How #Maine churches are reckoning with fear of #ImmigrationRaids
by Sean Scott, August 24, 2025
Excerpt: "Selma, an asylum seeker from Angola, moved to Texas at the start of the pandemic and then to Maine in January 2022. She fears persecution if she returns because of a family member’s involvement in a #HumanRights group.
" 'As a Christian, I was praying, and then God just gave me direction, which was Maine,' she said.
"She joined a nondenominational Christian church in Portland right away, and she and her two children have been regular attendees ever since. After President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, her 12-year-old daughter asked if it was still safe to go to school.
"As immigration enforcement efforts have increased dramatically this year, many migrants have also reckoned with whether it’s safe to go to places of worship, whether they’re congregants or faith leaders like one Westbrook pastor detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this month.
"In one of his first acts in office, Trump rescinded a policy that essentially barred #ICEAgents from making arrests at sensitive locations like #churches, #hospitals and #schools. A coalition sued the Department of Homeland Security over the policy in February, arguing it violated #ReligiousFreedom. A judge declined to block the policy, citing a lack of evidence that churches were 'singled out as special targets' for immigration enforcement.
"Faith leaders are preparing for the possibility of enforcement regardless, and several other lawsuits have been filed on similar grounds, including one in late July with a New England plaintiff.
"#MichelTshimankinda, a Westbrook man who founded a church in South Portland, has been in ICE detention in New Hampshire since Aug. 14, according to the Portland Press Herald. He wasn’t arrested on church property, but his detention has shaken his family and congregation."
Read more:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/maine-churches-reckoning-fear-immigration-100000727.html
#ICESucks#ICEKidnapping#MaineNews#DHS#Gestapo#FascismInTheUSA#Racism#Fascism#Authoritarianism#TrumpIsARacist