Dear MIRC Community,
Welcome to Friday and to March! Before we say goodbye to February completely, take one last look at it. Did you notice that it fit perfectly on the calendar? In the Gregorian calendar, the phenomenon occurs every six years or eleven years following a 6-11-11, 11-6-11, or an 11-11-6 sequence until the end of the 21st century. The next “perfect month” won’t be until February 2037.
This is also your friendly reminder that our clocks are springing forward on Sunday; and while we gain an extra hour of light and I’m happy that the sun won’t set before 6 PM until the fall, is it really worth the loss of that extra hour of sleep?
With that question in mind, let’s get on to the MIRC Advocacy Update:
| Local |
| The Portland City Council’s Finance Committee hosted a public hearing and final review of the City Manager’s recommended FY27 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) at its Thursday, March 5, meeting. Following the committee process, the CIP budget will be sent to the Portland City Council for consideration and adoption in April. Read the full update to learn more. |
| The Portland Police Department invites community members to join them on Thursday, March 12, 2025, for a Community Q&A and Open House at its headquarters at 109 Middle Street. The Police Chief, Command Staff, and Community Policing Unit will listen, answer questions, discuss public safety, policing in Portland, and share their vision for strengthening community relationships. The evening begins with a Community Q&A from 5:00–6:00 PM, allowing residents to share thoughts, ask questions, and learn about the department’s work and priorities. From 6:00–7:00 PM, the public can attend an Open House and tours, meet officers and staff, learn about different units and services, and get a behind-the-scenes look at the Portland Police Department. |
| Scott Harriman won a special election in Lewiston House District 94 on Tuesday to fill a vacant seat in the Maine House. Harriman (D) defeated Janet Beaudoin (R) by a vote margin of 572 to 503. |
| The Portland Press Herland highlighted the work of the York County Community Action Corporation in helping 84 families secure stable housing in York County. |
| The Bangor Daily News ran a story on the opening day of the Buena Vista Filipino Market. The bustling store is the second to open and has been serving as a hub of Asian foods and snacks. |
| You can also learn more about the Lion Dance history and touch up on your Lunar New Year background in case you weren’t able to catch the celebration held by the Chinese and American Friendship Association of Maine. |
| In case you missed the February edition of Golden Door, an advocacy newsletter from our friends at ILAP, you can make sure you don’t miss the next one by signing up here |
| The annual Portland St. Patrick’s Day parade will take place on Sunday, March 15, this year at 12:00 PM, beginning at the Portland Fish Pier parking lot on the corner of Center Street and Commercial Street. |
| As of February 20, the new Rave Alert system, powered by Smart911, replaced the CodeRed system that had previously been used by Cumberland County. Anyone wishing to continue to receive alerts must subscribe to the new system. Visit their dedicated webpage to sign up, or call 207-893-2810. The new system will alert you with a call, text, or email and provide important instructions when a disaster impacts the area. |
| State |
| Between February 20 and March 5, our Hotline received 839 calls and 34 text messages, with 70 reporting credible sightings of ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) or Border Patrol (CBP) and 14 requesting referrals to services from our Coalition members and partners. These calls continue to come in from across the state, with a lot of the recent attention focusing on the central and northern parts of the state. The biggest example has been CBP’s repeated raids of farmworkers near Skowhegan, where more than 30 people have been arrested in the past month. |
| During the month of February, MIRC testified in support of the following pieces of legislationSupporting progressive revenue streams to fund social programs and In support of civil legal funding in the supplemental budgetIn support of shelter funding In support of prohibiting the disclosure of nonpublic records without proper judicial reviewSupplemental budget hearings have, for the most part, concluded, and our regular hearings continue with most hearings occuring Tuesday and Thursday. |
| Our friends at MCAN have shared their priority legislation; check out their spreadsheet. |
| The Maine Morning Star ran a story highlighting some of the work by MIRC members and partners to address the impacts of the changes in SNAP eligibility and funding. One of the bills highlighted may seem familiar! Additionally, the Speaker is seeking a $250 million investment in health care that would support a wide range of programs facing federal funding losses, from hospitals struggling to stay open to consumers who have seen a sharp increase in insurance costs. |
| Maine is projected to generate even more revenue over the next two years than previously estimated, although the state’s long-term financial growth prospects appear less favorable. Preliminary estimates from the Maine Revenue Forecasting Committee, discussed on Thursday, indicate that Maine’s general fund, primarily composed of taxes and fees, is expected to experience a reduction of approximately $76 million or a 0.3% decrease compared to earlier predictions over the next four years. |
| Upcoming advocacy opportunities at the state level:LD 2176, An Act to Safeguard Personal Information and Strengthen Tenant Rights in Maine, will have its public hearing on March 11, 2026, at 1 PM |
