Maine American Legion Posts & ICE Support

UPDATES

Initial Results & Thoughts, 2026-02-07

A recent Portland Press Herald article (American Legion allows ICE agents to park vehicles in its Scarborough parking lot) described how American Legion Post 76 in Scarborough is allowing ICE to use its facilities for staging and parking.

I was a bit gobsmacked when I read this article. How can an organization that's devoted to supporting veterans also support the people who are causing harm to veterans and their communities ? (see *1 below)

And so I wondered how many other American Legion posts in Maine support ICE operations.

So I started a log:

Maine American Legion & ICE Support

I'll fill it in as I contact Maine American Legion posts to get their views. This is the letter I'm sending:

Dear American Legion Post #,

My name is Alex, I'm a former Mainer who now lives in the Boston area.

I found your email on the American Legion 'find a post' page (link 1 below)

I'm writing because I was recently gobsmacked by a recent Press Herald article about the Post 76 in Scarborough (link 2 below).

I was curious to find out if other Maine American Legion posts also support ICE operations. So I started a website to collect responses (link 3 below).

One thing that struck me from the article was that it seems to highlight a tension in veteran communities. On one hand, I know that American Legion posts generally deeply value national security and law enforcement, and also taking care of veterans and their communities.

On the other hand, it seems like what Post 76 is doing here harms its community and even veterans themselves, by hosting ICE agents who are committing atrocities.

I'm not a veteran myself, my only connection is that my Dad used to work as a doctor at the Togus VA hospital in the 90s. Mainly I'm just someone who just cares about what's happening in the country right now.

So basically I have two questions:

1. Does your post provide support (parking, facilities, etc.) for ICE operations?

2. Does your post think American Legion posts should provide support for ICE operations?

Please note that I intend to add these responses to a public spreadsheet. If I don't hear back from you, I'll just put "Contacted, no response yet" in the spreadsheet.

Thanks for reading my note, I hope to hear from you. I have great admiration for those who engage with the challenges of our times.

Sincerely,

-Alex

Link 1: https://mylegion.org/PersonifyEbusiness/Find-a-Post

Link 2: https://www.pressherald.com/2026/01/24/american-legion-allows-ice-agents-to-park-vehicles-in-its-scarborough-parking-lot/

Link 3: https://sites.google.com/view/maine-american-legion-ice

(*1 from above) Some specific examples of harms:

Detaining Veterans and their families:
Harassing/Intimidating Nurses who take care of veterans and their families:
1. https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/nurses-condemn-chaotic-unlawful-ice-invasion-of-maine
Murder of VA nurse Alex Pretti:
1. https://www.pressherald.com/2026/01/29/nurses-saw-themselves-in-alex-prettis-death-now-theyre-demanding-justice/
2. https://taskandpurpose.com/news/veterans-affairs-staff-anger-alex-pretti/
Shredding the 4th Amendment of the Constitution: https://reason.com/2026/01/26/leaked-ice-memo-claims-agents-can-enter-homes-without-judicial-warrants/
Large numbers of ICE agents who have criminal records themselves: https://www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/accountability-for-ice-and-cbp

If you'd like to contact me about this project please use the form below. (Also available at this link: https://forms.gle/MWSWD1ktU8fRnLXA8) .