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Two labor unions are calling for the release of a Portland schools employee who was detained earlier this month by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Simao Paulo, a van driver and bus assistant originally from Angola, started working for Portland Public Schools in May. The district confirmed his detention in a statement, describing him as a valued member of the transportation department.

Portland’s unions for support staff and teachers put out a statement this weekend decrying his detention. Paulo is a husband, father of three and a pastor, the statement said, and his arrest does nothing to make Maine safer.

“Instead, it separates a family, disrupts a community, and creates fear among those who simply want to live, work, and contribute,” the statement reads. “Actions like these undermine the trust and sense of belonging that strong communities depend on.”

According to a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Paulo was arrested by ICE during a targeted operation on Aug. 4. He allegedly attempted to enter Canada without proper legal status, prompting Canadian border agents to turn him over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in Champlain, New York.

Immigration authorities accused Paulo of entering the country illegally near Del Rio, Texas, in May 2022. An immigration judge issued a final order of removal on July 31, according to the DHS spokesperson.

Paulo is currently being held at ICE’s Batavia facility in Buffalo, New York, according to the agency’s online tracker.

A GoFundMe created by Pastor Ezekiel Pin on Aug. 10 is raising money to pay for a lawyer for Paulo and cover his bail. The fundraiser describes him as “someone we know well — a man who loves being with his family and often helps others — but who is currently separated from his family by ICE.”

Bill Lamb, a district bus driver and the vice president of the Benefit Association of School Employees labor union that Paulo belonged to, said he is an important member of the transportation department who is, “excited to work, reliable, smart, and humorous.”

Paulo is at least the second Portland Public Schools employee detained by ICE, after mother of four and district facilities staff member Micheline Ntumba was arrested by agents in January after dropping one of her children off at Portland High School.

The district also raised alarms last September when a father was detained outside of Gerald E. Talbot Community School after dropping off his elementary schooler.

The district said it will, “continue to do all we can to support Simao, his family, and others in our community who fear for their safety.”

Angolans were targeted at the highest numbers during the January ICE operational surge in Maine, and were also the most-detained group the year before, when ICE arrested 57 people with origins in the central African nation.

They include a congregant with no criminal record who played the music at his Portuguese-speaking church, a York County corrections officer, an asylum seeker arrested during a routine check-in appointment in Scarborough and a Lewiston man married to a U.S. citizen.

Angolans, along with people from the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, likely represent the largest groups of immigrants coming to Maine over the past eight years.

Staff Writer Morgan Womack contributed reporting.