Dear MIRC Community,
Welcome to August! Something exciting to keep on your radar is that a partial solar eclipse will be visible throughout Maine next Wednesday, August 12. In general, expect it to be visible starting at 12:43-12:56 pm and ending at 2:46-2:52 pm. At peak coverage near 1:52 pm, as much as 23.6% of the sun will be blocked by the moon. Make sure to grab your eclipse glasses, as your next opportunity to catch a partial solar eclipse will be in 2045 and a total solar eclipse in 2079.
For any blueberry fans, the 10th annual Gray Wild Blueberry Festival is today from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm and tomorrow from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm at the Henry Pennel Municipal Complex at 24 Main Street in Gray, Maine. Enjoy a day of live music, pies, a bake-off, and more!
With that, let's get on to the MIRC Advocacy Update:
| Local |
| A couple of our member organizations are hiring and seeking volunteers! The Community Organizing Alliance (COA) is hiring 2-4 part-time community organizers to support their 2026 voter engagement work. For more information, visit the official job posting.Additionally, COA is seeking support to help them reach more Black and Brown communities in the Lewiston/Auburn and Portland areas for the elections. They are seeking volunteers to help with canvassing. View the sign-up here.The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) is hiring a Human Resources Director. For more information, visit the official job posting.Preble Street is looking for volunteers to help with emergency food packing for the Food Security Hub |
| KhmerME recently dropped their July newsletter. The newsletter features numerous updates such as the Khmer Maine Dance Company’s performance in Rockland as part of the Sunshine Series, the release of a new episode on Keeping Up with Khmer Maine, the Elder Health and Wellness program launching a new series focused on staying active, where elders will visit local farms for fruit picking, and the DIG IN Teen Camp officially starting. For more details and updates, be sure to check out the newsletter! |
| The Maine Medical Center nurse, Debora Kapisha, who was detained last week, was released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after nurses and union members rallied in support. This follows the national trend of airport detentions at check-ins and arrivals; more on this in the federal section. |
| Absentee ballots can now be requested for the November 3rd election. You can request online through the State’s website, or learn other ways on the City of Portland’s website. Maine residents can now register to vote, update registration details, or change party status online. |
| Our friends at Preble Street released the newest edition of their newsletter. Catch a glimpse at some of the amazing work the teams at Preble Street are doing. From Hope House updates, employee and partner highlights, to an ongoing series on the intersections of mental health and homelessness, you'll want to stay in the know! Read the full newsletter here! |
| State |
| Our friends at Catholic Charities are encouraging community partners to join them in taking action by urging senators to pass the legislation to protect Haitian TPS Holders. See the action link here: TAKE ACTION: Urge Your Senators to Pass Legislation to Protect Haitian TPS Holders - CWS. |
| In a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 82 Maine legislative leaders demand that ICE reform its policies, be more transparent, and take accountability for the fatal shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero. The letter called on DHS to cooperate fully with the investigation by Maine’s Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Public Safety into the shooting. |
| Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau is the new executive director of the Biddeford Housing Authority. |
| New Maine laws introduced by our friends at the ACLU have taken effect that prevent local resources and agencies from being used to support mass deportation efforts. This accompanies a new childcare affordability program and the establishment of the Office of Child Advocate. |
| Scarborough has called on Congress to investigate activities at the local ICE facility. Members of the town council voted to pass a proclamation calling on Maine’s congressional delegation to look into the operations. In a letter to Council, Rep Pingree urged the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to seriously reconsider whether the facility should continue operating in Scarborough if its presence is undermining public trust and making residents feel less safe. |
| Maine will provide a one-time $300 relief payment to eligible residents in the coming months. Individuals who have already filed the required state tax forms will receive the payment automatically. Those who have not may need help completing the Property Tax Fairness Credit form. Our friends at the Southern Maine Agency on Aging Resource Specialist are hosting virtual training on how to complete and submit the form online for the individuals you support. These will take place on Monday, August 17th from 3-4 pm and Tuesday, August 25th from 9-10 am. |
| Federal |
| Trump’s immigration policies have resulted in more than 50 military spouses and parents being detained. Previously, parents and spouses of individuals in the military have been shielded from deportation under bipartisan consensus. This has resulted in military members having to take leave or delay a deployment to take care of the family members left behind. |
