LEWISTON — Mayor Robert Macdonald released a statement Tuesday evening blasting protesters in Portland who oppose efforts by Gov. Paul LePage to cut General Assistance to asylum-seekers and undocumented immigrants. “The governor’s actions were labeled ‘morally indefensible’ and ‘unconscionable’ by church leaders,” Macdonald said. “Is it also morally indefensible and unconscionable to increase the burden […]
immigration
Posted inOp-Eds
Rich Lowry: Immigration issue key to Cantor’s loss
The seeds of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s shocking primary loss may have been sown in January. That’s when House Republican leaders insisted on floating a set of immigration principles at the party’s retreat as a gesture toward acting on the Senate Gang of Eight immigration bill. The principles were shelved, but they stoked the […]
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Posted inMaine
LePage says he’ll stick to plan to defund municipal welfare for illegal immigrants
LEWISTON — Maine Gov. Paul LePage says he’ll stand his ground on a plan to cut off welfare funds for undocumented immigrants despite warnings from Maine’s Democratic attorney general that doing so could be illegal. LePage said Thursday he wasn’t concerned about the state being sued over the matter. He suggested that if the federal […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Attorney General rules Maine can’t deny General Assistance to immigrants
AUGUSTA — Maine Attorney General Janet Mills has ruled that a proposal by Gov. Paul LePage to bar immigrants and asylum seekers from receiving General Assistance is illegal and unconstitutional. The proposed new rule, which was unveiled late last year by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, was meant to align qualification for […]
Posted inLetters
M. Murphy: History repeats itself in L-A
As a descendant of the once entirely unwelcome Irish immigrants to Lewiston, I am both saddened and ashamed that more than a 150 years later, history is still repeating itself on the banks of the Androscoggin. For those who are interested in Lewiston’s history — or who think it matters — here is a hauntingly […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Advocates protest proposal that would keep assistance from new immigrants
AUGUSTA — A range of groups focused on human rights and social justice rallied at the State House on Friday to cry foul over a proposal by the Department of Health and Human Services to deny general assistance to immigrants newly arrived in Maine. Robyn Merrill, a senior policy analyst for Maine Equal Justice Partners, […]
Posted inMaine, New England, sj-web
Fewer immigrants held in New England for deportation
BOSTON (AP) — Federal officials said the number of immigrants jailed for deportation in New England plunged last year, despite the expansion of a program designed to identify people in the U.S. illegally. Officials said detentions fell by almost 28 percent in New England, while nationally the number dropped 8 percent. A total of 3,644 […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Immigration reform rally to be held in cities across U.S.
MIAMI (AP) — Immigrants and their allies will march this weekend on Taylorville, Ill., in time for the annual chili fest. They’ll take a break from harvesting spuds to demonstrate in Boise, Idaho, and they’ll hold candles until dawn along the banks of Lake Hollingsworth near Orlando, Fla. In more than 150 cities around the […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Advocates turn to Obama for action on immigration
WASHINGTON (AP) — With immigration legislation stalled in Congress, advocates are intensifying pressure on the Obama administration to act unilaterally to stop deportations or grant legal status to some of the 11 million people now living in the U.S. illegally. Activists are stepping up acts of civil disobedience like one last month in Phoenix, where […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Froma Harrop: GOP of two minds, at least, on immigration
On immigration, the Republican Party is trapped in two trains of thought, each speeding along the wrong track. At the tea party end, there’s absolute resistance to normalizing the status of illegal immigrants. On the cheap-labor side, there’s this big push to admit as many unskilled immigrants as possible. The first view, that putting millions […]