I edited this post to remove references to January’s general membership meeting after learning the meeting will actually take place next Saturday, 01/24/2026. See this update for more information.
The union mailed contract surveys this week. Many of these surveys were sent to addresses in Lewiston and Portland. News broke Wednesday night that ICE will begin operations in these cities as soon as next week.1 It was not very long ago that border patrol nabbed IAM member Maximo Londonio. I warned you could be next. Now, the federal government appears intent on targeting Mainers. Watch what the Governor had to say about this:
Lewiston ranks among the top ten safest cities in the United States. Portland ranks among the top twenty-five.2 At the state level, Maine ranks third for least violent crime in the nation.3 There is no reason to target Maine, just like there was no real reason to target Londonio. None of this matters to ICE. Being an upstanding member of his community with legal status did not stop immigration authorities from holding Londonio in detention for two months. He was held in solitary confinement for one of those months. “I was an animal put in this little hole,” Londonio told the media after his release.4 Stories like this have only become more common in the six months since Londonio returned to his family. At the same time, citizenship status has become less relevant to ICE operations.5 Local S6 may get lucky, but it will not shock me if one of our members is caught up in this nightmare, too. Watch your backs next week. Look out for your neighbors. And please, brothers and sisters, stay safe.
In Maine News
ICE operations
Right to repair bill
Venezuela war powers Senate votes
Bangor Daily News: 2 state road workers die after minivan hits them in I-95 construction zone
Maine Morning Star: Confusion over cannabis petition underscores constitutional ‘right to lie’
Maine Public: Finding affordable homes to own or rent is top challenge for Mainers, report says
Maine Public: Kennebec dams removal faces opposition from business groups, politicians
In National News
Corporation for Public Broadcasting dissolved, press freedom
- Al Jazeera: FBI conducts raid on Washington Post reporter’s home, seizes electronics
- AP: Corporation for Public Broadcasting votes itself out of existence
- The Guardian: Corporation for Public Broadcasting formally dissolves after federal funding cuts
- The Guardian: How independent journalism is a form of resistance
Economy
- AP: China’s trade surplus surges 20% to a record $1.2 trillion, even with Trump’s tariffs
- AP: Federal Reserve Chair Powell says DOJ has subpoenaed central bank, threatens criminal indictment
- Forbes: The U.S.-born unemployment rate rose after Trump reduced immigration
- NPR: Hiring slows in December to end the weakest year of job growth since the pandemic
- Reuters: US factory headcount falling despite Trump’s promised manufacturing boom
ICE shootings, protests
- 404 Media: The Palantir app ICE uses to find neighborhoods to raid
- AP: Trump threatens to use the Insurrection Act to end protests in Minneapolis
- BBC: Federal agent shoots Minneapolis man in leg after shovel attack, officials say
- CBS News: Mass exodus hits Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division amid lack of action in Minneapolis, sources say
- The Hill: Another shooting involving federal officer in Minneapolis sparks new protests
- Jacobin: ICE is on a violent, illegal, immoral rampage [Branko Marcetic]
- Los Angeles Times: Anti-ICE protester blinded by federal agent during demonstration in Santa Ana, family says
- Mother Jones: This is what ICE descending on Minneapolis looks like
- MPR News: Judge frees couple charged with ‘kidnapping’ immigration agent as defense challenges government’s account
- NPR: New video shows fatal Minnesota ICE shooting from officer’s perspective
- PEOPLE: Minneapolis ICE shooter told longtime neighbor he was a botanist
- People’s World: Labor unions condemn ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good
- ProPublica: We found more than 40 cases of immigration agents using banned chokeholds and other moves that can cut off breathing [Nicole Foy]
- Slate: You’ve heard about who ICE is recruiting. The truth is far worse. I’m the proof [Laura Jedeed]
Labor
Waste, fraud, and abuse
Venezuela
- AP: Trump ‘inclined’ to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after CEO response at White House meeting
- BBC: Trump seeks $100bn for Venezuela oil, but Exxon boss says country ‘uninvestable’
- The Guardian: María Corina Machado presents Trump with her Nobel peace prize medal
- New York Times: U.S. attacked boat with aircraft that looked like a civilian plane
- NPR: Senate Republicans block Venezuela war powers resolution
Ars Technica: Trump violated Fifth Amendment by ending energy grants in only blue states
Axios: Trump has been texting with Mamdani
The Nation: Despite themselves, Democrats look well positioned for the midterms
Politico: Denmark, Greenland failed to win the Trump team over
Did I miss something? Share what you’re reading with me, and I’ll try to include it next Friday!
- Marisa Kabas, “ICE is headed to Maine,” The Handbasket (2026, January 14). ↩︎
- Lewiston ranks 9th overall. Portland ranks 22nd overall. For comparison, Minneapolis ranks 116th overall. For home and community safety, Lewiston ranks 63rd, Portland ranks 58th, and Minneapolis ranks 129th. For more details, see: Adam McCann, “Safest Cities in America (2026),” WalletHub (2025, October 20). ↩︎
- World Population Review, “Crime Rate by State 2026,” accessed January 15, 2026. ↩︎
- Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks, “ICE releases Washington green-card holder after nearly 2 months,” The Seattle Times (2025, July 18). ↩︎
- Nicole Foy, “We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days,” ProPublica (2025, October 16). ↩︎
From The Deckplates 