New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt on Wednesday criticized the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the U.S. that has now spread to neighbouring Maine, saying it’s making people in her province “very, very uncomfortable” to have them at the border.
Holt told reporters in Ottawa that the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at the New Brunswick-Maine border was affecting people with cross-border family and business ties that have already been struggling under strained relations due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and attacks on Canada.
“We see what’s happening in the country,” she told reporters. “We see it in New Brunswick right now with ICE agents on the border of New Brunswick and Maine, in Calais. And it makes us all very, very uncomfortable.
“There’s nothing that we recognize in our neighbours right now, with the leadership that they have. We’re eager to support them in a return to the long-standing and strong partnership that Canada and the U.S. have had for generations.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security last week announced it was expanding its mass deportation operations to Maine in what it dubbed “Operation Catch of the Day,” targeting cities like Portland and Lewiston that are home to large African immigrant communities.
Residents on both sides of the New Brunswick-Maine border have begun reporting the presence of ICE agents in Calais, Maine, an economic hub that shares multiple border crossings with St. Stephen, N.B.
-
![]()
Las Vegas resorts offer 1-to-1 exchange rate for Canadian dollar to promote tourism -
![]()
Carney announces GST credit top up to tackle grocery costs -
![]()
Doug Ford wants feds to repeal EV mandates after Carney strikes deal for Chinese-made vehicles -
![]()
Carney refutes Bessent, says he did not walk back his Davos comments to Trump
Some social media posts have reported ICE agents “harassing” people crossing from Canada into the city, though Global News has not independently verified those accounts.
The presence of ICE has drawn extra scrutiny in the wake of operations in Minneapolis, which have seen two U.S. citizens — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — shot dead by federal agents and mass protests from residents. Many of the protests have seen a violent response, with ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents detaining demonstrators and throwing tear gas at crowds, while threatening bystanders with arrest.
Get daily National news
Trump, who has vowed to deport millions of immigrants with criminal records who are in the U.S. illegally, has faced calls to reduce tensions and order federal agents to use less aggressive tactics.
Protests have sprung up across Maine against ICE’s presence, and the state’s Republican and Democratic senators have joined Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in voicing concerns about the operation in the wake of the shootings in Minnesota.
Holt was speaking Wednesday alongside Ontario Premier Doug Ford ahead of a first ministers meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Ford said he agreed with Carney’s comment during question period in the House of Commons on Tuesday that “almost nothing is normal in the United States at the moment,” but focused on Trump’s tariffs and threats against Canada.
“I think the whole world is watching that, including Americans,” Ford told reporters.
“It’s unfortunate President Trump has taken this avenue that he’s going down, but remember — a tariff on Canada is a tax on Americans. Americans know it, they’re feeling it.”
Ford this week has tried to distance himself from an Ontario-headquartered company selling military vehicles to ICE, after calling the $10-million contract “fantastic” news last month.
“I don’t direct companies to sell military vehicles down south or around the world,” Ford said Tuesday at an unrelated event.
In British Columbia, meanwhile, two Vancouver-based companies are facing scrutiny for their own connections to ICE and U.S. Homeland Security.
U.S. procurement records show the tech firm Hootsuite is providing social media services to DHS, despite cancelling a contract with ICE five years ago amid a staff backlash. The company has not responded to requests for comment on the new contract.
On Wednesday, the Jim Pattison Group confirmed reports that DHS is seeking to purchase a building the company owns in Virginia to use as an ICE “holding and processing facility.”
Asked about the potential sale at an unrelated press conference in Vancouver on Wednesday, B.C. Attorney General Nikki Sharma said Canadian businesses need to consider their possible connections to U.S. immigration operations.
“Just like the rest of the world, we watch in horror about what is happening there,” Sharma said.
“And I think that calls upon business leaders across this province, (and) the whole country, to think about their role in what is unfolding there and to make decisions that would not lead to some of the outcomes that we’re seeing unfold in the States.”
Have you had a recent encounter with ICE while crossing from Canada into the U.S.? We want to hear from you. Use the contact form below to share your experience and we may be in touch for future articles.
—with files from Global’s Isaac Callan and Amy Judd
Comments