STATEMENT: ICE Shooting in Maine Harms Community Health
July 14, 2026
In February, after a series of disturbing events in Minnesota, Maine Public Health Association (MPHA) issued a statement condemning the aggressive tactics undertaken by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. We interviewed the President of the Minnesota Public Health Association on our podcast, Healthy Maine Talks, and talked about the wide-ranging and harmful impacts to public health from these violent and deadly operations.
Since then, communities across the U.S. have continued to suffer from these aggressive tactics. Yesterday, July 13, here in Maine, a Biddeford man was killed by ICE agents, the second person to have died due to ICE activity in just one week. We join others in calling for a full and impartial investigation into this fatal shooting. We also need to reckon with the long-term, negative ripple effects on community health. The secondary trauma to local residents and people across Maine and the U.S. is palpable and underscores the extensive and avoidable mental and physical health harms associated with ICE operations.
At MPHA, we affirm that the aggressive, intimidating and deadly behavior exhibited by immigration agents is unacceptable. We are seeing the far reaching ripple effects in local communities, including lost social and academic development, reduced economic activity, and growing community anxiety - all of which are harming the public's health.
We affirm that we can have sensible immigration enforcement without the violence and fear that’s come to define ICE operations. As we are seeing community members across the state stand with and support each other, Maine Public Health Association urges our elected officials to support de-escalation in ICE operations across the country, a recommitment to due process, and increased oversight and transparency of ICE operations.
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