Courtesy of Libby Riggs

Over 200 protesters lined Maine Street near the Town Green on Sunday afternoon to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity under the Trump administration. Attendees, including Bowdoin students and residents of Brunswick and nearby towns, waved signs with messages such as “ICE out” and “Immigrants built America the beautiful.”

Libby Riggs ’26 came up with the idea for the protest and organized it with the help of Eva McKone ’26 and the sponsorship of the Bowdoin Reproductive Justice Coalition. Riggs was inspired to take action due to the recent presence of ICE in Maine and the Brunswick community.

“Especially with some of the recent ICE raids in Maine, such as Operation Catch of the Day…, many of our friends and classmates and peers have been under this threat of being detained or targeted in enforcement actions, and I feel like there’s been so much fear across entire communities,” Riggs said. “So I thought that a perfect first step would be bringing students and community members across Brunswick together in response to ICE’s aggressive and unlawful tactics.”

To organize the protest, Riggs also reached out to other groups involved in the cause, including the Franklin Project, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick and the Brunswick Area Indivisible chapter. A handful of Maine state representatives attended as well, including Rep. Poppy Arford (D-Brunswick).

Katya Fromuth of the Franklin Project, which is a community of young Mainers dedicated to resisting authoritarianism, urged the crowd to resist ICE activity in Maine.

“We are here to say ICE is not welcome in Maine. We are here to say families belong together. We are here to say that our tax dollars will not pay for the jailing of United States citizens,” Fromuth said. “We are here to say that Mainers stand together in community with one another, no matter what color your skin is, no matter what language you speak, no matter where you came from. We are stronger together and Mainers know that. Maine students know that.”

Reverend Dr. Kharma Amos, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church, reached out to Brunswick’s interfaith community to organize a singing group for the rally, who led protesters in hymns of resistance.

Sree Kandhadai ’27, who sang at the protest, expressed concern about the waning acceptance of immigrants in America.

“I realized just how much the issues surrounding immigration are affecting close friends of mine,” Kandhadai said. “This country should be welcoming and supportive of immigrants the way that it was for my parents, and it’s just so deeply unfair that I’m one of the few people that I know who [has] actually experienced the American dream.”

Kandhadai was encouraged by the high turnout and found the collective use of songs for protest inspiring.

“I’m really, really heartened to see this happening. I’m so glad that it’s beyond just Bowdoin students…. It seems like half the Unitarian Universalist Church is here,” Kandhadai said. “I don’t really think I’ve used my voice in this way [before]…. [It’s] more impactful than I realized.”

Mike Plaisted, a member of the Sagadahoc chapter of Indivisible, a nationwide organization opposing the rise of authoritarianism in the U.S., showed up to protest the Trump presidency’s expansion of executive authority. Plaisted discussed how Trump’s acts, specifically those pertaining to federal spending, have been particularly alarming to him given his experience working for the federal government.

“I don’t have any personal beliefs about abolishing ICE because I don’t know enough about what the legislation says that established ICE,” Plaisted said. “I do know that everything that the Trump administration has done since day one has been illegal, and there’s a lot of below the radar stuff that people don’t even see.… Congress appropriates money, the President does not. In fact, the President actually doesn’t tell Congress what they’re going to spend money on.”

Plaisted expressed his disagreements with the tactics deployed by ICE, such as warrantless searches, breaking down doors and windows and brutality against protesters.

“The tactics that they’re using are un-American,” Plaisted said. “A lot of what I see now [is] people carrying passports to prove their identity, [to] prove that they’re citizens.… You shouldn’t have to carry your passport to prove who you are or to prove you’re a citizen or to prove anything.”

Riggs doesn’t plan for her activism to end here. She discussed plans to organize future actions urging elected officials like Maine senators Susan Collins and Angus King to prioritize community safety and defund ICE, as well as urge Bowdoin to adopt clearer protections for vulnerable community members. Riggs also hopes to provide a place for students across southern Maine to voice their perspectives.

“Today, we will build community and show that we are here, and tomorrow, we will use this community to continue to demand change,” Riggs said.