Overview

The Cumberland County Jail in Portland was Maine’s largest jail and the principal ICE detention site in the state, holding federal immigration detainees under a longstanding U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) federal-boarding contract. After Maine’s January 2026 enforcement surge filled the jail with ICE detainees, the facility became the flashpoint for the state’s biggest immigration-enforcement fight when ICE retaliated against Sheriff Kevin Joyce for publicly criticizing the arrest of one of his corrections-officer recruits. The County Commission voted 3-1 on April 22, 2026 to remove ICE from the contract, ending the jail’s role as an ICE detention hub.

Key Details

• Operator: Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office (Sheriff Kevin Joyce)
• Contract: USMS federal-boarding agreement; ICE detainees held as federal boarders. Maine’s largest jail.
• Peak ICE population: roughly 50 detainees before the January 2026 pullback.
• Jan 2026: ICE pulled all immigration detainees from the jail in retaliation after Sheriff Joyce condemned the arrest of recruit Emanuel Ludovic Mbuangi Landila; ICE also subpoenaed the sheriff’s employment records.
• Apr 13, 2026: Gov. Mills signed a law clarifying jails may decline civil-immigration holds.
• Apr 22, 2026: County Commission voted 3-1 to remove ICE from the USMS contract — status now closed to ICE detention.
• The full political/legal narrative is tracked in county-fight cumberland-county-me-sheriff-ice-fight.

Sources

• Maine Public: Commissioners cut ICE from jail contract (Apr 23, 2026)
• Maine Morning Star: Commissioners vote to stop holding ICE detainees (Apr 22, 2026)
• Corrections1: ICE relocates all 50 detainees from Cumberland County jail
• Portland Press Herald: ICE pulled detainees from Cumberland County Jail — that could hurt taxpayers (Feb 4, 2026)