The administration of United States President Donald Trump has announced its latest immigration enforcement operation, this time in the northeastern state of Maine.On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that immigration raids had begun a day earlier, under the name “Operation Catch of the Day”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listIn a statement, a Trump administration spokesperson appeared to signal that targeting Maine was a political response to the ongoing feud between the president and the state’s governor, Democrat Janet Mills.“Governor Mills and her fellow sanctuary politicians in Maine have made it abundantly clear that they would rather stand with criminal illegal aliens than protect law-abiding American citizens,” said spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.But rumours have swirled that Maine was singled out for its significant Somali American population in the cities of Portland and Lewiston. Estimates put the total number of Somali Americans in the state at about 3,000.Trump has repeatedly denounced the Somali community over the past several months, comparing its members to “garbage” at a December cabinet meeting. As recently as Tuesday, he used his White House podium to call Somalis and Somali Americans “ a lot of very low IQ people”.Racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric has been a trademark of Trump’s campaigns for public office, and he has repeatedly singled out specific groups – including Haitians and Mexicans – to falsely tie their immigrant identity to pervasive criminal activity. Mayor Mark Dion of Portland, Maine, speaks at a news conference on January 21 [Patrick Whittl …
