Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills wrote to the state’s congressional delegation on Wednesday, pushing for ICE “to be fundamentally reformed,” after federal agents shot and killed a man in Biddeford on Monday.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told Semafor the letter was “strange” because the White House already offered those reforms to Democrats in talks to end the shutdown earlier this year.
“The irony is that it is the Democrats who walked away from additional safeguards,” Collins said, including $100 million more for body cameras, requirements for visible identification numbers for officers, and bans on ICE action in sensitive locations.
“It’s unfortunate that they wouldn’t take yes for an answer. But that was the Democrats’ choice.”
What’s more, President Donald Trump overturned the department’s decision to pause ICE traffic stops just 24 hours after an internal memo advised agents of the change, according to a White House official.