Republican Who Backs Trump's Immigration Crackdown Reportedly Begs for Relative Not To Be Deported

Former Maine governor Paul LePage, a Republican running for Congress on tougher immigration enforcement, urged federal officials to stop his son's father-in-law from being deported, as, according to him, the man lived legally in the United States.

The appeal follows LePage's support for the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, a focus of his House campaign.

He told The Washington Post that his relative had a work permit and should be allowed to stay, putting a family case alongside the border policies he has championed.

Paul LePage Calls for His Relative To Stay

'That's not right,' LePage said of the effort to deport his son's father-in-law. 'He has a work permit. He should be allowed to stay.'

The former governor said the man faced removal 'because he came from a country that's not to the liking of certain people in Washington'. He did not identify that country.

LePage makes the claims about the man's status and the reason for the proposed deportation. His account provides no immigration filing, removal notice or response from federal authorities about the case. It also gives no date for a potential removal.

LePage has long backed strict law enforcement and Maine agencies working with federal immigration officials. Border policy is central to his campaign for the US House. His request now concerns his own extended family, but the account does not indicate whether a deportation order has been issued.

Paul LePage's Appeal Amid Immigration Operations in Maine

Federal enforcement in Maine intensified in January, when the Trump administration sent additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to the state. In July, an ICE agent shot and killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national, during an operation in Biddeford.

The Department of Homeland Security said agents fired after he tried to flee in a car during a targeted operation, according to the Associated Press.

Federal officials alleged that the driver threatened public safety when officers approached him. Lawmakers and immigrant advocates challenged that account, pointing out that Durán Guerrero had a valid work permit and was not the person named in the arrest warrant.

Witness accounts and local security footage showed federal officers surrounding his vehicle before shots were fired at Pool and Hill streets.

The shooting brought protests across southern Maine and demands for an independent federal investigation. It also raised questions about the use of force in immigration operations.

Law enforcement experts cited in the account said firing into occupied vehicles departs from standard practice and noted that federal rules limit deadly force to situations involving an imminent threat of death or serious injury.

According to The New York Times, Durán Guerrero was killed less than a week after agents fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in a car in Houston. Its tracking then counted 23 people shot at by officers involved in the federal deportation campaign, with six killed, including three US citizens.

Seven of 13 people charged after such shootings had their cases dismissed. LePage's relative, meanwhile, has not been identified in the report, and federal officials have not responded to his request.