The U.K.’s Daily Mail, the largest newspaper in the western world, scorched the policies of Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) and Democratic lawmakers in a Thursday article exposing how far left policies have left Maine taxpayers, including military veterans, stranded in the cold, while recently arrived migrants receive lux digs at taxpayers’ expense.
From the DailyMail.com:
Residents and GOP politicians are slamming Maine officials for lavishing millions of dollars on ‘Taj Mahal’ homes for asylum seekers while the state’s veterans and US-born homeless are struggling.
Republicans say the Democrat-run state has spent $34 million on shelters, hotels, and ‘luxury apartments’ for migrants, even as Maine Veterans’ Homes and other shelters for ex-servicemen face cash shortfalls.
Much of the anger is directed at the 24 one- and two-bedroom apartments in attractive, three-story clapboard blocks that were recently given rent-free to 60 migrant families on the edge of Brunswick.
One of the new migrant residents called her new home a ‘palace’ compared to the shelters she’d been staying previously.
Maine families have to pay $2,300 per month for comparable two-bedroom homes nearby, which come with marble countertops, oversize refrigerators and cookers.
Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart, a Republican, at a recent press conference compared the luxury rent-free homes to the Taj Mahal, an extravagant marble mausoleum in India.
‘It’s really striking to me that folks in rural Maine are being told to do more with less, while Taj Mahals are being built for other folks in more urban places that aren’t even Maine residents or Maine citizens,’ Stewart said.
Maine House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham says the state-run MaineHousing organization has allocated more than $33.2 million in emergency housing assistance to help asylum seekers.
That amounts to nearly two thirds of the state’s total emergency housing fund, which would be better spent on housing for veterans and the homeless in one of America’s coldest states, he added.
Much of the money has been spent on new shelters and hotel rooms, including nearly $14 million to accommodate 80 migrant families in Saco.
Another $4.4 million has been spent on hotel stays in South Portland.
As previously reported by the Maine Wire, Maine State Rep. Deqa Dhalac (D-South Portland) has gone so far as to say Maine’s taxpayer resources ought to go to migrants before they go to U.S. military veterans because the veterans have the advantage of already speaking English.
Despite the lavish taxpayer funding appropriated toward migrants, many of whom enter the country illegally and later claim asylum, far left advocacy groups were in Augusta this week claiming that Maine workers are not sending enough of their tax dollars towards so-called “New Americans.”
The Mills Administration’s prioritization of non-citizens ahead of Mainers has become the subject of intense debate at the State House as Mills seeks funding to establish an “Office of New Americans” to help migrants sign up for welfare benefits, housing benefits, and job training.
The Mills Administration’s effort to entice tens of thousands of unskilled migrant laborers to Maine comes amid record levels of illegal immigration at the southern border.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 1.2 million illegal aliens have been encountered attempting to enter the U.S. illegally since October
Once an illegal alien encounters a U.S. immigration official, all they need to do is claim they have a credible fear of returning to their home country and they become classified as “asylum seekers” — a classification which grants them temporary legal status in the U.S. during immigration proceedings that can drag on for five years or more.
At the end of those proceedings, if an asylum claim is determined to be illegitimate, as most are, the illegal alien is expected to self-deport.
More from the Daily Mail:
Close to $5.3 million has been allocated to an asylum seeker shelter in Portland, the GOP said.
‘Taxpayers need to know how this money is being spent,’ said Faulkingham.
‘This is unacceptable.’
Faulkingham also accuses Maine’s Democratic Gov Janet Mills of looking to add 75,000 asylum seekers to the state by 2029.
The Mills administration’s says it has a 10-year plan to attract 75,000 new workers to fill empty jobs, but that will mostly involve educating Mainers and attracting newcomers from out-of-state.
Rep Gary Drinkwater described one cash-strapped Mainer who’d been ‘couch-surfing’ for five years, while many veterans struggled to put a roof over their heads.
Executives at Maine Veterans’ Homes this week said they faced a $11.7 million shortfall this year after recording a $17.1 million loss last year, according to Maine Public.
That could threaten the homes for nearly 800 veterans and more than 200 family members at facilities in Augusta, Bangor, Caribou, Machias, Scarborough and South Paris.
As a VET and a US citizen, Maine resident this really pisses me off. Gov Kills could care less about us taxpaying legal citizens!!
Mills wants another 75,000 of these leeches. Keep voting Democrat, numbskulls!
These politicians are mentally ill and are supporting an insurrection of our government.
These politicians are supporting an insurrection of the vilest order.
This is tragic; as a Veteran’s wife … we have spent 30 years serving this country away from home, away from the U.S. for nine of those years. The law makers have opened a Pandora’s Box with a plethora of consequences they did not have the foresight or discernment to consider before embarking on this course of action. Shame on them for being so careless with taxpayer’s hard earned money to support those who contribute nothing to society but ravage it and weaken the states economy…
It’s high time to find those who serve Maine’s interests best!
