Dear MIRC Community,
Welcome to Friday!
Welcome back to our editions of MIRCs Adovcacy Update. For those of you who are new to our newsletter updates, welcome!! We are so excited to have you join us as we navigate through the news that impacts immigration and the different ways it impacts us here in Maine. Our line-ups usually include a fun fact related to the timing of the newsletter or a little note from your humble narrator before diving right into the content. Today’s fun “fact” comes from Curb Your Enthusiasm, where we learn about the statute of limitations on “Happy New Year”. Rumor has it that if you are caught breaking the rule, you will be sentenced to a 5 PM in-person meeting on Fridays.
With that, let’s get on to the MIRC Advocacy Update:
| Local |
| The Bangor City Council shared its top priorities for 2026 in a meeting with state lawmakers on Monday. Key issues identified for the new year were homelessness and housing. |
| The Bangor Daily News also ran a deep dive into the current state of affairs in Aroostook County. This article took a look at unemployment, low wages, and transportation impacts in the county. Interestingly, the article finds that “People living in Aroostook County make about $11,293 a year, less than other Mainers and $24,000 less than workers nationwide. You can also read this article on The County. |
| The work of our friends at Preble Street was highlighted by the Portland Press Herald. In the last year alone, Preble Street served 599 veteran households, 846 people. Read more about the impact Preble Street is having in supporting veterans. |
| Residents of Falmouth: Your town councilors will be hosting a Zoom Coffee Hour on Jan. 22 from 8 to 9 a.m. The one-hour informal dialogues have no set agenda and are an opportunity to discuss whatever is on residents’ minds. |
| As the weather has gotten colder, Warming Shelters have served community members in need of a warm place to go during the winter days. Unfortunately, these services that help our communities aren’t safe from the effects of low staffing. Most recently, the Portland Press Herald wrote about how the recent wave of cold has been impacted by not having enough staff for warming shelters. |
| For Portland residents: Today, January 9, City Hall will be closed to the public for a planned system upgrade of their Tyler Technologies software. Staff will still be working and accessible via phone and email. |
| From our friends at Maine Center for Economic Policy: Whether you’re a policymaker, advocate, reporter, or just someone who cares about Maine’s future, join us for a webinar exploring State of Working Maine 2025. You’ll hear directly from report author James Myall on the data behind Maine’s regional disparities and MECEP’s policy recommendations, and from Mainers with lived experience about what these challenges look like on the ground. Join here: Jan 15, 2026 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Via Zoom |
| Superintendent Audra Beauvais of Maine School Administrative District 60 (which includes Berwick, North Berwick, and Lebanon in York County) announced policy updates and approval regarding student harassment at the Dec. 18 board meeting. This announcement has resulted in “unsettling and concerning” comments appearing on both local social media pages and national platforms. |
| During her State of the Schools address to the City Council, Sarah Lentz highlighted the district’s dedication to its core values amidst the current uncertainties in public education. She pointed to several key initiatives, including measures to prohibit cellphones, address the issue of chronic absenteeism, and train staff to handle the anticipated increase in immigration enforcement activities, as ways of “continuing forward. |
| State |
| Governor Mills announced in an Op-ed that she would let LD1971 become law and, in the same op-ed, announced that her administration was rescinding an Executive Order from the LePage administration that called for enhanced cooperation between state and Federal officials in the enforcement of Federal immigration law. |
| If you need a quick refresher as to what the heck just happened in the last session and some key terms before the Short Session of the 132nd Maine legislature kicks off, you can review MIRCs legislative wrap-up, or take a peek at the vocab list hanging out on our Instagram! For the newspaper readers; The Maine Morning Star, Portland Press Herald, and also put together a guide to help you look back before this session starts. |
| A number of healthcare-related bills are scheduled to be heard this session, covering areas from workforce development to funding and access. The Bangor Daily News put together a preview of what’s coming up in the legislative session. |
| There are also a number of conservation-related bills that will be heard this session. This round-up and the last one on healthcare bills were put together in collaboration between the BDN and Maine Monitor. |
| Maine’s minimum wage increased to $15.10 per hour, including agricultural workers for the first time. The increase is based on the cost-of-living index and will be adjusted annually. |
| If you want to get an idea of what may be talked about during this year’s State of the State address, the Portland Press Herald lays out the context of the governor’s speech. The official announcement of the January 27th address can be found on the governor’s website. |
| Starting this month, Maine will implement tax increases on cigarettes, cannabis, and streaming services. The cigarette tax will rise by $1.50 per pack, while the sales tax on adult-use cannabis will increase from 10% to 14%. Additionally, a 5.5% sales tax will be applied to streaming services like Netflix and Spotify. If you are interested in seeing what laws are being held by the governor, you can see them here. |
