A radical Democrat lawmaker in Maine has demanded that illegal aliens be given priority treatment over American veterans.
Democrat State Rep. Deqa Dhalac argues that foreign migrants who crossed the border illegally deserve better treatment than U.S.-born military vets who served their country.
Alarmingly, Dhalac admitted that illegals are already getting priority treatment over veterans while she made her case for a new taxpayer-funded “migrant resettlement” office.
Democrats in Maine have been pushing to rebrand brand illegal aliens as “New Americans.”
In January, Maine Democrat Gov. Janet Mills proposed a new migrant resettlement office within the governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF).
Mills dubbed it the “Office of New Americans” (ONA).
The purpose of the bill, called LD 2167, will be to attract 75,000 new workers over the next five years.
The plan involves incorporating illegal immigrants into Maine’s workforce.
Dhalac, a co-sponsor of the bill, was asked during a legislature hearing why Maine should “fast track” illegal aliens rather than focus the state’s resources on assisting U.S. citizens who served in the military.
Dhalac, who was the first Somali-born mayor in America, replied by arguing that veterans have the advantage of speaking English.
“They have the advantage of speaking the language, most of our military folks,” Dhalac said.
“So these folks that we’re really working on may not have that.
“So it’s going to be really difficult for them to say ‘yes, I used to be an electrician in my country.’”
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“Throughout our histories, our state’s history, we have been enriched by the presence of immigrants,” Dhalac said when touting the bill.
“When immigrants enter the labor force, they increase the productive capacity of the economy and raise the GDP.”
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The bill proposes establishing an advisory council for the ONA as a 19-member body.
The council will advise the office on “matters affecting the long-term economic and civic integration of immigrants in the State.”
At least ten members of the ONA advisory council would be legally required to be immigrants.
Eight of those migrants would appointed by the governor, one by the president of the Senate, and one by the speaker of the House.
Those appointments must also be made with a “good faith effort to ensure that the members of the advisory council reflect geographic, gender, ethnic and racial diversity.”
The governor also claimed the bill will help Maine bring in “new workers.”
“Everywhere you look across Maine, there are help wanted signs,” Mills said during an event in Westbrook on January 19.
“We need workers, and New Americans, who want to support themselves and their families, can be one important part of that solution.
“My Administration will do what we can to ensure that every person can contribute to our economy and successfully enter and stay in our workforce.”
“As we strengthen our economy by attracting talented people to work in Maine, may this Office help us fully harness the contributions of New Americans who have chosen to make our state their home,” Mills added.
Notably, none of the bill’s sponsors could explain how much the new office would cost.
Nor did they reveal how many illegal migrants have already even entered the workforce in the state.
From the Maine Wire:
No one who testified Tuesday provided any information about how many of the 5,000-10,000 migrants who have arrived in Maine since 2019 have entered the workforce, which they are eligible to do after residing in the U.S. for six months.
Hannah Pingree, the director of GOPIF, also claimed that ONA will not provide services, but will “coordinate policy.”
Pingree was unable to provide the Committee with a specific number for how much getting the new office off the ground would cost, but said that Mills would be putting forward funding for the office in her forthcoming supplemental budget proposal.
If the bill passed, the ONA would be operational starting February 1, 2026.
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