The ‘Office of New Americans’ aims to attract 75,000 new workers over the next five years by incorporating illegal immigrants into Maine’s workforce.
A Maine Democrat pushing for a new “migrant resettlement” office admitted that illegal aliens take priority over U.S. veterans.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) in January proposed a new migrant resettlement office within the governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF) called the “Office of New Americans” (ONA).
The purpose of the bill, called LD 2167, will be to attract 75,000 new workers over the next five years by incorporating illegal immigrants into Maine’s workforce.
Democrat State Rep. Deqa Dhalac, a co-sponsor of the bill, was asked during a legislature hearing why Maine should “fast track” illegal aliens rather than focus the state’s resources on assisting U.S. citizens who served in the military.
Dhalac, who was the first Somali-born mayor in the US, replied veterans have the advantage of speaking English.
“They have the advantage of speaking the language, most of our military folks. So these folks that we’re really working on may not have that,” Dhalac said. “So it’s going to be really difficult for them to say ‘yes, I used to be an electrician in my country.’”
Sponsor of Mills’ migrant resettlement office says “New Americans” deserve priority over US veterans. pic.twitter.com/HcHXw0kA4S
— The Maine Wire (@TheMaineWire) February 7, 2024
“Throughout our histories, our state’s history, we have been enriched by the presence of immigrants,” she said when touting the bill. “When immigrants enter the labor force, they increase the productive capacity of the economy and raise the GDP.”
Sen. Dhalac introduces her bill to create an Office of New Americans. pic.twitter.com/159nHtLIHP
— The Maine Wire (@TheMaineWire) January 30, 2024
The bill proposes establishing an advisory council for the ONA as a 19-member body that will advise the office on “matters affecting the long-term economic and civic integration of immigrants in the State.”
At least ten members of the ONA advisory council would be legally required to be immigrants — eight of whom would appointed by the governor, one by the president of the Senate, and one by the Speaker of the House.
Those appointments must also be made with a “good faith effort to ensure that the members of the advisory council reflect geographic, gender, ethnic and racial diversity.”
Gov. Mills also claimed the bill will help Maine bring in “new workers.”
“Everywhere you look across Maine, there are help wanted signs. We need workers, and New Americans, who want to support themselves and their families, can be one important part of that solution,” Mills said during a Jan. 19 event in Westbrook.
“My Administration will do what we can to ensure that every person can contribute to our economy and successfully enter and stay in our workforce.”
“As we strengthen our economy by attracting talented people to work in Maine, may this Office help us fully harness the contributions of New Americans who have chosen to make our state their home,” Mills added.
Notably, none of the bill’s sponsors could explain how much the new office will cost or how many illegal migrants have even entered the workforce in the state.
From the Maine Wire:
No one who testified Tuesday provided any information about how many of the 5,000-10,000 migrants who have arrived in Maine since 2019 have entered the workforce, which they are eligible to do after residing in the U.S. for six months.
Hannah Pingree, the director of GOPIF, also claimed that ONA will not provide services, but will “coordinate policy.”
Pingree was unable to provide the Committee with a specific number for how much getting the new office off the ground would cost, but said that Mills would be putting forward funding for the office in her forthcoming supplemental budget proposal.
If passed, the ONA would be operational starting Feb. 1, 2026.
Imagine if Democrat lawmakers cared about their own tax-paying constituents as much as they do for illegal migrants.
