Maine Is Becoming the Next Minnesota in Its War on ICE
Maine is actively adopting the same structural and rhetorical choices that turned Minnesota into a national cautionary tale.
Maine is now exhibiting the same early-stage warning signs that preceded Minnesota’s rapid descent into open conflict with federal immigration enforcement. What began in Minnesota as rhetoric and “resistance” language from elected officials quickly escalated into coordinated obstruction, organized street confrontations, lawsuits against the federal government, and ultimately violence against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Maine’s trajectory, driven by policy decisions and internal directives from the Secretary of State’s office, closely mirrors that same path.
The flashpoint in Maine centers on Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who abruptly revoked confidential license plates used by undercover federal law enforcement vehicles. These plates are a long-standing safety measure designed to prevent agents from being identified, tracked, or targeted while conducting sensitive operations. Federal officials were notified of the change without prior consultation, prompting immediate concern from multiple agencies.
Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Ryan Guay confirmed the scope of the disruption:
“I have received several inquiries from other federal law enforcement agencies that are now facing the same issue when they are trying to renew their undercover vehicle registrations.”
The longer statement was released on Twitter/X:
New: In advance of a rumored ICE surge into Maine, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is taking steps to expose the locations of federal law enforcement.
Fed agencies, eg U.S. Marshal’s Service, have been informed that their license plates will no longer be confidential. pic.twitter.com/97e7cQ4oE4
— Steve Robinson (@SteveRob) January 17, 2026
Even more alarming was what happened the same day the confidential plates were revoked. Bellows issued an internal email instructing state employees to actively monitor ICE activity and report it directly to her office, not only inside government buildings, but in the surrounding areas as well:
“If you see ICE in the area in which you are working, please report that right away.”
The email effectively transforms taxpayer-funded state employees into a surveillance apparatus aimed at federal law enforcement. This is not passive non-cooperation; it is active intelligence gathering against ICE, precisely the environment that allowed Minnesota activist networks to flourish.
Legal Insurrection documented how similar rhetoric and signaling from Minnesota officials emboldened activists to interfere physically with ICE operations, culminating in organized efforts to identify agents, block enforcement actions, and “de-arrest” detainees:
“What the Renee Good case ultimately revealed is a well-worn strategy: delegitimize law enforcement, distort the facts, and inflame public emotion before the truth has any chance to surface.”
That atmosphere did not remain theoretical. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz publicly urged residents to film ICE agents, compile databases of alleged “atrocities,” and engage in what he openly described as “resistance.” The result was a predictable escalation.
As Legal Insurrection warned at the time:
“Incendiary rhetoric like this is exactly why agents are being harassed and assaulted.”
Once tensions boiled over, Minnesota officials responded not by de-escalating, but by suing the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to halt ICE operations entirely, effectively asserting state veto power over federal law enforcement:
“You don’t get to veto enforcement of federal law.”
Maine has not yet reached that stage. But the sequence is unmistakable: unmask federal agents, mobilize state employees to monitor ICE, legitimize resistance, then feign surprise when confrontations and instability follow. Minnesota’s experience shows that once this process begins, it accelerates rapidly and rarely ends well.
The lesson is clear. Maine is no longer merely flirting with sanctuary politics. It is actively adopting the same structural and rhetorical choices that turned Minnesota into a national cautionary tale. If state leaders continue down this road, Maine may soon discover, too late, that becoming “the next Minnesota” comes with consequences they can no longer control.
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Comments
We are witnessing the dissolution of the United States.
What we are witnessing are the consequences of an entropic society…the result of two dominant cultures at odds with each other.
We are not a nation divided by politics, we are a nation divided by culture. Politics are incidental.
And despite the right-wing yammering about secession for the past 15 years (and doing *-all about it), the left has now snatched up the banner.
Trade Maine for Greenland.
They won’t be the last
Illinois
Colorado
Washington
California
On and on
What is in with states that start with M.,
Minnesota, Michigan, and now Maine
Which M state is next? Missouri maybe?
Maryland won’t be far behind!
Or Massachusetts
who do you think infected Maine.
fking massholes.
A lot of people from Jersey, I live here, and have been seeing a lot of Jersey plates the last few years, they come and stay, and never bother to swap their plates out, just keep the old ones.
I don’t know how I could forget MA seeing as I live here. Total despair I imagine.
Unless and until the DOJ / Bondi and the President bring the hammer it will continue until agents are shot on sight by these insurrectionists. Not acting to hold these State politicians accountable for their lawless actions only feeds this insurrection.
Trump lacks the ball,…he is all talk and no action
because enslaving people was never just a “southern thing” as the uppity northerns wanted the kids to believe
and by removing criminals from the general population allows people to be free…the lefty objects to that
you know whats next
These liberal states better remember the Constitution giving the feds power was excepted by them to become a state.
Well, no. The original 13 colonies legitimized the federal government, not the other way around. After that, the additional states had to swear fealty to the federal government, but the original 13 had veto power over joining or not.
The Marxists are trying to start Civil War II
What do you mean “trying”? They’ve already begun.
