Marnie MacLean , WCSH 7:36 PM. EST January 27, 2017

PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — President Trump's executive order intended to beef up the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws has Portland's mayor reaching out to the city's immigrant community and the Cumberland County sheriff already seeing a possible shift towards tighter enforcement.

The order calls for prioritizing the deportation of undocumented immigrants in the United States.

A recent phone call to the Cumberland County Jail could signal immigration agents are preparing for that shift.

Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce says one of his captains received a call from ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) asking whether the agency's priorities shifted and if the jail could house ICE detainees.

"It wouldn't surprise me that ICE is trying to ask, if we become active, where are we going to start putting people in various jails?" Sheriff Joyce said.

The Cumberland County Jail has a contract with ICE to house its detainees for $130 a day.

Joyce said in the late 1990s it wasn't unusual for his jail to have eight or nine of them on any given day, but in the last decade, Joyce said he's surprised if they have had 20 in an entire year.

Critics of President Trump's executive order say the language could lead to millions of undocumented immigrants being deported, that worries Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling.

"It's very disconcerting trying to instill fears In communities," Mayor Strimling said. "We are a safe city, we are a welcoming city and if anyone does not feel safe or is being inappropriately harassed or being asked for their papers come to my office, come to City Hall., you will be safe here."

Strimling said Portland Police officers are only allowed to question someone's immigration status if there is evidence they have been deported and are back in the country illegally, he calls it a high bar. Joyce said his deputies aren't trained in immigration law and rarely question the immigration status of someone they take into custody.

Joyce does plan to continue to cooperate with ICE to house its detainees but will pay attention to how many of them are in his cells.

"If we start seeing obnoxiously high numbers, it does cause you to start asking some questions," Joyce said. "I think we have to wait and see what that all becomes."

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/politics/e...licy/394020198