| A federal district court judge has ruled that the administration’s travel restrictions on Afghanistan cannot block spouses and children of resettled Afghan allies from joining them in the U.S. This decision gave the State Department 15 days to issue travel documents to the families of five of the seven refugee plaintiffs whose relatives were already approved to enter the U.S. |
| Senator Susan Collins met with acting ICE Director David Venturella to inquire about the deployment of body cameras following the fatal shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford. She reported that within a month, body-worn cameras will be deployed nationwide and worn by all ICE agents in the field. |
| The Trump administration is set to award a $150 million contract to Burke Law Group, a small Texas law firm. Burke Law Group has recently updated its website to include immigration law as a focus of their work; however, previously it was not listed. Burke Law Group is now tasked with providing legal representation for thousands of unaccompanied migrant children in government custody during immigration proceedings. This is following the legal services contract expiring with the long-running legal aid ministries and despite the Trump administration withholding almost $1 million in funding for work that has already been performed. |
| A bipartisan pair of senators from Utah and Arizona have introduced legislation, the State-Sponsored Visa Pilot Act of 2026, that would create a pilot visa program that would allow states to address local labor shortages by sponsoring temporary foreign workers. This would give states more flexibility to meet workforce needs while avoiding interfering with the federal government. |
| A recent op-ed in the Boston Globe written by Deborah Ramirez and Max Reese highlights how states can regulate the way ICE enforcement occurs in their state. Deborah Ramirez is also heading up a project to train State DA's and AGs on how to criminally prosecute federal ICE officers who violate State law in State court. Appropriate DAs and AGs can connect to the project by emailing Nicole Loonstyn at loonstyn.n@northeastern.edu. |
| A U.S. District judge lifted a stay on the termination of temporary protections for Haitians, in order to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. This means that hundreds of thousands of Haitians have lost their temporary protected status and are now vulnerable to deportation. |
| The Trump administration’s changes to the student visa process will go into effect on September 15th, unless blocked in court. The changes include:Duration of status being eliminated and fForeign students and exchange visitors being limited to the end date of their specific program (or four years, whichever is shorter), with a grace period of 30 days to depart. For international journalism, they may stay for a maximum of 240 days or the length of their project, whichever is shorter. |
| U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services published a new regulation that allows officers to refer hundreds of thousands of asylum applicants directly to deportation proceedings without interviewing them. This would:Scrap USCIS’s process of offering interviews to asylum applicants already in the U.SAllow asylum officers to determine whether an individual merits a grant of asylum without making an eligibility determination, and Would remove the requirement of a letter communicating that the basis for referral should include an assessment of the applicant’s credibility. |
| The American Immigration Council has put together a couple of new resources given the recent changes for USCIS Processing. This includes a fact sheet summarizing the key actions the Trump administration has taken to restrict noncitizens’ access to work authorization and a blog discussing the new final rule to refer asylum applications to immigration court without conducting an interview (see more information above) |
| In July, ICE arrested roughly 51,000 people, the highest single-month total in the agency’s history. This corresponds to the rise in arrests at airports, with ICE arresting over 30 people at various airports in July. |
| Immigration courts nationwide have been utilizing “mega master” calendar hearings that pack dozens of cases before a single judge on the same day. This is an effort has resulted in high numbers of people missing court dates and immediately ordered deportations. |
| A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction to block New York’s state law that would prohibit immigration agents from wearing masks and require them to display identification while on duty. |
| Our friends at the National Immigration Law Center collaborated with an NYU Researcher to develop and release a report that looks at the impact of heightened immigration law enforcement on students and educators. Core Research Findings include:Escalating ICE Presence Causes Pervasive Community Terror Severe Psycho-Emotional Trauma Perpetuates Academic Disengagement ICE’s “Chilling Effect” on Absenteeism and EnrollmentThe School(s) as Safe Spaces ParadoxYou can read the full report here. |
| The Trump administration is considering adding a $100,000 fee for the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which provides work authorization for international students who graduate from American universities. This would create an additional barrier for international students to have a pathway into the U.S. workforce. |
| A federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration cannot deny immigrants detained inside the U.S. a chance for release on bond. |
While we try our best to cover most of the news and stories from our Coalition, I might have missed some. Please feel free to share any highlights I missed, and you may see them featured in the next edition of our updates.
Best,
- Erica Jenkins
MIRC Summer Policy and Advocacy Intern