So, when do the good guys fight back?
when the jobs go away and/or the true workers are replaced by dei types and a guy cant feed his family
by then of course..you’re miles behind the game
check this out from local rag Bangor Daily News, approx largest paper in state.
https://www.bangordailynews.com/2026/01/17/mainefocus/mainefocus-police-courts/help-us-report-on-ice-operations-maine-joam40zk0w/
Our job is to provide the public with accurate, fair and detailed information about the major things happening in Maine communities.
blah blah blah
I thought the Portland Press Herald was the largest paper in the State. I could be wrong on that though.
However rabidly far to the left you might think southeast Maine is I can guaran-bleeping-tee that you are off by 2x.
Something wicked this way comes.
It’s 2025-26 and America is witnessing a domestic color revolution: a orchestrated campaign of mass protests, media manipulation, and institutional disruption aimed at undermining the legitimately elected Trump administration and his policy agenda.
This isn’t organic dissent but a calculated effort by leftist networks, funded by billionaire donors and amplified by NGOs, to de-legitimize the government and force regime change from within.
This is why it is vitally important to expose the sources of money and guidance behind these “protests” that are being carried out by the mush brained true believers.
Unfortunately, the movement to destabilize and “ fundamentally change” our society has a very large and effective voice.
The normies need to up their communication quotient and reach the everyday people who actually are this country or the noisy Antifas, AWFULS and other whack jobs will prevail
We have to keep in mind proportions when talking about anti-ICE THUGS. It has already been proven that this is an organized group funded and controlled by unknown people. Throw in the one sided msm’s reporting and these groups look huge. They’re not and when the paid are removed that leaves only a few AWFLs. The worst thing Trump can do is to let this matastsize into other states and appear much larger than it is. He needs to crush it now!
you’re not wrong
They are not unknown, they have been researched and there is a list of the people and organizations that are funding them. You can do an online search and just punch in Who is funding the anti ice /no kings protests and see what you get. That will tell you quite a bit
We’ve entered a Nullification crisis with these lunatic blue State/City leadership who seem to believe they can do more to ‘resist’ enforcing Federal immigration law than to merely not cooperate. They are stepping over the line from passive non cooperation into active and coordinated efforts to oppose, interfere, track, stalk, harass Federal Agents.
When I see young men holding up their iPhones to record ICE agents I am sickened to my core. They look more effeminate than hairdressers giving the limp wrist.
Leftists, Dhimmi-crats, “progressives,” “liberals,” “democratic socialists,” neo-communists, Islamofascists and Muslim supremacists are a cancer and a blight, wherever they rear their ugly, stupid and evil heads.
We visited Maine for the first time this summer. I was shocked by the dichotomy of wealthy enclaves along the coast while the interior looked like Appalachia-north.
It is curious to note that the Chinese have effectively taken over the interior of the state with illegal marijuana grows. We visited a “winery” one day that was nothing more than a vineyard in front and huge commercial pot grow hidden by a strategic row of trees.
Such a shame. I suspect that what successful Mainers are left in the state are in for a rough future.
On my wife’s side of the family, our presence in Maine goes back 10 generations; on my side only 5. There is a great deal wrong with Maine, as it slides from a cohesive high-trust society to a fractured low-trust society.
There are a great many left-wing wackos in power, with no grasp of reality. But the people keep electing them. Like most east-coast liberal states, the government structure is dependent on the Federal money flow. It would take a few months, but Maine would change if the Feds stopped sending funds and laws designed to manage every aspect of life. Letting (what seems like) a million Somalis move the Lewiston did not help anything at all.
On the flip side, stopping the flow of Fed funds would cause a great many people to test the idea that the US income tax is a voluntary thing. (This is the official position of the IRS.)
Like Oregon, the government of Maine has put itself at a tremendous strategic disadvantage with respect to petroleum. There is an oil terminal in Portland… and that is it. No production and no refinery. There is some storage — unlike Oregon which has about 400 minutes of storage. But the Feds could really make a problem by carefully inspecting the oil system in Maine…. to make sure there are no illegal aliens working in it. The 100 mile rule would apply, as almost all of Maine is within 100 miles of the US border.
If both sides continue to pretend all can be worked out without strife the problems will continue to grow. At some point there will be a sharp change.
RICO the democraps. Find the funding, RICO all involved also.
The progressive insurrectionists have a crucial component missing from their revolutionary planning. Despite their best efforts to intimidate and DEI down their own law enforcement and National Guard, they will be unlikely to follow instructions to shoot their fellow LEOs or conservative “counterrevolutionary” citizens. Mandami has addressed this in NYC by appointing criminals to oversight positions, but they aren’t likely to have much effect when the excrement hits the fan, and they know this. Demonizing and attacking law enforcement across the board does have consequences, and this must be addressed in order to secure and keep power. Stalin used purges and political commissars, Hitler used Brownshirts, and the ayatollahs used the Revolutionary Guards, We will all know soon enough what the current would be despots have in mind, and my guess is that they will establish student run Revolutionary Committees to denounce the opposition and utilize Antifa thugs to do the dirty work.