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Introduction

LD 1971, “An Act to Protect Workers in This State by Clarifying the Relationship Between State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies and Federal Immigration Authorities,” takes effect in mid-July 2026 (specifically, 90 days after the current legislative session adjourns). It is a law that limits state and local law enforcement from assisting or supporting federal immigration authorities with detentions or investigations. It bans holding individuals solely on the basis of immigration detainers and restricts the sharing of certain information.

The bill passed the Legislature by a single vote in June 2025 before being held by Governor Mills until January 11, 2026, when she allowed it to become law without her signature. It is codified as 5 M.R.S. c. 337-E. Simultaneously, Governor Mills repealed a 2011 executive order that had encouraged increased cooperation between state and federal officials on immigration.

Despite the future effective date, the Department of Public Safety and the State Police issued a directive on December 22, 2025, requiring the State Police and other DPS law enforcement agencies to comply with the law’s policies immediately, effectively ending referrals of immigration-only status cases to U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and/or U.S. Border Patrol (BP). This operational change is seen as having little impact on the relationship with federal partners, on how Maine law enforcement responds to incidents involving officer safety, and on criminal investigations and intelligence sharing on non-immigration matters.

Key Provisions

• Prohibitions: State, county, and local officers are generally barred from investigating, detaining, or arresting individuals solely for civil immigration enforcement purposes.
• Hold Requests: Law enforcement cannot use personnel or funds to detain someone beyond their scheduled release date solely based on a non-mandatory “hold request” or detainer from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
• Information Sharing: Agencies are prohibited from sharing personal information or release dates with immigration authorities unless compelled by a court order or criminal warrant.
• Mandatory Consent: Custodial agencies must secure written consent from inmates prior to permitting voluntary interviews with immigration authorities.
• Exceptions: Local agencies can still work with federal partners on criminal investigations involving serious crimes like human trafficking, drug trafficking, or terrorism.

2025 P.L. c. 517 (LD 1971)– Codified as 5 M.R.S. c. 337-E

§4762 Activities unaffected – The law does not prohibit:

1. A law enforcement agency from sending to or requesting or receiving from an immigration authority information regarding the immigration status of a person or maintaining or exchanging that information with any other federal, state, or local governmental entity under 8 United States Code, Section 1373 or 1644. [These are federal laws that prohibit state and local governments from restricting voluntary communication with federal immigration authorities (ICE/DHS) about an individual’s citizenship or immigration status. These laws are designed to stop “sanctuary” policies from limiting information sharing, although they do not require active assistance in enforcement.]
2. A law enforcement agency from investigating, lawfully detaining, executing a criminal warrant or taking other action against a person pursuant to state criminal law or federal law as provided in section 4763, subsection 2 below.

§4763 Prohibited activities

1. A law enforcement agency may not:

A. Except as provided in subsection 2 below, use agency or department money or personnel to investigate, interrogate, detain, detect, stop, arrest, or search a person for immigration enforcement purposes,       including:

• (1) Inquiring into a person’s immigration status;
• (2) Detaining a person solely on the basis of a hold request [A “hold request” means a request issued by an immigration authority to a law enforcement agency, including an immigration detainer, that the agency maintain custody of a person in the agency’s custody beyond the time the person would otherwise be eligible for release in order to facilitate transfer to the immigration authority.];
• (3) Providing to immigration authorities information regarding the person’s release date unless that information is available to the public [An “immigration authority” means a federal, state, or local officer, employee, or other person performing immigration enforcement functions, including the Department of Homeland Security.];
• (4) Providing to immigration authorities personal information about the person, including the person’s home address or work address;
• (5)  Making or intentionally participating in an arrest based upon a hold request;
• (6) Assisting immigration authorities in activities described in 8 United States Code, Section 1357(a)(3) [This law authorizes immigration officers to board and search vessels, railway cars, aircraft, and vehicles for illegal immigrants within a reasonable distance from any external U.S. boundary. It also allows access to private lands, excluding dwellings, within 25 miles of the border for patrolling purposes.]; or
• (7)  Performing the functions of an immigration authority;

B. Place a law enforcement officer under the supervision of a federal agency or employ a law enforcement officer deputized as a special federal officer or special federal deputy for immigration enforcement;

C. Use an agent or employee of an immigration authority as an interpreter for local law enforcement agency matters regarding a person in the law enforcement agency’s custody; or

D. Transfer a person to an immigration authority unless authorized by a court order or criminal warrant.

With the exception of willful or wanton misconduct, a law enforcement agency that acts in good faith compliance with this section in releasing a person subject to a hold request is immune from civil or criminal liability as a result of making the release.

