Dear MIRC Community,
Welcome to Friday! Due to scheduling, this will be the final Advocacy Update of 2025. Over the past year, we have covered a wide range of developments and worked to keep you informed about what is happening across the country, throughout Maine, and in our local communities. Through it all, we’ve made it to the final weeks of the year together. Thank you to everyone who has reached out, shared highlights, offered comments, and taken the time to read these updates. I hope they have been useful in your work and that each edition has offered something new to learn.
With that, let’s get on to the MIRC Advocacy Update:
| Local |
| Is your food pantry looking for a solution to process credit card or online donations?Full Plates Full Potential is offering assistance free of charge! Learn more about how they can help you with food pantry donations here. |
| Bangor’s Homeless Response Manager submitted their resignation effective November 21st. The city will be looking into how the role will continue as the funding for the position is set to run out in 2026. |
| The City of Portland would like the public to know that effective January 1, 2026, the minimum wage in Portland is $16.75 per hour. Section 33.8(a) of the Portland City Code requires every Portland employer to post a notice informing employees of the current minimum wage rates in a conspicuous place. This poster is available to download at no charge on their website. |
| A Bangor rental assistance program is in limbo after the federal government reversed its planned cuts. For now, HUD will not divert funding from permanent supportive housing to programs with work requirements or mandatory mental health and substance use treatment. |
| The Rockland City Council passed an amendment, 4-1, prohibiting city employees and departments from using municipal resources to assist or cooperate with federal immigration enforcement operations, except where legally required by state, federal law, or court order. Specifically, the measure bars city employees from giving federal immigration agencies access to or transferring people in Rockland Police custody, unless presented with a valid judicial warrant or as part of a serious crime investigation (e.g., human or drug trafficking). |
| A Fort Kent genealogy lesson included DNA testing for 331 high school students, revealing significant ancestry patterns of immigration: 87% have French ancestry, 81% have Indigenous ancestry (with 70% specifically Mi’kmaq), and 93% of those with French roots also have Indigenous ancestry, underscoring a deep connection between the groups. |
| More than 500 students from public and private schools in the city of Portland showed up in recognition of 2 Portland high schoolers detained by immigration officials last month. |
| The Maine Morning Star highlighted the recent visit of Rep. Pingree to the USCIS office in Scarborough and the advocacy work of friends of MIRC, ILAP. ICE officials cited space limitations as the reason for denying attorney access. Pingree plans to follow up with Homeland Security Secretary Noem, highlighting the importance of legal counsel during these appointments. You can read more here. To request an appointment with ILAP, please visit: https://ilapmaine.org/get-legal-help |
| Portland Public Schools staff and parents criticized the district for a lack of transparency, mistreatment of staff of color, and inadequate support for immigrant families. A petition circulated by parents called for an independent investigation, transparent staffing processes, and protection for employees who report inequities. The school board and superintendent acknowledged the concerns and committed to addressing equity issues and improving communication. |
| State |
| The team at Relevant Research has built and updated its Immigration Enforcement Dashboard. This handy tool helps you visualize the government detention data. There is more information that is coming, but you can currently filter by state and see the arrest trends from the last year. |
| A federal court rejected a joint attempt by Maine and the U.S. Department of Justice to weaken an agreement requiring the state to improve services for children with disabilities. The court ruled that the proposed changes, including removing an independent reviewer, were not justified and essential to protecting the rights of children with disabilities. The work of MIRC members ACLU of Maine and Disability Rights Maine is highlighted in this article by the Maine Morning Star: Read More Here |
| Somali legislators in Maine strongly condemned President Trump’s attacks on immigrant communities, specifically targeting Somali-Americans. They criticized his rhetoric and actions, including the suspension of immigration requests and the termination of temporary protected status for some immigrant groups. The legislators stressed that due process and equal treatment are essential for everyone, regardless of their immigration status. |
| Politico did a deep dive into Flock Safety’s nationwide license plate recognition system, used in over 6,000 municipalities, and how it’s facing backlash due to concerns about federal surveillance. The system’s national sharing model allows data to be accessed across state lines, raising fears that it could be used by federal agencies like ICE. This has led to suspensions or pauses of Flock systems in over a dozen local governments, with officials prioritizing community safety and privacy concerns. At the moment, there are 7 in York, 5 in South Portland, and 10 in the Lewiston area. |
| From our friends at MEJ: Have you ever used MEJ’s educational materials (from our Help is Available page)? We want to hear what you think! We know case workers, clients, students, and other community members use MEJ’s educational resources about access to public benefits such as SNAP, MaineCare, General Assistance, and more, but there’s a lot we DON’T know about what’s going well and what needs improvement. That’s why we’d love your feedback (it should take about 5-10 minutes) |
