Mainers flood Dem AG's ICE tracker tipline with compliments for federal agents

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey’s attempt to set up a way for residents to report the activities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the state has backfired, with new documents showing Mainers frequently using the email to thank ICE agents for their work and complain about icy weather conditions.

The Office of the Attorney General announced in late January that an email had been set up for citizens to "report intimidating and excessive federal enforcement behavior" by federal agents. A press release at the time stated, "Across our nation, we are seeing numerous reports of apparent civil rights violations and improper use of force by federal agents who have been sent into areas targeted for immigration enforcement by the federal government.  With the federal government now surging federal agents into Maine under the banner of immigration enforcement, evidence of constitutionally-deficient, excessive, and intimidating enforcement tactics is quickly emerging in our own state."

Emails obtained by the Maine Wire’s Seamus Othot through a Freedom of Access Act request have revealed that only a small minority of emails sent to the tipline were for the purposes intended by Frey. Othot wrote that "out of 151 pages of emails, only one, possibly two, used the address as Frey intended."

Among the emails sent to the tipline were ones expressing gratitude towards the ICE agents for their work in the state. One email obtained by Othot stated, "I was just in Portland and saw ICE arresting an illegal. I wanted to let you know they’re doing a great job." The email, which noted the Chinese Triad black market weed farms in the state, also added, "lastly, Aaron Frey sucks."

Others criticized the Janet Mills administration, whose term will end in 2027 following the election. Mills is running to take over Susan Collins’ Senate Seat. One email stated, "Janet Mills should be absolutely ashamed of herself for not supporting Law Enforcement and putting the people that live in Maine at risk by having criminal illegal aliens running wild in our state. She has turned [Maine] into a sh*t hole." Othot the state’s Department of Justice took two months to hand over the emails. 

Others used the email to report suspected illegal immigrants in the state, while another asked whether they could report Medicaid fraud through the email tipline.

Yet others used the email to complain about their Instagram accounts being disabled, while one man used the tipline to complain about being barred from the University of Maine’s campus over Snapchats he sent to the school’s Pickleball Club president. 

Additionally, people used the ICE tipline to complain about icy winter weather conditions. One person wrote, "I wanted to report seeing ICE as I was on my morning walk yesterday..it was all over the side of the road and the sidewalk..could I get one of your idiots to come and remove it as it poses an existential threat to my well being."

Running against Mills in the Democrat primary for the US Senate is Graham Platner, who is running on a platform that includes stopping "the mass deportation machine." His campaign website states, "Our government is kidnapping people off the streets and imprisoning them in hellish conditions. This is unconscionable." In the wake of an ICE-involved shooting in January, Platner said "ICE is not there to keep people safe," and declared "ICE is not welcome in our communities."

The latest survey conducted in the Democrat primary in the state has found that Platner holds an over 30-point lead over Mills, at 61.1 percent to 28 percent, respectively.