Reversing Falls Sanctuary issues list of immigrant assistance orgs
EDITOR’S NOTE: While the actions of ICE agents have thus far been limited to southern Maine, the subject of enforcement activities is being widely discussed in our area, particularly after the shooting by federal officers of a Veterans Administration nurse on Jan. 24 in Minneapolis.
Reversing Falls Sanctuary in Brooksville has released a list of organizations assisting immigrant communities, as well as organizations to contact to report ICE activities.
Readers are advised to conduct their own research into any of the organizations listed below.
From Reversing Falls Sanctuary:
Direct Support:
Maine Needs is an organization that “supports Maine families, newly arrived immigrant families, those fleeing domestic violence, those leaving incarceration, those in recovery, veterans, and those who are unhoused, newly housed or experiencing financial hardship”.
Maine Solidarity Fund is a community defense coalition advocating for Maines immigrant and LGBTQ community. The will help with attorneys and lost wages, but their resources serve as a collective pool to respond rapidly (vs a GoFundMe campaign after the incident occurs).
ACLU Maine is an affiliate of the nationwide ACLU, active in the courts, the legislature and the public sphere to defend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and to extend their promises to all Mainers.
ILAP Maine is Maine’s largest state-wide immigration legal services organization. They have full-time offices in Portland and Lewiston.
Maine Association for New Mainers is an immigrant community wellness support organization. The group assists in food delivery to immigrant families.
Food For All is a nonprofit providing Halal food to immigrant and low-income communities.
Project Relief Maine is a Black immigrant-led mutual aid and racial justice collective that has been defending immigrant families from ICE, providing emergency food and shelter, and funding legal support for those detained.
Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition: is a Maine-based immigrant advocacy coalition of 100+ organizations that pushes for local, state, and national policies that affect Maine’s immigrant community.
Presente works in the community to provide food and material support directly to displaced and dispossessed Afro/Indigenous-Latines in Maine.
Refugee and Human Rights Clinic at Maine School of Law provides direct legal representation and broader advocacy to immigrants and refugees seeking political asylum and similar protections under federal law. Students serve as attorneys assisting low-income immigrants through a broad range of cases and projects. The RHRC trains future attorneys in the field of immigration law, familiarizing them with the legal landscape even before they graduate.
Reversing Falls Sanctuary also suggests the following resources:
Report ICE to the Maine Immigrant Resource Hub + Hotline — Hotline: 207-544-9989.
Become an ICE Hotline Operator — Learn to coordinate ICE verification efforts. The next training is on Feb. 23.
Train to be an ICE Watch Verifier — Learn to safely verify ICE presence and actions in real time. The next training is on Feb. 3 and on the subsequent first Tuesdays of the month.
