SCARBOROUGH, Maine (AP) - Lawmakers led by Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree are asking the federal government to delay the start of operations at a planned U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.
Pingree wrote a letter Monday urging the General Administration Services to reconsider the decision to lease a building in Scarborough for an office that would temporarily hold detainees suspected of immigration violations.
Immigration authorities will process, fingerprint and detain people suspected of violating the terms of their immigration status at the holding facility, according to documents obtained by the Bangor Daily News.
The lawmakers, led by Pingree, are pushing for more transparency. They have warned that the facility would negatively affect the local area, and that it would be bad for the facility to share space with a veterans health agency.
An ICE spokesman declined comment Wednesday.
A lease between the Department of Homeland Security and Maine Realty Advisors was signed in April 2019, according to a spokesperson for the General Services Administration, the agency that manages real estate for the government.
Pingree also asked that ICE conduct public meetings in Scarborough and present its plans for the facility to “the local community and stakeholders.”
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