Newly released data from the Deportation Data Project, a University of California-based group of researchers and lawyers that aggregates and publishes federal immigration data obtained through Freedom of Information Act lawsuits, provides insights into who was arrested in Maine during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge in January.
ICE arrested 190 people over a five-day period in late January. Only 6% had criminal convictions. About 14% had pending criminal charges, while the remaining 80% had neither criminal charges nor convictions.
It confirms what many immigration lawyers, local officials, and family members of those detained said while the operation was under way.
A little less than half of the arrests during the surge are categorized as "targeted" while the majority fall under "collateral," but the data set does not include an explanation of what those terms mean in this context.
The data also indicate that 37 people arrested during the surge have since been deported or have voluntarily left the country.
Since January, ICE's average daily arrest rate has fallen roughly back in line with pre-surge levels. But those levels remain elevated compared to 2024, before the second Trump administration began.
