A driver without a seat belt. A broken taillight. Speeding.
These are just a few of the issues that have prompted traffic stops across Maine that ended with people being taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
As the agency has taken what some say is a wider role in apprehending immigrants under the Trump administration, experts say local traffic stops appear to have become a critical tool in states like Maine.
Sometimes law enforcement agencies will call Border Patrol to help identify a person or when they suspect there might be an immigration issue. Border Patrol can also initiate stops themselves when agents have reason to believe people are in the country illegally. The agency is allowed to operate within 100 miles of the border, which includes all of Maine.
And it’s not just drivers — in some cases, agents have arrested passengers and others who showed up to scenes later and had nothing to do with the original stops.
Scroll through the map below to see some examples of where agents have been called.
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