DoomsdaysCW<p>Wells residents split on town's decision to pause agreement with ICE</p><p>Brad Rogers,WGME<br>Thu, May 22nd 2025 </p><p>WELLS (WGME) -- "This week, the Wells Police Department decided to freeze its partnership with ICE.</p><p>"The chief says it's in part because of a bill before the state legislature that would ban local police from working directly with ICE.</p><p>"The Wells Police Department is the only known department in Maine to sign a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE.</p><p>"But the police chief says they never intended to arrest immigrants.</p><p>" 'I'd like to reiterate that at no point was there ever any intent on doing proactive immigration enforcement,' Wells Police Chief Jo-Ann Putnam said.</p><p>"The now-frozen agreement set off alarms among Wells residents and seasonal businesses that rely on young people with visas to fill summer jobs, including those from Central and South America.</p><p>"CBS13 spoke with a young Venezuelan woman who is working in Wells on an H-2B visa. She says even though she's here legally, she doesn't like the idea of Wells police working with ICE agents.</p><p>"Neither does Judy Pettinga.</p><p>"The Wells Beach store owner says all this does is frighten foreign workers who are here legally."</p><p>[...]</p><p>"A bill in Augusta would ban local law enforcement from working with ICE.</p><p>"<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ACLU" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ACLU</span></a> of Maine told the judiciary committee, 'The Trump administration is terrorizing immigrants and those perceived to be immigrants, regardless of their legal status.' "</p><p><a href="https://wgme.com/news/local/wells-residents-split-on-towns-decision-to-pause-agreement-with-ice-immigration-customs-enforcement-police-department" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">wgme.com/news/local/wells-resi</span><span class="invisible">dents-split-on-towns-decision-to-pause-agreement-with-ice-immigration-customs-enforcement-police-department</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ResistICE" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ResistICE</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MaineResists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MaineResists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Gestapo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Gestapo</span></a><br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Authoritarianism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Authoritarianism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AuthoritarianRule" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AuthoritarianRule</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ICERaids" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ICERaids</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ICESucks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ICESucks</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/USPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>USPol</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MainePol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MainePol</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MaineNews" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MaineNews</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ImmigrantRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ImmigrantRights</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanRightsViolations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>HumanRightsViolations</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanDecency" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>HumanDecency</span></a></p>