The Maine Wire
  • News
  • Commentary
  • Maine Wire TV
  • Podcasts
  • About
  • Contact
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending News
  • Portland Man Fatally Stabs Himself after Police Respond to Burglary Attempt
  • Nearly Half Of Homeschool Parents Cite ‘Liberal’ Public Schools As Motivating Factor: POLL
  • Offshore Wind Making Everything More Expensive, From Lobsters To Electricity: FRANK LASSEE
  • House Republicans Launch Probe into Biden Energy Secretary’s Disasterous Taxpayer-Funded EV Road Trip
  • IRS Grants Tax Extension to Feb. 15 for Mainers Affected by Hurricane Lee
  • Portland City Council to Consider $134,000 150-Bed Expansion to Homeless Shelter by Emergency Declaration
  • Dangerous Company: Sam Patten’s Memoir Is a Riveting Insight Into 25 Years of American Foreign Policy
  • New Maine CDC Director Recommends Masks and Latest COVID Booster for Everybody Ages 6 months and Older
Facebook Twitter Instagram
The Maine Wire
Login
Wednesday, September 27
  • News
  • Commentary
  • Maine Wire TV
  • Podcasts
  • About
  • Contact
The Maine Wire
Home » News » Mills: Maine “Needs” Refugees to Fill Jobs
Maine and New England

Mills: Maine “Needs” Refugees to Fill Jobs

Steve RobinsonBy Steve RobinsonNovember 4, 2022Updated:November 4, 2022No Comments3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Reddit
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email

Gov. Janet Mills said in a debate Thursday Maine needs more asylum seekers and refugees in order to provide businesses with labor.

“Do I encourage them to come? Interesting question. I haven’t done anything to encourage or discourage them. But we have tried to make Maine a welcoming place,” said Mills.

“Because, look, I go around the state of Maine and business tell me what they need is more workers. These people have work credentials, they have experience, we need them to be here to work,” she said.

Gov. Mills said Thursday that Maine needs asylum seekers and refugees to fill job openings in the state, though it remains illegal for asylum seekers to work. https://t.co/8ZmeXitTYX pic.twitter.com/X915VSAaSu

— The Maine Wire (@TheMaineWire) November 4, 2022

Under federal law, only those granted asylum status and permanent residency in the U.S. may legally work. Those who have applied for asylum status or who have had their requests for asylum rejected may not work legally in the U.S.

[RELATED: State Commission Wants New $182M Per Year Welfare Program for Renters, Including Asylum Seekers…]

Most asylum claims are rejected, meaning an individual present in the U.S. cannot work legally, according to Dept. of Justice data. In recent years, only 14 out of 100 asylum requests were deemed legitimate.

Mills said she wanted Congress to pass a new law allowing certain non-citizens to work legally in Maine, though it was unclear whether she was referring to the minority of asylum seekers that actually get permanent resident status or to asylum seekers generally.

Currently, there are more than 500 families living in hotels and motels under the federal Emergency Rental Assistance program. Many — if not most — are asylum seekers, refugees, or foreign nationals — the state isn’t keeping track and can’t say how many are citizens and how many aren’t.

The ERA program never made citizenship a requirement when it started paying out the rental benefits. Although some states administering their ERA programs did make citizenship a requirement for receiving the benefit, Maine did not.

Since 2021, the state has been using federal money to pay for this population to stay in hotels and motels, but the federal funding supporting this program will expire at the end of the month.

The state hasn’t said what the plan is to deal with the sudden crisis of homeless refugees that could result in December, other than suggesting some affordable housing might be available.

A housing Commission in Augusta has floated the idea of creating a permanent new welfare program that would spend more than $182 million per year on housing assistance to replace the expiring federal program.

[RELATED: Crisis Looms As Maine Emergency Rental Program Funding Ends in November…]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Previous ArticleNPR Plays Audio of Woman Getting Abortion
Next Article Moderator Fail: 4.5 Mins on “Gender Pay Gap” Misses Mills’ Female Staff Making Less Than Men
Steve Robinson
  • Twitter

Steve Robinson is the Editor-in-Chief of The Maine Wire. ‪He can be reached by email at Robinson@TheMaineWire.com.

Related Posts

New Maine CDC Director Recommends Masks and Latest COVID Booster for Everybody Ages 6 months and Older

September 25, 2023

Chinese Foreign Nationals Entering U.S. Illegally at Record Levels

September 25, 2023

Maine Private School Teacher Was Fired After Criticizing Critical Race Theory and Posting Jordan Peterson Videos

September 25, 2023

Leave A Reply

Recent News

Portland Man Fatally Stabs Himself after Police Respond to Burglary Attempt

September 26, 2023

Nearly Half Of Homeschool Parents Cite ‘Liberal’ Public Schools As Motivating Factor: POLL

September 26, 2023

House Republicans Launch Probe into Biden Energy Secretary’s Disasterous Taxpayer-Funded EV Road Trip

September 26, 2023

IRS Grants Tax Extension to Feb. 15 for Mainers Affected by Hurricane Lee

September 26, 2023

Portland City Council to Consider $134,000 150-Bed Expansion to Homeless Shelter by Emergency Declaration

September 26, 2023
Newsletter

News

  • News
  • Campaigns & Elections
  • Opinion & Commentary
  • Media Watch
  • Education
  • Media

Maine Wire

  • About the Maine Wire
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Commentary
  • Complaints
  • Maine Policy Institute

Resources

  • Maine Legislature
  • Legislation Finder
  • Get the Newsletter
  • Maine Wire TV

Facebook Twitter Instagram Steam RSS
  • Post Office Box 7829, Portland, Maine 04112

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

Sign In or Register

Welcome Back!

Login below or Register Now.

Lost password?

Register Now!

Already registered? Login.

A password will be e-mailed to you.