Court records raise doubts that ICE is detaining the ‘worst of the worst’ in Maine

PORTLAND, Maine– Immigration and Customs Enforcement highlighted the detention of people it called Maine’s most dangerous criminals in operations last week, but court records paint a more complex picture.

Federal officials say more than 100 people have been arrested across the state in what ICE has dubbed “Operation Catch of the Day,” a reference to the fishing industry. ICE said in a statement that it arrests “the worst of the worst,” including “child molesters and hostage takers.”

Court records show some were violent criminals. But they also show other detainees whose immigration cases remain unresolved or who were arrested but never convicted of a crime.

Immigration attorneys and local officials say similar concerns have surfaced in other cities where ICE has conducted enforcement operations and many of those targeted did not have criminal records.

One case highlighted by ICE that involves serious offenses and criminal convictions is that of Dominic Ali, originally from Sudan. ICE said Ali was convicted of false imprisonment, aggravated assault, battery, obstruction of justice and violation of a protection order.

Court records show Ali was convicted in 2004 of violating a protection order and in 2008 of second-degree assault, false imprisonment and hindering the reporting of a crime. In the latter case, prosecutors said he threw his girlfriend to the floor of his New Hampshire apartment, kicked her and broke her collarbone.

“His conduct amounted to nothing less than torture,” Judge James Barry said in 2009 before sentencing Ali to five to 10 years in prison.

Ali was later paroled into ICE custody, and in 2013 an immigration judge ordered him deported. No further information was available from the Executive Office for Immigration Review, and it remains unclear what happened after this order.

Other cases were more nuanced, like that of Elmara Correia, from Angola, who ICE highlighted in its public promotion of the operation, saying she had been “previously arrested for endangering the welfare of a child.”

Maine court records show that a person with that name was charged in 2023 with violating a law relating to learner’s permits for new drivers, a case that was later dismissed.

Correia filed a motion Wednesday challenging her detention, and a judge issued a temporary emergency order barring authorities from transferring her from Massachusetts, where she is being held. Her lawyer said she entered the United States legally on a student visa about eight years ago and was never subject to expedited deportation proceedings.

“Was she found not guilty, or are we just going to trust that she was arrested?” Portland Mayor Mark Dion said at a news conference in which he raised concerns that ICE had failed to distinguish between arrests and convictions or explain whether sentences had been served.

Dion also highlighted another person named in the release: Dany Lopez-Cortez, who ICE says is a “criminal illegal alien” from Guatemala who was convicted of operating under the influence.

ICE highlighted Lopez-Cortez’s case among a small group of examples that it said reflected the types of arrests made during the operation. Dion questioned whether a conviction for driving under the influence, a serious but common offense in Maine, should rise to the level of ICE’s “worst of the worst” public narrative.

Boston immigration attorney Caitlyn Burgess said her office filed habeas petitions Thursday on behalf of four clients detained in Maine and transferred to Massachusetts.

The most serious charge they faced was driving without a license, Burgess said, and all had pending trials or applications in immigration court.

“Habeas petitions are often the only tool available to stop rapid transfers that cut off access to counsel and disrupt ongoing immigration proceedings,” she said.

Attorney Samantha McHugh said she filed five habeas petitions on behalf of Maine inmates Thursday and plans to file three more soon.

“None of these people have any criminal records,” said McHugh, who represents a total of eight inmates. “They were simply at work, eating lunch, when unmarked vehicles arrived and immigration officers entered private property to arrest them.”

Federal court records show that immigration cases involving criminal convictions can remain unresolved or be revisited years later.

Another person whose mugshot was included in documents about “the worst of the worst” of people detained in Maine is Ambessa Berhe.

Berhe was convicted of possession of cocaine and assault on a police officer in 1996 and possession of cocaine in 2003.

In 2006, a federal appeals court in Boston overturned a deportation order against him and sent the case back to the Board of Immigration Appeals for further review.

According to the judgment, Berhe was born in Ethiopia and was later taken to Sudan by his adoptive parents. The family was admitted to the United States as refugees in 1987, when he was about 9 years old.

ICE said the operation targets about 1,400 immigrants in a state with about 1.4 million residents, about 4 percent of whom are foreign-born.

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Associated Press reporter Rodrique Ngowi contributed.