I am writing as a member of the southern Maine community who is deeply concerned and upset by the construction of the new Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility at 40 Manson Libby Road in Scarborough.

In September, members of Congress released a report exposing both egregious conditions in ICE detention centers as well as the agency’s failure to identify and respond to abuses.

Following visits to eight ICE detention facilities and interviews with more than 400 people in ICE custody, members of the House Committee on Homeland Security reported poor physical and mental health care, failure to protect people in detention from COVID and constrained access to legal services and information.

These findings, which add to a pattern of well-documented institutional medical neglect and abuse at the hands of ICE, prove that no one is safe in its custody.

Put simply – it is immoral to allow an agency responsible for countless human rights violations to subsist.

Together with De-ICE Maine, I am calling on Josh Soley, principal of Maine Realty Advisors/AEY LLC, owner of the Scarborough property, to cancel their 15-year lease with the federal government.

De-ICE Maine is a coalition of teachers, ministers, lawyers, reporters and other concerned community members who are committed to Maine being a safe and healthy community for all who live here.

I urge my neighbors to add their voices to the growing calls to protect our immigrant neighbors by opposing the construction of this facility. The cruel, immoral and inhumane practices of ICE have no business in our state.

Ella D. Tabasky
Portland