2. Permitted activities. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 1, if an activity does not violate a policy of the law enforcement agency or a state or local law or policy of the jurisdiction in which the agency is operating, a law enforcement agency may:

A. Investigate, take enforcement action against, or detain a person upon reasonable suspicion of or arrest a person for a violation of 8 United States Code, Section 1326 that may be subject to the enhancement specified under 8 United States Code, Section 1326(b)(2), and that is detected during an unrelated law enforcement activity. [This is the federal statute that criminalizes illegal reentry into the United States by an individual who has been previously deported, removed, or denied admission.] A transfer to an immigration authority under this paragraph is permitted only if authorized by a court order or criminal warrant;

B. Respond to a request from an immigration authority for information about a specific person’s criminal history, including a previous criminal arrest or conviction or similar public criminal history record information accessed under Title 16, chapter 7, when otherwise permitted by state law;

C. Conduct enforcement or investigative duties associated with a joint law enforcement task force, including the execution of a warrant or sharing of confidential information with a federal law enforcement agency or another law enforcement agency, for the purpose of a task force investigation, if:

• (1)  The primary purpose of the joint law enforcement task force is not immigration enforcement;
• (2)  The enforcement or investigative duties are primarily related to a violation of state or federal law, including but not limited to terrorism, drug trafficking, or human trafficking; and
• (3)  Participation in the task force by the law enforcement agency does not violate any state or local law or policy to which the agency is subject;

D. Make an inquiry into information necessary to certify an individual identified as a potential crime or trafficking victim for a visa pursuant to 8 United States Code, Section 1101(a)(15)(T) or 1101(a)(15)(U) or to comply with 18 United States Code, Section 922(d)(5); or

• [8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(T) defines the “T-nonimmigrant status ” (T visa). This classification is for victims of a “severe form of trafficking in persons” who are in the United States, American Samoa, or at a port of entry due to trafficking, and who comply with reasonable requests for assistance from law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of traffickers.
• 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(U) defines the “U-Nonimmigration Status” (U visa). It provides temporary legal status and work authorization to victims of specific qualifying criminal activities—such as human trafficking, domestic violence, or sexual assault—who suffer substantial abuse and assist law enforcement in investigation or prosecution.]
• 18 U.S.C. § 922(d)(5) makes it unlawful for any person to sell or dispose of firearms or ammunition to anyone they know or have reasonable cause to believe is an illegal alien, a nonimmigrant alien, or someone who does not reside in the state where the transfer occurs.]

E. Give an immigration authority access to interview an individual in the custody of the agency, as long as the immigration authority’s interview request is supported by a valid court order.

§4764. Duties of custodial law enforcement agencies. A law enforcement agency shall, for an inmate in the agency’s custody:

1. In advance of an interview between the inmate and an immigration authority regarding a civil immigration violation, provide the inmate with a written consent form that explains the purpose of the interview, that the interview is voluntary, and that the inmate may decline the interview or be interviewed only with the inmate’s attorney present. The consent form must be written in the primary language of the inmate and read to the inmate by a person who is not an immigration authority. This paragraph does not establish a right of counsel that otherwise does not exist in law; and
2. Notice of hold request. Upon receiving a hold request, provide a copy of the request to the inmate and inform the inmate that the law enforcement agency is prohibited under section 4763 from detaining an inmate based solely on the hold request.

§4765. Records

A law enforcement agency shall make reasonable efforts to retain for a period of four (4) years a copy of a hold request and any other request, along with any accompanying information or documentation provided by an immigration authority, and information on the inmate subject to the hold request.