Let’s think about this for a second. Maine sadly already has a majority of democrats in the state, so why would they want to import thousands of potential voters and at the same time alienate native voters? Even the dullest of liberals should be able to see that they’re actually the target for replacement.
I’d like to point out that Rep. Dhalac, who is a Sharia-compliant Muslim hacktivist, voted for LD 1619 the full-term abortion bill. Under Islamic doctrine, abortions are Haram (forbidden). I’d say that was a tad hypocritical, but after all, she is a Democrat. PS: if I’m not mistaken, she has some tattoos which are also considered Haram. Typical.
Janet Mills and her new National Guard General Diane Dunnare coming up with a plan to train them for service. Diane Dunn’s main focus and specialty is DEI Initiatives. Let that sink in. Many of these “New Mainers” will be recruited into our military which is why they are prioritizing them over Veterans.
https://www.maine.gov/governor/mills/news/governor-mills-announces-retirement-maine-adjutant-general-douglas-farnham-nomination
“She is a thoughtful, strategic leader with terrific judgment, who has helped the university advance key initiatives in areas ranging from diversity, equity and inclusion…”
https://umaine.edu/news/blog/2023/12/15/umaine-and-ums-leaders-salute-gov-mills-nomination-of-gen-dunn-to-head-maine-national-guard/
The single most important element of this argument is that within the State Constitution is a clause stipulating “FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY”, something that Mills and her demonrats collegues have completely disavouded to their oath of office. A good Republican lawyer could file an injunction and immediately stop the flow of money on this taxpayer funded gravy train. I have yet to find any lawyer with the balls to step up to the plate and file this order to the Maine Supreme Court.
Many of the “New Mainers” will be enlisted into the National Guard, facilitated by Janet’s new General she appointed. This new General focused her entire career on DEI Initiatives. Her name is Dianne Dunn. Google her name and Diversity Equity & Inclusion. You’ll find all you need to know. Maine is done.
This is why they are prioritizing the “New Mainers” over Maine Veterans. This isn’t accidental.
Replacement of the natural and legal citizenship of the USA with folks who do not want to be a part of the prevailing culture or who may not legally be residing here is the democrat’s stupid and short-sighted goal of “changing America” a la Barak Obama. Mills is just doing her part to help Biden with this federal replacement push here in Maine. Democrats are just plain malevolently stupid–all the while claiming to take the moral high ground. Wake up, everyone!!!
At 76,I can’t believe I’m seriously contemplating leaving Maine. It is not just Portland and the other cities.
The suburbanites simply see no danger. Well, except Republicans being a danger.
And, plenty of older boomers are simply
Mind controlled by television and other media. Once they got LaPage , the rest was easy
This isn’t a ‘migrant first’ problem. This is an anti-White problem. These invaders are being brought here solely because they are not White and they are specifically being put in areas that are very White, such as Maine, in order to dissolve White identity and White political power.
There is a monograph which was written in 2015 by Ann Corcoran, “Refugee Resettlement and the *Hijra to America.” Changing the people will change the culture was the basic theme. Few paid attention to the warning. Anyone who spoke up was labeled a racist, a bigot, a xenophobe, an Islamophobe, a hater and a fear monger. * Hijra is a command by the ProMo to emigrate, colonize and proselytize for Islam. No assimilation required.
Catholic Charities and other agencies initiated that process and now the Leftist open borders crowd funded by the UN has grown the illegal invasion exponentially allowing unvetted, unskilled, welfare dependent, non-English speaking fake asylees and refugees here from all over the globe. 1.1 million legal immigrants annually apparently isn’t enough.
What responses do we get from the absolutely clueless political hacks? They need more money to fix the problem that they helped create. No wonder politicians and journalists rate even lower than prostitutes on lists of least trusted and ethical professions.
Janet TrustFund mills hates heterosexual men.
Wake up Mainers! It’s going to get much worse here going forward for the LEGAL CITIZENS of our state if we do not start demanding that our local and state government officials provide transparency and accountability for plans for these “alysum seekers”. This is unsustainable for the working class Mainers ! How do we American citizens, afford to foot the bill for illegal immigrants when we’re drowning in inflation, higher taxes,
and not able to provide first for our own citizens or for ourselves and our families. Mainers need to speak up to our political representatives, make them accountable for their legislation!!!! Start paying attention to what your representatives are doing in Augusta!!!!!!! Educate yourself!!! Make our local media accountable for telling the truth and start calling all of them out for their lack of truth and transparency, and bias!!! Channel 6, 8, 13 act like state propaganda instead of a free, non bias, non political press! Welfare reform needs to be a political debate issue now!!!