| Federal |
| Bloomberg Law reports a new proposal from the Trump administration would pause work permit applications for asylum seekers when affirmative asylum claims average processing times is more than 180 days. The current rules from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) require asylum seekers to wait at least 150 days before applying for work permits after they start their asylum claim. The new proposal would also extend this waiting period to 365 days. You can read the comment and submit your comments on the Federal Register website (Advocacy Alert forthcoming!)1-page summary of proposed rule5 things to know about a new proposed work permit ruleExplainer: Asylum Work Authorization Rulemaking |
| Sharing a joint resource from FRAC & ATF on how HR 1 harmed families who rely on SNAP and food assistance, and comparing how Billionaires and Big Corporations are getting more while working people get less |
| The Trump administration is considering a possible executive order or other action that would require banks to collect citizenship information from their customers, as a potential expansion of existing know your customer (KYC) rules, which currently require banks to collect a customer’s name, date of birth, and home address to help prevent money laundering and other financial crimes. The potential action could require banks to collect new categories of documentation, such as passports, from new customers, and, if retroactive, to solicit documentation from current account holders as well. REAL IDs, which do not prove citizenship, would not satisfy the requirement. |
| President Trump removed Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on March 5, the day after she completed two days of contentious congressional testimony. Trump announced he would nominate sitting Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma) as Noem’s replacement. |
| The DOJ issued an interim final rule that overhauls the BIA administrative appellate process, making appeals of immigration judge decisions discretionary, allowing the Board to summarily dismiss most cases unless a majority of members vote to hear them, and reducing the appeal filing deadline from 30 to 10 days, among other changes, to expedite adjudications and address the BIA’s backlog. The administration is currently accepting public comments on the rule until March 9, 2026, the date the rule goes into effect. Comments can be submitted here. |
| HUD published a proposed rule in the FRN to enforce stricter verification of U.S. citizenship or eligible immigration status for all residents in HUD‑funded housing programs, including public housing and rental assistance. Under the proposal, a household would only qualify for federal housing aid if every family member can prove eligible status, effectively barring mixed‑status families from receiving assistance. The proposed rule is open to public comments until April 21, 2026. Comments can be submitted here. Please review the statement by the National Housing Law Project and Protecting Immigrant Families. |
| Government records confirm that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cut its training program for new recruits dramatically as hiring increased, reports Sarah Blaskey of The Washington Post. |
| Approved asylum cases dropped sharply during the first year of the Trump administration’s expanded deportation initiatives, reports Andrea Castillo of the Los Angeles Times. Just in January, fewer than 3% of cases were approved, compared with 18% in 2025, according to an analysis of federal immigration data. What’s more concerning is that around 20% of those seeking asylum missed their hearings in January compared to 10% the previous year. |
| SOCUTS ruled unanimously that asylum applicants can appeal denials by immigration judges after a question was presented in Urias-Orellana et al v Bondi regarding whether those determinations are administrative factual findings requiring deference from courts of review. |
| DHS funding shutdown enters its fourth week. Negotiations remain deadlocked over Democratic demands to include restrictions on ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as a condition of any funding bill. Democrats have continued to offer funding for all other DHS components through September 30, while Republicans have pushed for a clean funding bill. |
| On February 27, Senator Ed Markey (MA) announced the Senate introduction of the Securing Help for Immigrants through Education and Legal Development (SHIELD) Act, a bill that would establish a $100 million federal grant program to strengthen legal representation for immigrants and uphold due process nationally. |
| A recent article from PolitiFact looked at President Trump’s enacted policies that have significantly restricted legal immigration. These policies include ending humanitarian parole programs, implementing travel bans, and dismantling the U.S. refugee program. Critics argue these actions will lead to the largest restriction in legal immigration since the 1920s. |
| A recent analysis of government records has found that the vast majority (77%) of people who entered deportation proceedings for the first time in 2025 had no criminal conviction. The data also showed that fewer than half (40%) of the people in the data had any criminal charge, and only 23% had a conviction. Of those convicted, nearly half were for non-violent traffic and immigration offenses. Traffic offenses alone accounted for nearly 30% of convictions, the largest category. Assault convictions made up 9%, sexual assault convictions 1%, and homicide convictions 0.5%. |
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,
Ruben Torres
Advocacy and Policy Manager