Dear MIRC Community,
Welcome to Friday!
The debate on ranch vs blue cheese salad dressing may finally have been decided. As some World Cup fans begin making their way home, it appears that they have fallen in love with ranch dressing! So many people have been trying to bring some of Hidden Valley’s best back home with them that TSA had to put out a couple of announcements on the matter! It appears that to help with this issue, the engineers at Kraft are coming up with Kraft TSA Compliant Ranch.
With that, and a side of dressing, let’s get on to the MIRC Advocacy Update:
| Local |
| Missed the election results? You can check out all of the primary election results — including more local elections, plus state and federal races — for free here. |
| School budget recaps: The school district budget was approved by Portland voters, with about 75% of voters in favor. The budget, which accounts for a $4 million loss in state funding, could see a 5.68% increase in property taxes. Superintendent Ryan Scallon believes that LD 2226, the school funding reform (which accounts for local poverty rates), could account for more state funding in the coming years. Biddeford, Saco, and Old Orchard Beach voters all passed their respective districts’ school budgets. (Get links from: n Biddeford, 73% of voters backed the $52.6 million school budget. Saco’s $59.9 million plan was approved by 78% of voters. And Old Orchard Beach’s $18.4 million proposal was supported by 79% of voters.) |
| MIRC held a successful launch event at Good Theater in Portland for the unveiling of LighthouseME, a new Immigrant Defense Hub & Hotline tool for mapping ICE-related data in Maine! Check out coverage from local news sources, Maine Morning Star, Portland Press Herald, and Maine Public, who reported on the event! |
| On Tuesdays and Thursdays from June 25 to August 20, the Bath Area Family YMCA will begin delivering free meals to children and teens at 12 locations in Bath and Brunswick. Parents may pick up meals for their children, but must register in advance. |
| Our friends at Families over Billionaires are going on tour! The Who Pays? Bus Tour will bring together workers, parents, small business owners, educators, faith leaders, advocates, and local elected officials to share stories, connect the dots, and demand a tax system that works for everyone, not just the ultra-rich. RSVP here for the Tuesday, June 30th event at Monument Square starting at 6:30 PM. |
| Roz Chast, a well-known cartoonist for the New Yorker, donated prints to raise money for MIRC Member Food for All Services, which will use the donation to deliver food to Maine’s immigrant and low-income communities. |
| The Portland Press Herald reported earlier this month that Idexx Laboratories appears to have eight cameras equipped with automatic license plate readers on its properties in Scarborough and Westbrook. At the same time, as the South Portland City Council was debating what to do with its Flock cameras, a rally was organized outside of South Portland’s City Hall by NoFlockforSoPo. The article goes over how these cameras that face the public may be against the law, and even features our friends at the ACLU. South Portland decided to end its contract and disable Flock cameras in the city. Idexx appears to have since taken down the cameras. |
| The Portland Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) is honored to announce the graduation of its sixth cohort of the Natural Helpers program! Fourteen individuals, representing 11 organizations and seven countries of origin, from Ghana to Colombia to the United States and hailing from cities including Portland, Biddeford, Saco, and South Portland, have successfully completed a comprehensive five-month fellowship focused on leadership development, resource navigation, community advocacy, and self-empowerment. |
| From our friends at Community Organizing Alliance: We’re excited to invite you to our Resume & Networking Workshop on Monday, June 30, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM at 501 Forest Ave, Portland, ME. This workshop is designed for young adults under 30 in the Portland area who want to strengthen their resumes, improve their networking skills, and gain valuable tips for job and internship opportunities. Pizza and drinks will be provided! RSVP for the event here! |
| State |
| The recording of the June 9, 2026, PFML Benefits Authority meeting and the PowerPoint presentation on claims administration for the State plan are now available and posted on the Benefits Authority’s webpage. |
| About 4,300 fewer Maine children are getting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits since the federal government began making cuts to the program last year, according to state statistics. |
| Lots of flash and awe in our federal and gubernatorial primary races; our state legislature also had some primaries of its own, with questions being answered as to who will be on the ballot in November. The Portland Press Herald did a good round-up of the election results that you can find here! |
| If you can’t get into the Portland Press Herald, friends of MIRC, the Maine AFL-CIO, posted a great explainer and showed how the votes played out for the governorship and CD2 race. |
| Read about our partnership in hosting a World Cup watch party! Members of the Congolese community gathered to celebrate the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s first World Cup appearance in 52 years. The DRC earned a surprising 1–1 draw against Portugal |
