In remarks on the House floor on Wednesday, Democratic Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (CD-1) advocated for shifting funds from the construction of border fencing to pay for more migrants to be bused into Maine, and to pay for migrant housing and expenses.
WATCH:
Rep. Pingree’s remarks came during the House Appropriations Committee debate on the fiscal year 2025 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations bill.
A Democrat-proposed amendment to the appropriations package would move $600 million from the construction of border fencing to a municipal emergency shelter program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Shelter and Services Program.
“This funding is particularly important to one of the cities that I represent, the city of Portland, Maine,” Pingree began her remarks. “You know, we all talk about big cities like New York, and we all have all kinds of concerns about this, but let’s be clear: In my state, this funding is critically important to supporting our city, which has been very welcoming to asylum seekers.”
“And they [the asylum seekers] didn’t just come since Joe Biden became the president,” Pingree continued. “They were coming across the border, getting into buses, in the previous administration.”
“Some of you may not have been to Maine, but it is the whitest state in the nation, it’s the oldest state in the nation, and we’ve had a tremendous worker shortage,” she said. “And I challenge any of you to have a meeting with your chamber of commerce, and not have people say to you my ‘biggest issue is getting enough workers to come to work for the jobs that we have available.'”
The Maine Democrat then questioned the Republican members on “why you’re so opposed to having new people welcomed into our country.”
“These are not illegal people, they are in our state legally seeking asylum,” Pingree claimed. “Yes, they have to apply for asylum, and then they have to wait for six months to get a work permit. So, in the interim time, our cities have to support people because they can’t get to work — and believe me, they desperately want to go to work.”
According to data from the Syracuse University Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), as of April 2024 there was a backlog of nearly 3.6 million cases in U.S. Immigration Courts, with about 1.3 million of those cases being pending asylum cases.
Pingree has advanced a bill, the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act, that would lower the wait time for asylum-seeking migrants to obtain a work permit to 30 days.
Due to the six-month wait period, Pingree argued, “we have to pay for housing, and support people until they can go and get a job and pay for their own housing and pay for their own life expenses — which they desperately want to do.”
[RELATED: Mills Admin, Nonprofits, and Big Biz Back New Migrant Resettlement Agency for Maine…]
Advocating for the $600 million in funding to the FEMA program, Pingree claimed “it moves people from the congestion at the border to cities all over our country, and it is way to support that going on.”
“So as far as I’m concerned, this is just a common sense way to deal with the number of asylum seekers who want to come into our country today, and we should continue to support it,” Pingree added.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="28647 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=28647">26 Comments
As always Chellie who is a Communist and could care less about the citizens of Maine. She is more worried about illegal aliens and having a cheap slave labor force. How about helping the homeless in Maine? She is a real POS and the idiots in CD1 just keep voting her in time after time.
Who is she kidding? They don’t want to pay their own bills and housing – they want US to pay all their needs – forever! Pingree should invite them to her fancy B&B if she thinks having them here is so great.
Greater Idaho. Look it up. Large chunks of eastern Oregon (possibly northern Cali) are looking to create a larger Idaho. If Pingo isn’t careful, she’ll help sow that idea into tiny Southern Maine and a much larger, RED Northern Maine. IMHO, I’d be just fine as a Northerner.
She is totally wrong!!!! THEY ARE ILLEGAL!
Asylum seekers should not travel thousands of miles, paid for by NGO’s, to reach the FIRST safe country. How many countries did they pass through to get here?
Why should Maine taxpayers foot the bill for these illegals? Listen to the numerous interviews that have taken place at the border, all the illegals say is that they are here for everything Biden promised them… free housing, education, medical… nothing about working. They want to take OUR money and send it back toothier home country. Follow the money… every week thousands of dollars are sent overseas by these illegals!!!
STOP ALL INCENTIVES and DEPORT…
Seems to me that I recall her becoming quite wealthy, she should support a few illegals with her money.
Liar and commie tool. She lives in DC so she doesn’t care
Must be why Portland shipped 200 aliens to Sanford. They wanted to share the wealth.
This person has no business representing our state .
She is a disgrace .
VOTE HER OUT IN NOVEMBER …..
Think of it this way, the tens of millions in increase of school budgets this year, you know the same ones that raise your property tax 13-18-23% is being used to support uneducated, non english speaking illegal’s and she wants to dump more into your towns then make it your problem. She does not represent the people of Maine and she must be removed from office.
Democrat policies = money laundering to keep them in power.
Chellie = traitor!
This elected representative is so pathetic that she couldn’t find her way out of a paper bag without a guidebook and why anyone with even 10% of their brain intact would listen to her mumbling diatribe is beyond imagination. Blithering idiot that left wing idiots put in a position of decision making and authority. VOTE THE DUMB BITCH OUT AT THE NEXT ELECTION.
Teachers should move to Florida. “Florida’s education system is number one in the nation, and we want to make sure good educators are attracted to Florida with attractive compensation,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “I am proud to have invested more than $4 billion for teacher pay increases since the beginning of my time in office, and I will continue to push for increased funding for Florida’s teachers.”
Police have moved, why not Educators.
Then the Four bright bulbs can stay and teach in Maine.
Please do not forget that Pingree is one of our “Four Bright Bulbs” guiding the State of Maine. Keep the money coming in.
Common sense! She has none and the CD1 voters keep her in office. I say build the wall and get the huge piles of Mainers that are single of working age off the state tit and back to work!
I live in southern Maine and no one I know votes for this hag. Kinda makes you wonder how secure the voting system is.
This should be quite the campaign gift for Ron Russell!
BTW, there must be plenty of room to build new housing on that Island she and her daughter live on. Imagine the fun they can have when they take those numerous breaks.
Pack these illegals in where ever ftiggn Democrap lives who supports this invasion. Bet they’d change their minds as fast as they did on Martha’s vineyard
Those who cross our borders not in the proper way are criminals. Their attack on America is a criminal action. Tell that stupid lady that I do not even want one more criminal immigrant in the USA and sure don’t want even one more in Maine. You communists promoting this are total fools and totally unamerican
Chellie, Chellie Chellie just when you think you have said everything hurtful and insulting to Maine people and the entire country you manage to do it again. The migrants will only be able to get part time jobs which they will not be able to afford housing, food, medical needs. So now what do we do??? The tax payers won’t mind, some who are WORKING very hard to keep up property taxes, heat and electric bills, Gas in their cars just going to work, repairs on their homes. What a big and caring heart you have for Mainers.
Seeing that Pingree isn’t a Mainer it’s obvious that she doesn’t give a crap about said Mainers! She’s one of those pathetic communist carpetbaggers that hates Mainers and only acts like she gives a crap the five months before election. She’s a disgrace to humanity and to Maine, but democrats will blindly vote for her because they don’t think for themselves!
It does not surprise me. It’s all in the plan! She does not care for Mainers! Vote!! And speak out, everyone!
Chellie, put YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS. All talk, and no action. Lead by example you ultra rich hypocrite. She’s mentally deranged.
Pingree continues to endanger our lives here, she has violated her oath of office, it seems we could gather enough signatures to throw her out sooner rather than later, but someone correct me if Im wrong. Along with Mills and her brother allowing the CCP taking over our state, the danger to our mere existence is pretty obvious.
Perhaps Chellie is “boofing”.
https://www.themainewire.com/2024/06/maine-is-handing-out-free-boofing-kits-to-help-fentanyl-addicts-squirt-drugs-up-their-butts/
Taking away entitlements would force people to get off their asses and get back to work.