Fourteen people cited at 1 of 2 Maine protests of Trump immigration policies

Federal police cited 14 people Friday for refusing to leave the driveway at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office in South Portland during the first of two back-to-back demonstrations against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

At the second demonstration, held in downtown Portland, about 75 protesters marched from the waterfront through the Old Port to Monument Square. They carried signs that said “No Kids in Cages” and “Never Again is Now.” They chanted loudly in unison, “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho, racist ICE has got to go.”

The first demonstration, calling to “Close the Camps and Abolish ICE,” was organized by Mainers for Accountable Leadership. The second was organized by Jewish Activists in Maine, also with a goal to close detention camps on the southern border, stop family separations and welcome immigrants. Some protesters attended both.

Speaking into a microphone at the start of the rally and Shabbat service in Monument Square, Martha Schnee said Friday’s demonstrations were the first in a series of planned actions.

“This crisis is ongoing, so our commitment is ongoing,” said Schnee, 26, of Westbrook.

The first demonstration started around 2 p.m., with protesters lining the road in front of the federal building on Gannett Drive in South Portland. They sang songs, chanted and held signs such as “End Family Detention” and “Close the Camps.” The group then walked down the driveway, where they were confronted by firm but polite officers who refused to allow them to go any farther.

Two protesters, Jessica Stewart, 40, of Bass Harbor, and Matt Bear-Fowler, 41, of Hallowell, were at the front of the group in wheelchairs. They were the first to be confronted by police, who wheeled both of them back to the top of the driveway. But Stewart and Bear-Fowler persisted, and eventually they were surrounded by about a dozen people who sat on the hot asphalt and refused to move.

“I don’t think most people support the cruel policies being carried out by the Trump administration,” Stewart said before the demonstration.

Stewart said she believes the treatment of migrants in federal custody is illegal, and that history won’t look kindly on people who are complicit in the conduct, even if it’s their job to do so.

“Following orders does not excuse or explain the treatment,” said Stewart, who had phone numbers scrawled on her arm in marker in case she was arrested and could not use her cellphone to call friends or supporters.

Protesters decried the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy that led to the separation of thousands of immigrant families, and the continued practice of housing migrants for weeks in unsanitary conditions at border stations that weren’t designed as long-term holding facilities.

The second demonstration started at 4:30 on Commercial Street near the Maine State Pier. Jewish Activists in Maine is part of the national Never Again Action, which recalls the horrors of the Holocaust wrought by the Nazis before and during World War II.

Aaron Shub of Portland said he decided to join the Portland protest after seeing it advertised on Facebook. He said he was inspired by people throughout history who have risked their lives to help Jews escape persecution and death, including from Nazi concentration camps.

“We’re endangering ourselves a whole lot less here today for people whose lives are being endangered on the border now,” said Shub, rabbi of Congregation Shaarey Tphiloh in Portland.

David Berdeja of Portland spoke during the rally in Monument Square, calling on participants to support a national one-day strike that he said is being organized by Movimiento Cosecha (Harvest Movement) to support immigrant rights.

“They have to listen to us,” Berdeja told the crowd. “People unified are very powerful.”

No protesters were cited or arrested at the Portland demonstration.

South Portland police and federal officers were prepared for the 2½-hour demonstration at the federal building on Gannett Drive.

Protesters told the officers that their children would learn of their roles in carrying out contested immigration policies. The officers mostly said nothing, collected IDs, and one by one, handed out summonses to the group for failing to comply with the direction of a federal police officer, one of the officers said.

“We’re going to start writing summonses,” another officer announced. “We’ve asked you and told you to get back to the approved protest area.”

Twelve of the summonses were the equivalent of a civil ticket and carried a monetary fine, an officer said. Two people received citations that required a mandatory court appearance.