A federal court judge has ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to explain why it detained an Angolan man at a routine Tuesday check at an office in Scarborough.
The man, Yanick Joao Carneiro of Portland, is the first immigrant to challenge their detention by ICE since an enforcement surge began in Maine.
In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security said that its action here, called “Operation Catch of the Day,” had resulted in nearly 50 arrests as of Tuesday evening, highlighting some with serious criminal records.
But a lawyer for Carneiro said in court that he has no criminal record to justify his detention. The description of his arrest in court documents lines up with a massive bump in detentions of immigrants with no criminal record during President Donald Trump’s first year back in office.
Carneiro was undocumented when he first entered the country in April 2023. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings, but he was released and given a notice to appear in immigration court in 2027. Within Carneiro’s first year here, he filed for asylum status.
Carneiro has to be given a bond hearing because he has no criminal record, according to his lawyer’s filings in federal court. So far, that has not happened. His attorney is seeking his immediate release, and Carneiro was granted a temporary order preventing the federal government from removing him from Maine and the U.S. for 72 hours.
U.S. District Court judge Stacey Neumann also ordered the federal government to provide the location where Carneiro is being detained by 5 p.m. Wednesday. She also ordered the government to show the court by noon Thursday why it’s detaining him.
Spokespeople for ICE and U.S. Attorney Andrew Benson’s office, which is listed as a party to the case, did not respond to a request for comment.
