immigration

On Thursday, September 4th, representatives of organizations who have an interest in immigration issues held a conversation by phone to discuss an educational response to false anti-immigrant ads that the Portland Press Herald has called "misleading," "absurd" and "mean-spirited" and the Bangor Daily News has called "di

Earlier this year, the LePage administration proposed a rule change in the Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS) General Assistance program that would cut funding for certain categories of immigrants, including refugees and asylum seekers who settle in Maine after fleeing from political turmoil and persecution in their home countries. For these immigrant families trying to get on their feet in their new communities, General Assistance is sometimes their only financial lifeline.

If you’re wondering how to tell that it’s an election year for the House of Representatives, look no further than the de facto understanding out of Washington that no substantial legislation will move

forward in 2014. As elected officials, particularly those in contested races, look to hunker down and ride out the year MPA’s work becomes that much more important. It’s the job of MPA members to hold legislators responsible on issues of social and economic justice and to use 2014 as a chance to distinguish between champions for change and those who are content with the status quo.

The recent introduction by the LePage administration of a rule change in DHHS’s General Assistance program that would cut funding for certain categories of immigrants was a serious blow to families in Maine struggling to build new lives in a new home, but it also provided an opportunity to immigrant groups to stand up as one, together with allies from advocacy organizations, faith leaders and other stakeholders, and fight this rule change together.

A core American belief is that all people have rights, no matter what they look like or where they came from. American values tell us that families should be allowed to stay together and that there needs to be a common-sense immigration process that includes a roadmap to citizenship for those who aspire to be citizens.

Public backs elected officials who vote for Senate immigration bill
 
As debate on the bipartisan immigration bill gets underway in the Senate, the Maine People’s Alliance, joined by the Maine Chamber of Commerce and the Maine AFL-CIO, released the results of a new poll conducted by Public Policy Polling showing overwhelming public support for comprehensive immigration reform in Maine.
 

Mother’s Day event reminder of need for legislation that keeps families together

Maine mothers and their children visited the office of Senator Collins in Portland to deliver a crucial message to Maine’s Senior Senator: No mother in this country should have to worry about having her family torn apart by our broken immigration system.

Maine Chamber of Commerce, Unions United in Call for Comprehensive Immigration Legislation

On Wednesday, immigrants, community leaders and representatives from Maine labor and business organizations gathered on the steps of the First Parish Church in Portland to call on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
 

Strong support for roadmap to citizenship for current immigrants

Members of the Maine Small Business Coalition, a partner of the Maine People's Alliance, gathered at the Tawakal Store in Portland today to react to the results of a new national poll of small business owners on the issue of immigration reform. The survey found that by a margin of two to one (67% - 27%), small business owners not only support immigration reform, but a roadmap to citizenship for the more than 11 million immigrants living in this country as well.