Former Maine Governor Paul LePage Criticizes Family Member's Deportation

Paul LePage, a Republican candidate for Maine's 2nd Congressional District, expressed his discontent regarding the deportation of a family member by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Speaking in Augusta after receiving an endorsement from Maine's Fraternal Order of Police, LePage responded to a question from a Portland Press Herald reporter. He stated, "Not everybody that's here is illegal. I have a father, my son's wife's dad is here legally, but he's being deported because he came from a country that's not of the certain liking of some people in Washington. That's not right. He has a work permit. He should be allowed to stay." LePage did not specify the relative's name or country of origin, but he suggested that ICE should focus on gang members and criminals instead. He remarked, "Would I go after everybody that's here that have work permits and have been here for decades? Probably not. I'd probably go for the gang people and the criminals." Additionally, LePage criticized a new state law that limits police cooperation with ICE. His comments follow a year marked by significant immigration enforcement in Maine, including a surge of ICE agents under Operation Catch of the Day, which ended early due to national backlash after two protesters were shot in Minneapolis. Of the nearly 200 individuals detained during this operation, only 11 had criminal convictions, and 68% of those arrested by ICE in the state from January through July had no criminal record. In July, an ICE agent fatally shot 25-year-old Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero during a traffic stop; Duran Guerrero was a Colombian living legally in the U.S. with his wife and young daughter and was not the individual named in the agents' warrant. According to the National Immigration Project, at least 26 individuals had died in immigration detention by September 1 of this year, following 33 deaths in 2025.