| Maine librarians are increasingly providing social services, such as helping patrons access benefits and mental health resources, due to increased demand and limited community resources. This shift is driven by funding cuts and the growing needs, including those experiencing homelessness and mental health challenges. While librarians are stepping up to fill these gaps, they often lack the training and resources to provide comprehensive support. |
| In a recent arrest in Calais, a Border Patrol agent reported that he became suspicious of two Mexican men while they were loading paving equipment into a work vehicle because “The subjects wore rugged, baggy, layered clothing and had haircuts and other physical features that are indicative of migrant workers from Central America.” In Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo, SCOTUS granted that traits such as perceived ethnicity, language, or cultural markers may be treated as “relevant factors” in forming reasonable suspicion during immigration enforcement stops. This language has already begun to influence how officers justify stops in communities. |
| Federal |
| The New York Times reports how USCIS has been canceling naturalization ceremonies (in some cases plucking people from the line before the ceremony begins) nationwide for individuals from the 19 travel ban countries. People who have already obtained their green cards, passed their civics tests and naturalization interviews, and undergone multiple background checks are being prevented from obtaining citizenship and often left in limbo. “There is no time frame — nobody knows how long this is going to be,” said an immigration lawyer in San Antonio. |
| The Supreme Court has announced it will hear a challenge to President Donald Trump’s order on birthright citizenship. This government will argue that children born in the U.S. to parents who are here either without authorization or with temporary status are not automatically U.S. citizens. Arguments are scheduled for the spring, and a final ruling is anticipated by early summer. |
| A good resource for people: Mobile Pathways’ interactive dashboards lets people explore asylum denial and grant rates by nationality, court venue, and judge, providing critical insights into how immigration cases are decided across the country. The platform draws from a comprehensive database containing nearly 300 million records of immigration data, making it a valuable tool for immigration advocates, attorneys, and policy experts. |
| On Dec. 2, 2025, USCIS issued a memo pausing all benefit adjudications for nationals of the 19 travel ban countries (Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela) pending additional vetting. This pause affects all USCIS forms, including naturalization ceremonies, and applies to individuals with multiple nationalities if any is a named country. USCIS officers must also extensively re-review already approved benefit requests for individuals from these countries who entered the U.S. on or after Jan. 20, 2021, and may also conduct this re-review for those who entered earlier. |
| USCIS updated its policy on Dec. 4, 2025, reducing the maximum validity of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) from five years to 18 months for initial and renewal applications. This change affects certain categories, including refugees, asylees, and those with pending applications for asylum, adjustment of status, or cancellation of removal, and applies to applications pending or filed on or after Dec. 5, 2025. |
| Military lawyers serving as immigration judges issued more removal orders (78%) in November than other judges (63%), according to an analysis by Mobile Pathways. The Justice Department recruited these lawyers to address a backlog of immigration cases, raising concerns about potential violations of the Posse Comitatus Act. |
| New data from the UC Berkeley Deportation Data Project, obtained through a lawsuit against ICE, shows that nearly 75,000 people arrested by ICE in the first nine months of the Trump administration had no criminal histories. This contradicts administration claims that only serious criminals would be targeted. NOTE: The data also does not differentiate between minor and serious crimes for those with criminal records. |
| KFF has put together a great resource where you can see the percent increase in average monthly premium payments for a 60-Year-Old Couple making $85,000 and a 40-Year-Old individual making $32,000 in 2026 for the Benchmark Silver Plan Without Enhanced Subsidies. You can view the impact by congressional district here. |
| The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently signed a $140 million contract to buy six Boeing 737 planes to use for deportations. The move will allow the agency to operate its own fleet thanks to a massive funding increase from Congress. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been relying on charter flights for its deportations. |
| Our friends at NPNA have put together an easy-to-read 2-page document that summarizes the most recent policy changes that impact naturalized-eligible and naturalized citizens. Similarly, our friends at the American Immigration Council have put together a set of talking points for you this holiday season. |
| 21 state attorneys general (including Maine!) filed a lawsuit against the USDA for unlawfully cutting off SNAP benefits for lawful permanent residents. The USDA’s new guidance, issued on October 31, incorrectly classifies several groups of legal immigrants, including refugees and asylum recipients, as permanently ineligible for food assistance, even after obtaining green cards. The coalition argues that this guidance contradicts federal law, misapplies USDA regulations, and places states in an untenable situation. |
Well, you can’t say I didnt leave you without reading material to head into the weekend with!
Before we head off to the weekend and holiday season, I’d like to write this quick note to you: if I don’t get the chance to connect with you before the end of the year, from my family to yours, we wish you a holiday season filled with love, yummy food, and a moment of peace. May the wind be at your back as you head into the year, and thank you for being you!
Best,
Ruben Torres
Advocacy and Policy Manager