ANYTHING FROM ANY FEDERAL AGENCIES. IN THE STUDIO I'M JACKIE MUNDRY FOR MAINE'S TOTAL COVERAGE. WE'RE BEGINNING TO HEAR DIRECTLY FROM THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY THE INCREASE IN IMMIGRATIONS AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS ACROSS THE STATE. TODAY POLITICAL REPORTER CATE MCCUSKER SITTING DOWN WITH A WOMAN FROM WESTBROOK WHO SAYS HER SON WAS DETAINED BY ICE THIS WEEK... AND REMAINS IN CUSTODY.. "HE IS 18. HE DOESN'T...I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED AFTER. I DON'T KNOW." SANDRINE KOUMBA SAYS HER SON JEAN PIERRE - A STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE - WAS DETAINED BY ICE IN WESTBROOK ON TUESDAY MORNING. "HE SAY, MOM, CAN YOU BRING ME THE PAPER OF THE THE CAR? LIKE UM.." "THE, INSURANCE CARD." SHE SAYS HER SON CALLED HER WHILE SHE WAS AT WORK AS ICE AGENTS WERE TALKING TO HIM - AND WHEN SHE CALLED BACK AGAIN - IT WAS TOO LATE "I CALL AGAIN, I CALL AGAIN, MAYBE, I THINK 30 MINUTE, I CAN HAVE HIM AND HE SAY, MOM, I CAN'T, I CAN RESPOND TO YOU, BECAUSE ICE TAKE ME." SHE SAYS JEAN-PIERRE CALLED HER LATER THAT NIGHT FROM A FACILITY IN MASSACHUSETTS - SAYING HE WILL BE MOVED AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY - BUT HE DIDN'T KNOW WHERE HE WOULD BE GOING. "HE SAID, MOM, I SIGN A LOT OF PAPER. I SAY, WHY DO YOU SIGN THESE PAPER? YOU DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY..." NOW SANDRINE SAYS SHE'S LEFT IN LIMBO - TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO NEXT... "HE SAY, I LOVE YOU MOM BUT I'M NOT ANGRY, I'M NOT ANGRY MOM, I WANT TO JUST COME OUT." SANDRINE SAYS HER FAMILY CAME TO MAINE FROM GABON - A COUNTRY IN AFRICA - AS ASYLUM SEEKERS THREE YEARS AGO...AND SHE SAYS SHE THOUGHT SHE HAD FILED THE RIGHT PAPERWORK AND WAS DOING WHAT SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO.... "I'M ASYLUM SEEKER, MY CASE IS PENDING. I THINK, I'M LEGALLY, BECAUSE I HAVE MY WORK PERMIT" ICE DID NOT RESPOND TO OUR REQUEST FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CASE - AND NOW SANDRINE SAYS SHE'S KEEPING HER OTHER CHILDREN HOME FROM SCHOOL - UNSURE OF WHAT COULD HAPPEN NEXT... "I THINK THE JEAN PIERRE, HE WAS AT THE WRONG PLACE NOW. " FOR MAINES TOTAL COVERAGE IM CATE MCCUSKER A SPOKESPERSON CONFIRMED JEAN PIERRE IS A STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE - BUT WOULD NOT PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. ICE DID NOT RESPOND TO OUR REQUEST FOR COMMENT. FOR THE LATEST ON ICE ACTIONS HERE IN MAINE, MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW ON W-M-T-W-DOT-COM AND MAINE'S TOTAL COVERAGE APP. WITH NOTIFICATIONS TURNED ON, USM student detained by ICE in Market Basket parking lot The mother of Jean-Pierre Obiang says her son was detained by ICE in Westbrook Tuesday morning Updated: 6:51 PM EST Jan 21, 2026 Editorial Standards ⓘ As the federal government enforces "Operation Catch of the Day" and ramps up immigration enforcement in Maine, we're beginning to hear directly from the families and communities impacted.Westbrook resident Sandrine Kuomba is searching for more information, after she says her 18-year-old son, Jean-Pierre Obiang, was detained by ICE in the Market Basket parking lot Tuesday morning."My son called me when he was at Market Basket, and I was at my job," she said, explaining Obiang was getting food after his class at the University of Southern Maine. "When I have a break, I call him back, and he say, 'Mom, I can't respond to your call because the ICE take me.'""I say, 'What’s happened, Jean-Pierre, what’s happened?'" Kuomba said, noting another voice on the phone told her she would get another call in thirty minutes.Yet the call didn't come for hours. "My manager came to me, because I was crying," she said. "She told me, 'You can go home.'"Finally, at 10 p.m. Tuesday evening, her son called from an immigration facility in Burlington, Massachusetts. He said he was being moved to another facility on Wednesday, but she didn't know where."He say, 'I love you, mom,'" Kuomba said. "'I'm not angry, mom, I want to just come out.'"Kuomba says her family came to Maine from Gabon, a country in Africa, three years ago. She says her asylum case is pending, and she thought she filed the right paperwork and was doing everything right, but now she's concerned and is keeping her other children home from school."I have my work permit," she said. "I have no problem here. I can work. My son can go to school."A spokesperson for USM confirmed Obiang is an accounting major at the university.ICE has not yet responded to our request for comment. As the federal government enforces "Operation Catch of the Day" and ramps up immigration enforcement in Maine, we're beginning to hear directly from the families and communities impacted.Westbrook resident Sandrine Kuomba is searching for more information, after she says her 18-year-old son, Jean-Pierre Obiang, was detained by ICE in the Market Basket parking lot Tuesday morning. "My son called me when he was at Market Basket, and I was at my job," she said, explaining Obiang was getting food after his class at the University of Southern Maine. "When I have a break, I call him back, and he say, 'Mom, I can't respond to your call because the ICE take me.'""I say, 'What’s happened, Jean-Pierre, what’s happened?'" Kuomba said, noting another voice on the phone told her she would get another call in thirty minutes.Yet the call didn't come for hours. "My manager came to me, because I was crying," she said. "She told me, 'You can go home.'" Finally, at 10 p.m. Tuesday evening, her son called from an immigration facility in Burlington, Massachusetts. He said he was being moved to another facility on Wednesday, but she didn't know where. "He say, 'I love you, mom,'" Kuomba said. "'I'm not angry, mom, I want to just come out.'"Kuomba says her family came to Maine from Gabon, a country in Africa, three years ago. She says her asylum case is pending, and she thought she filed the right paperwork and was doing everything right, but now she's concerned and is keeping her other children home from school."I have my work permit," she said. "I have no problem here. I can work. My son can go to school."A spokesperson for USM confirmed Obiang is an accounting major at the university.ICE has not yet responded to our request for comment.