The rich residents of the Maine Resort Town were worried about losing access to a cheap illegal workforce
A handful of demonstrators took a recurring position outside the Wells police service, denouncing the Lone-Wolf partnership in the small town of Maine with immigration and customs application (ICE).
The demonstrators line up route 1 with panels aimed at passing traffic, organizing regular demonstrations against what they call a betrayal of local values, the New York Times reported on Monday. Wells triggered a backlash in March when he became the only Police Service in Maine to officially associate with Ice. (Related: Casey Ryan: Maine intervened in its time)
#Maine #Mepolitics
Wells Maine Ice “resistance” crew – 7/21/25The retirees hit the sidewalks with panels coarsely made from display panels and Walgreens markers. “Say no to the ice” and “Resist” were the most common slogans of this Freedom Fighter movement…. pic.twitter.com/mi21ih7ig3
– Theunquirer (@unquirer) July 21, 2025
The agreement allows local officers to help the federal immigration application – the authority generally reserved for ice agents – in the seaside city of approximately 12,000.
Police chief Jo-Ann Putnam, defended the move as a “tool in their toolbox” and said that he offers “a safer way of dealing with designated criminal foreigners”, according to Times. She has also noted that Wells is already one of the safest cities in Maine.
Putnam signed the agreement with ice on March 28. The Aclu of the Maine paraded the agreement as an “invitation open to the members of the community in racially profile”.
The city, where the average home flows approximately $ 575,000, according to Realtor.com, is better known for its beaches than for crime.
Wells has a median household income of around $ 83,900 and a median age of around 52 years, according to the census. The demonstrations began in April and have since become a weekly element – partly motivated by concerns concerning the dependence of the city with regard to foreign workers at staff, restaurants and other seasonal businesses, Times reported.
Walkers holding orange ribbons are signaled to prison prisoners as the Strafford County detention center, where ice prisoners are detained on August 24, 2019 during the New Hampshire Immigrant Solidarity Walk for Justice organized by Granite State and the New Hampshire Council of Churches. (Photo of Joseph Prezioso / AFP via Getty Images)
Police said they had adopted a cautious approach and has not participated in any ice operation to date.
However, tensions persist on the way in which the agreement could shape the image of the city among tourists and international workers. (Related: Trump says that farmers are “ badly injured ” by applying immigration)
“No ice in our community,” read a sign run by local resident Daria Cullen. Another said: “Fight ignorance, not immigrants”.
American federal agents working for immigration and customs application (ICE) hold immigrants and asylum seekers reporting immigration court procedures to the US Immigration Court of Jacob K. Javits in New York, Thursday, July 24, 2025. (Photo by Dominic Gwinn / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty
Passing drivers have mainly shown support, depending on the point of sale – horny and waving – but some expressed their anger, overthrowing demonstrators while they passed.
The counterpoup aroused concerns of business leaders. Patrick Woodcock, CEO of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, warned that the ICE partnership could scare foreign workers at a time when the state economy is already fragile. Maine’s GDP decreased 1.2% in the first quarter, he said, making it the slowest economy in the northeast. (Related: Susan Collins’ approval rating at record level: survey)
“We have to make sure that those who are allowed to work feel well received,” Woodcock told Times.