| The 2026 legislative session began on Wednesday with Republican and Democratic legislative leaders presenting their primary objectives. In simultaneous press conferences, Democrats highlighted a list of 20 bills they claim will reduce costs for numerous Mainers. Conversely, Republicans centered their focus on demanding accountability and answers regarding alleged fraud. |
| Public hearings are well underway, but up next to bat for their hearing is LD 2051, “An Act to Ensure Access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in Maine.” This bill will have its public hearing on Wednesday Janurary 14th at 1 PM with the Health and Human Services at the Cross Building, Room 209 |
| Federal |
| A federal judge ruled in late December that the Trump administration can resume sharing location data about undocumented immigrants receiving public health benefits with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This ruling allows ICE to use Medicaid data in deportation cases, effective January 6. Attorneys general in 22 states had sued to prevent the data from being used. While undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federal Medicaid programs, some states allow individuals to receive state-funded benefits through their Medicaid implementation programs, regardless of their immigration status. |
| If you weren’t tired of previews, Newsweek took a look at the changes to immigration during the first year of the Trump administration to theorize what lies ahead. It covers good reminders about policy changes that are taking effect this year as well. TPS-specific information is covered in this article |
| 725 organizations signed onto our partners’ PIF comment opposing a new proposal to rescind current regulations concerning the administration of federal immigration law’s “public charge” provision applicable to lawfully present immigrants applying for “green cards.” |
| Our friends at PIF have put together this guidance for families on their rights to food and nutrition programs, the types of programs available, and eligibility requirements. The guide is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. |
| U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, in a memo released Thursday, said it would pause the review of all pending applications for visas, green cards, citizenship, or asylum from immigrants from the 20 additional countries. The memo also outlines plans to re-review applications of immigrants from these countries as far back as 2021. |
| David J. Bier of the Cato Institute analyzed the administration’s expanded immigration bans and found that they affect 1 in 5 legal immigrants, including U.S. citizens’ spouses and children. In raw numbers, they block “400,000 legal immigrants and nearly 1 million tourists, business travelers, international students, foreign workers, and other temporary visitors,” writes Bier. |
| The Immigration Enforcement Dashboard has been updated with ICE detainer data from September 2023 to October 2025, made public through the Deportation Data Project. The dashboard provides an interactive way to analyze detainer data, including variables like gender, age, nationality, and enforcement program. |
| Attorneys are filing habeas corpus cases in federal courts to demand the release of undocumented immigrants, as immigration courts no longer have the authority to conduct bond hearings. |
| By now, you have probably seen the news of the most recent killing of a citizen by an ICE agent in Minnesota. It serves us as a reminder of the 32 people who died while in the custody of ICE and the 14 people who were shot by federal agents. |
| The Chicago Tribune published a deeply reported investigation into Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s “Operation Midway Blitz,” a 64-day enforcement operation that Trump himself characterized online as a military attack on a Democratic city. This piece is essential reading due to the way it documents the human cost of the Trump administration’s on-the-ground enforcement actions, revealing a clear gap between its stated priorities and the actual outcome. |
| On Jan. 2, 2026, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) issued a policy memorandum rescinding and cancelling Policy Memorandum 25-36 regarding the Annual Asylum Fee (AAF) under H.R. 1 following ongoing litigation in ASAP v. USCIS. The new policy memorandum clarifies that the AAF will be waived for asylum applications that were pending for one year or more between July 5, 2025, and Sept. 30, 2025, and that were administratively final as of Sept. 30, 2025. The AAF will apply to applications that have been pending for one year or more as of Oct.1, 2025. Applicants will not be required to pay the AAF until an Immigration Judge (IJ) issues a written order setting a payment deadline with instructions for payment and consequences of nonpayment. EOIR emphasizes that it lacks the authority to require IJs to set a specific deadline. Applicants whose cases are denied for failure to pay the AAF may challenge the decision through a motion to reopen or reconsider, an appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals, or a petition for review in federal court. |
Well, you can’t say I didnt 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 and as we wade into the new year, I leave you with this bit of good news: with the winter solstice happening on December 21st, the days will only get longer and brighter from here on out (or at least until the next solstice)! Hope you get to catch a sunset soon!
Best,
Ruben Torres
Advocacy and Policy Manager