On January 30, 2026, Maine Lawyers for the Rule of Law co-founder David Webbert filed the first known legal action against ICE for its “Operation Catch of the Day” in Maine. This important step and vital tool under Rule of Law to hold ICE accountable was widely reported on by the media. Bob Peck, age 67 and a resident of South Portland, was observing ICE agents from a safe distance on January 22, 2026, when two masked and armed ICE agents approached him and threated to arrest him for the alleged crime of following them: “that’s your one warning, if you keep doing it, we’ll pull you back out and arrest you.” Mr. Peck had the presence of mind to video record his encounter with ICE.
Webbert was quoted in the press, “The primary thing we’re trying to do is to stop it from happening again. We also don’t want history to get rewritten. One of the reasons to bring this case is to document that this did happen.”
As required by the Federal Tort Claims Act, the initial legal step was the filing of a sworn notice of claim with ICE. The FTCA requires claimants to wait six months after filing the notice of claim before they can file suit in federal court. Webbert said he was also researching a possible claim for Mr. Peck against ICE under the Maine Civil Rights Act.
Webbert further emphasized what is at stake: “Absolute immunity is very dangerous for obvious reasons, and the president seems to have it. That’s bad enough. We can’t have tens of thousands of ICE agents have it, or game over for democracy.”
https://themainemonitor.org/ice-observers-intimidation-legal-action
https://www.wmtw.com/article/maine-ice-encounter-lawsuit-south-portland-man/70227439
https://www.mainepublic.org/show/maine-calling/2026-02-02/ice-in-maine-latest-news-outlook