‘Kristi Noem needs to go’: Maine governor calls for a c… — Transcript

the governor of Maine, Janet Mills. She's also a Democratic candidate for US Senate.

Governor, you've been very clear. You've called for Nome's removal at DHS. You've also called for congressional action to halt ICE funding until measures are in place at the agency to prevent abuses of power. Can you give me a sense of what you think is actually necessary in order to improve the agency?

Action is needed now. No more talk, no more kicking the can down the road like Washington does on everything, including recently the ACA fixes. You know, enough waiting, enough hand-wringing, enough creating a task force or studying it, thinking about reforms. Look, this is basic law enforcement 101. You don't, you don't put money out there for recruitment bonuses to a bunch of people who, whether they've been trained or not in anything.

You put them out on the street and give them a quota. A quota from some political figurehead that means nothing as far as law enforcement is concerned. And then send them into Maine and call it catch of the day. Seriously, these are human beings they rounded up, which we cannot find now. These are human beings. It's not some fishing derby. And it's cruel.

Wait, can we talk, can we talk about what you're saying? Because I want to make sure that our audience understands when you say you can't find people. There was some great reporting about this from the NBC affiliate. You're demanding the name of the 206 people in your state who've been taken by ICE. My question is, if ICE is truly taken the worst of the worst, as they say, all the bad guys, why don't they want to claim credit for that, Governor?

Good question. Good question. We should and listen, what we know is we've heard a number of reports in obviously citizens, well-meaning citizens having videotaped a lot of these incidents where, for instance, corrections officers, hard-working corrections officers in two different jails in two different counties got pulled out of their cars, one with a window smashed, and they left the car running on the on the street, dragged this guy out of his car and sent him out of state. He's a law enforcement officer. He's supporting a family. He's contributing to the community. He's not some hardened criminal. He's not the worst of the worst. Neither is the mother of four people, four children who cannot find where their mother is now.

And the many people who've been taken out of state, as soon as a habeas is filed in federal court, they move them to a different state. They've gone to New Hampshire, Massachusetts, sometimes Louisiana, Texas, God knows where. And they're not accounting for these people's whereabouts or their safety or their health. It's inhumane. So the Attorney General of Maine and I have demanded to know who they are, where they are, what their legal status is.

And how they will get home. Were there any warrants? I've demanded from day one to see the warrants, judicial warrants that authorized the snatching, the taking of these people from their families, from their schools, from their workplaces. And I've asked, you know, Susan Collins, she's there in the US Senate. She supported Christine Nome. She she voted to confirm Christine Nome. I think that was one big mistake. And now Christine Nome must go. And there has to be accountability before any more funding for DHS is authorized at any level. There has to be concrete action, concrete measures of accountability, not mild reforms and, oh, please wear a camera if you're in certain cities. But for God's sakes, don't use, um, don't use facial recognition and other implementations that could violate people's civil rights, for instance. Don't arrest people for videotaping what you're doing on the streets of Portland and Lewiston, Maine. You can't do that. And don't intimidate people who are peacefully protesting or just observing, using their cell phones and doing what conscientious citizens are to be doing.

Governor, you're in a, sorry. Uh, Governor, you're in a contentious primary now and it seems that the issue of ICE and immigration is certainly in a rather moderate state like Maine, uh, become very hot button in the sense that people really want to see reform. There's a law in Maine I want to read about. It's called LD 1971.

Do you regret not signing it? And does it show national Democrats that there is a real change on this issue that people really want to see action against ICE in their communities in places like Maine, which are considered pretty temperate, uh, comparative to perhaps a Massachusetts or, uh, or a New York City?

We have seen changes since last June, and that's exactly why when I allowed the bill to become law, I issued a statement to that effect. The time requires this law to be implemented. And actually, it is for all intents and purposes in effect. I've dealt with law enforcement most of my career, as elected district attorney for three counties, as attorney general for eight counties, as a as the governor for seven years, and eight years, rather. And, uh, I've worked with law enforcement. We know good law enforcement here in Maine, and what we've seen in recent months is far from good law enforcement. We have high expectations and standards for law enforcement in Maine. They don't go wearing masks and hide their identity. And they don't go out and sweep the streets and pick up citizens in whole communities because of some artificial quota.

read to them by a political figurehead in some other state or or Washington D.C. That's not how we do law enforcement here in Maine. It's not the right way to do things. So that the principles of that law are in effect. The local law enforcement are complying with it. State police are complying with it. God knows they don't want to be complicit in this stuff. They actually know that if the federal government, if the federal ICE officials make a bad arrest or do something terrible like they've been doing in Minnesota, local law enforcement, if they're assisting, their butts are going to get sued, not the federal ICE agents under the current law. So I I'm calling on Susan Collins to stand up to the step up to the plate, show a little courage, stop supporting a dollar one dollar more for ICE or for DHS until there's accountability for the actions they've already engaged in and serious reforms preventing them from these abuses in the future. Action needs to happen now and Christine Nome needs to go.