Maine’s House and Senate Republicans excoriated Secretary of State Shenna Bellows in a letter last week asking why an Angolan illegal immigrant who killed a pedestrian in Lewiston was able to drive with Maine credentials.
“This tragic death comes on the heels of your public statement that, as Administrator of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, you would refuse to share vital information with federal law enforcement. This begs the question: how are you determining legal presence for non-United States Citizens applying for drivers’ licenses in Maine,” said the Republicans.
[RELATED: Bellows Promises that Maine BMV Won’t Share Information with ICE Unless Required by Law…]
“If you’re not willing to prioritize your official duties over your gubernatorial campaign, we feel it is incumbent upon you to resign from the position before you damage the Department of the Secretary of State beyond repair,” they added.
House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor), Assistant House Republican Leader Katrina Smith (R-Palermo), Senate Republican Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook), and Assistant Senate Republican Leader Matt Harrington (R-York) sent the letter on August 20.
In it, they addressed the tragic death of a Massachusetts woman in Lewiston after she was struck by Lionel Francisco, 31, an Angolan illegal immigrant driving with a Maine learner’s permit issued by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). As Secretary of State, Bellows oversees the operations of the BMV.
The Republicans questioned the BMV’s procedures for approving license applications, which allow legal immigrants, apparently even those on tourist visas, to obtain licenses that seemingly do not expire with a visa expiration, allowing an immigrant who overstays his visa, like Francisco, to continue driving.
[RELATED: How Do Illegals Wind Up with Maine Drivers Licenses?…]
One day after the Republicans sent their letter, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed that another Angolan who overstayed a tourist visa, Mukendi Mbiya, 49, struck and killed a pedestrian in New Gloucester. Mbiya was operating under a Maine license.
The letter also addressed a recent statement from Bellows in which she told the immigrant-focused news outlet Amjambo Africa that the BMV would not provide any information to federal authorities unless explicitly required by law.
Republicans called out Bellows for her unwillingness to provide voter registration data to the federal government. Instead of complying with a request for information that could have been used to identify and remove ineligible voters, she told the federal government to “go jump in the Gulf of Maine.”
Pointing to that refusal and the issuance of Maine driving credentials to tourists who then overstayed their visas, the Republicans called Bellows’s impartiality into question and suggested that she is unfit to carry out the duties of Secretary of State while she runs for governor as a Democrat.
“Actions you’ve taken in your official capacity raise unavoidable concerns regarding your ability to continue to serve impartially as Maine’s Secretary of State,” they said.
“The Citizens of Maine deserve full confidence that the individual overseeing our elections and motor vehicle laws does so with impartiality, transparency and without the appearance of conflict,” they added.
Rep. Amy Arata (R-New Gloucester) emailed Bellows addressing the BMV’s licensing standards, particularly the licensing of Mbiya, who killed a pedestrian in her district.
Bellows’ office responded to Arata’s concerns on Tuesday, claiming that the BMV acted appropriately.
“We checked in with our BMV colleagues regarding Mr. Mbiya’s driver license status. He’s held a Maine license since 2019, and BMV staff have repeatedly checked his legal presence status (whether or not he is legally authorized to be in the United States) as is required by Maine driver license laws,” said Bellows’ office.
“Even if he were a licensed driver in his prior country of residence, he would have had to take both the written and road exam in the United States in order to earn his driving privilege. Only licensed drivers from other US states may transition to a Maine license without those tests,” she added.
Though Bellows’ response claims that the BMV has made repeated checks on Mbiya’s legal status since he first received his license in 2019, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that his visa required him to leave the country by June 22, 2019.
This suggests that either the BMV has not been checking on Mbiya’s legal status as they claim, or BMV employees were incapable of correctly assessing that status despite “repeated” checks for over six years.
Meanwhile, Rep. Barbara Bagshaw (R-Windham) wrote to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on August 15 asking the Justice Department to look into Bellows’ opposition to cleaning voter rolls and to various bills Bagshaw introduced in the legislature’s last session to compel her to do so. This, like the Justice Department’s request earlier this month that Bellows’ office share voting data, bears on another key area of responsibility in her day job: supervising Maine’s elections.
On August 11, Bellows told the U.S. Department of Justice to “go jump in the Gulf of Maine.” While her response to Rep. Arata reflects a higher degree of seriousness, to those concerned about the perils of illegal aliens driving legally on Maine’s roads, it might not be quite serious enough.