| Check out the impact report from the Maine Immigrant Business Coalition (MIBC). They represent 30 residential care agencies across Maine, owned and operated by immigrants from various African nations. This coalition provides critical infrastructure and around-the-clock care for over 400 individuals with intellectual disabilities, autism, traumatic brain injuries, and severe psychiatric diagnoses |
| Federal |
| Consider signing this petition to help keep refugees safe in the United States. A plan made by the Trump administration would allow for quick asylum rejections without interviews. USCIS officers are being empowered to reject asylum applications as part of Trump’s deportation crackdown. This would disregard current protections for asylum seekers who receive exceptions to the 1-year deadline to file their application. |
| The US Department of State plans to reduce the number of African embassies that can process visas from around 50 to 20. This will make access to those seeking entry into the US more challenging, a part of the larger move to limit immigration to the US. Read more on this issue here. |
| On May 22nd, the USCIS dropped a memo that would make those seeking to adjust their status have to leave the country. This caused fear and confusion among community members. Since issuing this memo, USCIS appears to have backtracked on its original statement and recently announced that this memo was simply a “reminder to its officers of their duties”. NOTE: The memo has not been withdrawn or amended in any way. All immigrants will still be expected to cite unusual circumstances that rebut the presumption that they must leave the country. |
| A federal judge recently blocked a policy that has prevented people from 39 travel-banned countries from receiving work permits, green cards, and other immigration benefits. The court ruled that the policy violates the Administrative Procedure Act. |
| A recent study was presented at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting covering the impacts of immigration bans on the healthcare workforce. This study was covered by HealthExec. |
| Congress approved a multi-year funding package providing billions for federal immigration enforcement through the end of the Trump term. The legislation allocates $38.5 billion to ICE for personnel training and pay, and $22.6 billion to CBP for Border Patrol operations, plus $3.5 billion for technological security upgrades. Notably, the bill excludes proposed operational accountability mechanisms such as body camera requirements, mask bans, or judicial warrant mandates for home entries. |
| Through a new analysis from CQ Roll Call, members of the public can now examine the 2025 voting records of their Senators. This data highlights the frequency with which each senator aligned their “yea” or “nay” votes with positions taken by President Donald Trump. In 2025, Senator Collins voted in support of Trump policies 95% of the time; Senator King voted in support of Trump policies 22% of the time |
| The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that border officials could temporarily revoke lawful permanent resident status using an indictment or other accusation when individuals re-enter the United States. In the 6-3 opinion, the justices said the officials at a port of entry do not need to have “clear and convincing” evidence of offenses at the time of the decision to suspend the status of a green card holder. |
| The Marshall Project reports how a 1996 law that allows fines for certain immigrants has been used by the current administration to issue over 65,000 penalties since 2025 to individuals who remain in the United States with pending deportation orders. |
| Over 4.6 million U.S. citizen children live with a parent at risk of deportation, according to a recent report. |
| Data indicates that the sharpest decline in approvals is in humanitarian petitions, which saw a drop of 69% in 2025. Employment-based petition approvals fell by 26%, and approvals for permanent residency decreased by 16%. Preliminary 2025 data show that, through September 2025, F-1 student visa issuances were down 31% compared to the same period in 2024. |
| In a 6-3 decision, the conservative justices agreed with the Trump administration that a noncitizen who is standing in Mexico doesn’t arrive in the U.S. “by attempting, and failing, to set foot in this country.” The question the justices considered was whether migrants have to fully cross into the United States in order to have the right to apply for asylum and be processed, or if they can apply for asylum when they appear at a port of entry while on Mexico’s side of the border. |
| In a separate 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to end legal protections for migrants fleeing violence and natural disaster in Haiti and Syria, exposing hundreds of thousands more people to potential deportation. The Court ruled that Haitian and Syrian immigrants are not “entitled” to having their temporary protections postponed while litigation is pending, arguing that those are non-constitutional claims. |
Well, you can’t say I didn’t leave you without reading material to head into the weekend with! While we try our best to cover most of the news and stories from our Coalition, I probably missed some. Please feel free to share any highlights I missed, and you may see them featured in the next edition of our updates.
Before we head off to the weekend, don’t forget to be a friend and tell a friend something nice; it could change their life!
Best,
-RT–
Ruben Torres
Advocacy and Policy Manager