made it clear that defining the boundaries between state law enforcement and federal immigration authorities was critical to safeguarding our communities,” she said. “Local police taking part in enforcing federal immigration law damages their relationship with immigrant communities, erodes public trust and makes us all less safe, whether we are immigrants or not. This new law will protect the dignity, due process and public safety of all who call our state home.”
The ACLU of Maine also applauded the Governor’s announcement.
“Our state and local resources should never be volunteered to tear our communities apart or support federal practices that often violate due process and other constitutional rights,” said Michael Kebede, policy director for the ACLU of Maine.“Measures like this preserve Maine resources for Maine priorities – not the goals of politicians in Washington. LD 1971 will ensure Maine towns and cities are not complicit in or liable for federal abuses of power and will improve public safety by building trust between local law enforcement and the communities they are supposed to serve.
