An official in Maine said Wednesday that she turned down a request for more undercover license plates for US Customs and Border Protection vehicles, citing "abuses of power" in Minnesota and elsewhere during the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operation. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, said she won't grant a request for confidential license plates sought by the agency, the AP reports. "We have not revoked existing plates but have paused issuance of new plates. We want to be assured that Maine plates will not be used for lawless purposes," Bellows said.
"If you are pulled over with blue lights, you want to be able to see that license plate links back to a recognized law enforcement agency," Bellows added, per WABI. Portland Public Schools, the largest and most diverse district in Maine, said it kept the doors locked at two schools for a few minutes Tuesday because of concerns about activity by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "This is an understandably tense time in our community, as reports and rumors of immigration enforcement actions grow," the district said.
Greg Bovino of the Border Patrol, who has commanded the Trump administration's big-city immigration enforcement, said more than 10,000 people in the US illegally have been arrested in Minnesota in the past year, including 3,000 "of some of the most dangerous offenders" in the past six weeks. Bovino defended his "troops" and said their actions are "legal, ethical and moral." Julia Decker, policy director at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, said advocates have no way of knowing whether the government's arrest numbers and descriptions of the people in custody are accurate.
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