HODGDON, Maine — In January, Border Patrol agents installed 334 concrete barriers on the boundary between Maine and Canada, to prevent vehicles from illegally crossing over.
In February, the Houlton Sector of U.S. Customs and Border Protection began regularly posting on Facebook about the growing numbers of people it had taken into custody for removal from the country.
Five times, it shared graphics featuring the words “arrested” or “recent arrest” in red block letters, along with information about the suspects, such as four men from Central and South America who were arrested following a traffic stop in Fort Fairfield, or a Jamaican man who turned himself in in the Calais area after overstaying his visa.
These are just some of the changes now happening in Maine during the new administration of President Donald Trump, who has followed through on his campaign promise to step up border enforcement policy with a flurry of executive orders and changes.
That has emboldened the people who carry out enforcement and removal activities along Maine’s 5,509 square miles of international land and sea border, according to Chief Patrol Agent Juan Bernal, who took command of the Houlton Sector last year.
“We are being allowed to be a little bit more enforcement postured and enforcement minded in how we deploy and conduct day to day activities,” Bernal said during an interview about the new administration.
As a result, agents are also applying greater consequences and initiating more removals from the country, he said. They are also trying to step up communication to the public about the new measures, so everyone is aware of the new posture.
“We have always known that once we get a little more aggressive with consequence delivery, it will have an impact,” Bernal said. “Once the word gets out, ‘If you break the law, there is a greater probability there will be a consequence,’ it has an effect.”
Since his January inauguration, Trump has penned more than 10 immigration-related executive orders that rescinded many of the Biden administration’s policies and led to dozens of changes.
In general, Trump’s Jan. 20 order to Protect the American People Against Invasion calls on the nation’s top law enforcement officials to ramp up criminal prosecutions of people not authorized to be in the country. It also directs more aggressive enforcement and removal activities by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
For Bernal, that means thinking more about enforcement in his daily and longer-term planning, he said. The bulk of the sector consists of densely forested land. Headquartered in Hodgdon, it has stations in Calais, Fort Fairfield, Houlton, Van Buren, Jackman and Rangeley.
“We may take a closer look at where we assign our personnel,” he said. “Let’s say we’re going to have four people attend a community event, maybe you reduce it to two and send the other two out to patrol the border instead.”
According to border officials, another noted policy change was a Jan. 21 notice from the Department of Homeland Security that restored an order Trump made during his first administration expediting removal of undocumented people. The order ended a so-called catch and release policy for people in the U.S. illegally, in which they had a right to judicial review before removal.
Prior to the January change, those people were given a notice to appear in court by Border Patrol agents and then released into the community. Now, with few exceptions, they are arrested and set for immediate removal.
Bernal stressed the importance of more forceful consequences for those who enter the U.S. illegally.
Overall, the Maine section of the border is far quieter than in other parts of the country. Houlton Sector agents had 344 encounters in the last fiscal year, which accounted for just 0.01 percent of the agency’s overall encounters across the country.
But already, the stepped up efforts appear to be changing things in Maine. During the first four months of this fiscal year, agents had 120 encounters. Fifty of those were in January — when Trump came into office — more than twice as many as the 23 that occurred in the same month last year. At that pace, the Houlton Sector could have significantly more encounters by the end of this fiscal year.
Bernal attributed the uptick to greater enforcement efforts by the agents.
At the same time, he also said the recent installation of the concrete barriers along a section of the Maine border is offering more of a deterrent, following a dramatic 250 percent increase in illegal vehicle crossings in fiscal year 2024.
Trump has issued another executive order that specifically calls for establishing a physical wall and other barriers along the nation’s borders. The long chain of barriers in the Fort Fairfield area has already reduced attempted vehicle crossings by 92 percent, Bernal said.
“It’s an old concept and we have been using them at the southern border for decades. But it is new to the Houlton sector,” Bernal said. “After installation, immediately we saw a decrease.”
During the interview, Bernal also emphasized his larger belief in the importance of securing the U.S. border.
During his 27-plus year career, much of it at the southern border, Bernal said that he has seen immigrants being mistreated and placed into dangerous situations. They are exploited by smugglers, packed into vehicles or made to live in overcrowded and unsafe stash houses. Some have been sexually abused and others coerced in many different ways, he said.
“I’ve always said, illegal immigration is not good for anybody,” Bernal said. “It’s not good for the country and also not good for the person who is being smuggled. If you can reduce illegal immigration it is better for everybody, including the individuals being smuggled.”
As the Houlton Sector continues under the Trump administration, Bernal said it will continue to assess its operations to determine what’s working and where there may be gaps.
That may mean asking for additional patrol agents, better technology or even additional vehicles, he said, adding that he believes if the resources are justified, the Houlton Sector will likely get what it needs.
Additionally, he always likes to share that the men and women who work for border patrol live in the community they serve and have a vested interest in keeping it safe. It’s a community that helps them do their jobs, he said.
“They are our eyes and ears,” Bernal said. “If [people] see anything or any type of criminal activity, please let us know,” he said. The number to call to report suspicious activity is 207-532-6521, ext. 5.
