Neighbors, community leaders and immigrant advocates gathered Wednesday outside a rooming house on Lisbon Street, one of downtown Lewiston’s busiest streets and located just a short distance from City Hall, to protest what organizers described as cooperation between the property’s management and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Organizers said four men connected to the property have been detained by ICE in recent months. They alleged that property management provided information that helped federal immigration authorities locate tenants or their relatives.
The allegations have not been independently verified by Amjambo Africa.
Amjambo Africa contacted a business number listed on the building’s front door and asked for comments. “I [don’t] have any comment,” a woman who answered the phone said before ending the call.
The protest comes after Maine enacted L.D. 2176, now state law, which took effect July 29. The law generally prohibits landlords and their agents from disclosing certain personal information about tenants, prospective tenants or occupants when the disclosure is intended to harass, intimidate or cause someone to leave a property outside the judicial process and without a legitimate business purpose. The law includes exceptions, including certain disclosures made in response to valid judicial warrants and other specified law enforcement circumstances.
‘I don’t want to just sit still’
For some protesters, the demonstration was about the responsibility to speak up even when they are not personally affected by immigration enforcement.
Brie, 26, who only wished to be identified by her first name for safety reason, said she came because she believes people should not remain silent when their neighbors are harmed.
“When I see harm and violence done to my neighbors, I don’t want to just sit still and let that happen,” she said. “I don’t think that’s right.”
Brie said news reports about ICE enforcement have been deeply upsetting to her.
“I get really upset when I see things about ICE on the news,” she said. “It’s just not right, it’s not humane.”
She said showing up publicly can make a difference.
“Whenever you can, show up because the more voices that we have, the more likely we’ll be heard,” she said.
Kady, also 26 and don’t want to be fully named, said she attended because of the effect immigration enforcement has on families in the community.
“I care about my neighbors and what’s happening isn’t fair,” she said. “It makes me sick that my neighbors are living in fear and families are being taken.”
Kady said she wants people in Lewiston to be able to live their daily lives without fear.
“I just want all my neighbors to be able to go about their life without living in fear,” she said.
She also urged people who do not believe they are directly affected to pay attention.
“If you care about children or families, then come on,” she said. “You need to pay attention.”
‘Every voice counts’
Jim Fotter, one of the participants of the protest, told Amjambo Africa he came to the protest because he believes the treatment of immigrants is an injustice.
“There’s an injustice going on in the country right now,” Fotter said.
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He said he believes public demonstrations can encourage more people to become involved.
“I think the more people that take a stand, the more people that will start joining,” he said. “Every voice counts or is supposed to count in America.”
Fotter also pointed to his own family’s immigration history.
“We’re all immigrants to this country at one time or another,” he said. “My great-grandparents came from Lebanon back in the early 1900s.”
Health concerns
Dr. Alice Haines, a retired family physician who runs a small free clinic, said she has seen the effects of fear surrounding immigration enforcement among people in the community.
“I see people every day that have been traumatized by ICE,” Haines said.
She said some families are dealing with the consequences of fathers being detained and that she has seen people struggling with trauma.
Haines also expressed concern that fear of immigration enforcement could prevent people from seeking medical care and other essential services.
“We can’t serve people if they’re afraid to go to their doctor,” she said. “People need to be able to go and get help. Go and get food. It is not fair.”
Haines said she has also seen ICE vehicles near Central Maine Medical Center and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center.
The concerns extend beyond health care, she said, because people who are afraid to leave their homes may also avoid food pantries and other community resources.
‘Our neighbors are incredibly harmed’
Sherie Blumenthal, who has lived and worked in Lewiston for about 20 years, said she considers the city’s immigrant diversity one of its strengths.
Part of the reason she came to Lewiston and stayed, she said, was because of its global community.
“What I see every day is our neighbors incredibly harmed,” Blumenthal said. “I see terrified children. We see families traumatized.”
Blumenthal said she works with a community organization that operates a large food pantry and has seen families struggle to access food because they are afraid to leave their homes.
“We see families going hungry for days because they’re afraid to leave their house,” she said.
She described what she sees as two different experiences within the same community: people continuing with their daily lives while others are living with fear over immigration enforcement.
Blumenthal, who said she is Jewish, also reflected on the Jewish High Holy Days, which fall between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. She said the period has prompted her to think about how ordinary people can gradually come to accept injustice and harm as normal.
She said the community should speak out if it believes a property manager has improperly contacted federal immigration authorities about a tenant or another person.
“If we don’t step up now and say that it’s not normal for a property manager to call federal agents on an innocent person, then that’s going to escalate,” she said.
Her characterization of the person as innocent and her account of the alleged call have not been independently verified.
‘We just wanna live peacefully’
Ifraax Saciid-Ciise, founder of IFKA Community and a leader in Lewiston’s Somali community, said immigrants want to be able to work, raise their families and live without fear.
“Immigrants, we just want to go to work, we want to go home and sleep peacefully,” Siciid-Ciise said.
She said fear of immigration enforcement affects people’s willingness to move through the community and access essential services.
“We just wanna live peacefully,” she said.
A veteran cites the Constitution
John T. Spruill Jr., a disabled veteran who was in a wheelchair, addressed the crowd and spoke about his military service and his oath to defend the Constitution.
Spruill read from the Fifth Amendment, focusing on its language protecting “no person” from being deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.
“And no person includes everyone in this country,” he said.
Tears were flowing down his face as he continued, sitting in his wheelchair, while protesters applauded.
“…and everything ICE is doing is unconstitutional,” Spruill said. “It is against everything I took a vow to defend this country and bleed for this country. It is terrible, and it needs to stop now.”
‘Love your neighbor’
Rev. Debbie Rogers Duval of High Street Congregational Church in Auburn also spoke about her religious beliefs and the responsibility to support others.
She said the Bible teaches people to love and support their neighbors rather than turn against them.
“The Bible teaches us to love our neighbors,” Duval said. “We are not to hunt them down. We are to support them, walk alongside them and be there for them on their journey.”
“So, I am just here to implore people, love your neighbor,” she said.
Calls for city action
Organizers also called on the city of Lewiston to remove the Parkview Inn from the list of landlords eligible to receive General Assistance payments.
Blumenthal said rooming houses can be among the few housing options available to people who cannot afford security deposits or who rely on public assistance.
Organizers said city subsidies should not continue if the allegations concerning cooperation with ICE are substantiated. The group also encouraged residents to support the L/A Rapid Response Fund, which assists community members affected by immigration enforcement.
The protest comes amid continuing concern about immigration enforcement in Lewiston and Auburn. Immigrant advocates and community members have raised concerns about the effects of enforcement actions on families and access to everyday services.
