Maine Democrats Push Law to Shield

Illegal Immigrants from Police Officers

 

Legislation would prohibit law enforcement from questioning immigration status, or working with the Feds to apprehend foreign gangsters, drug dealers and child traffickers

 

By:  David Deschesne

Fort Fairfield Journal June 5, 2019

 

AUGUSTA, Maine – Bill LD 1589 is making its way through the Maine House of Representatives. If passed, it would essentially designate Maine a “sanctuary state” for illegal immigrants, gangsters, child traffickers and drug dealers.

   The Bill, which is receiving wide support from the Democrats, was presented by Representative Craig Hickman (D-Winthrop) and comes on the heels of a recent ICE sweep across New England that rounded up dozens of immigrants who gained access to the U.S. illegally.

   The Bill, dubbed the “Maine Liberty Act” in order to hide its true intent, states in its Findings and Purpose section, “The Legislature finds and declares that immigrants are valuable and essential members of the community of the State.  A relationship of trust between the State’s immigrant community and state and local agencies is central to the public safety and well-being of the people of the State.”

   What is lost in this opening statement is the fact that those immigrants who are in the U.S. legally are not the problem.  Rather, those who kidnap children in order to claim “amnesty” at the border, and those who traffic in child sex slaves and illicit drugs from foreign countries are the problem and would be effectively shielded from investigation by local and state police if this bill passes into law.

   The bill seeks to dissolve the relationship between state and local law enforcement agencies with federal immigration enforcement programs, effectively making Maine a “free” state for those in the country illegally.

   The bill does not prohibit police from arresting an illegal immigrant for crimes committed, but does prohibit them from arresting, detaining or sharing information with federal agencies specifically for the illegal immigration status.

   The bill summary lays out the relationship between state and federal agencies, including correctional facilities and federal immigration authorities, by “Prohibiting a law enforcement agency from stopping, investigating, interrogating, arresting or detaining a person solely for immigration enforcement purposes, including in response to a hold request, immigration detainer or administrative warrant issued by the United States Department of Homeland Security, or allowing the United States Department of Homeland Security access to inmates, inmate information or law enforcement agency resources or personnel to assist immigration enforcement activities.”

   In short, a person can jump the border illegally, end up in Maine, the feds can know about it and be tracking them, but Maine’s law enforcement would be prohibited from assisting in the capture or detention of that person.

   If LD 1589 is passed into law, a Maine law enforcement agency would be prohibited from investigating, interrogating, detaining, detecting, stopping, or arresting a person solely for immigration enforcement purposes.  They would also be prohibited from detaining a person on the basis of a hold request by the Department of Homeland Security and would not be allowed to provide any information to DHS regarding a person’s release date unless that information was available to the public.   Law enforcement officers would also be prohibited from assisting immigration authorities or activities described in 8 United States Code, section 1357(a)(3).

   The bill also prohibits law enforcement agencies from providing any assistance in any way to federal immigration authorities such as providing an interpreter, or transferring an illegal immigrant to an immigration authority without a court order.

  It also releases a law enforcement agency from civil or criminal liability “in releasing a person subject to a hold request.”

   Some Democratically controlled cities across the country are already experimenting with this tactic of violating federal immigration law by allowing illegal immigrants into their jurisdictions with no threat of arrest.  These so-called “sanctuary cities” are offering free welfare and food assistance to those who chose to enter the U.S. illegally – some of whom have done so for nefarious purposes such as drug sales and child prostitution. 

   Portland, Maine has recently declared itself a “sanctuary city” for illegals and opened its city treasury to all illegal immigrants only to find they don’t have enough money to provide for the additional strain on their financial resources.  As a result, the city has petitioned the legislature in Augusta to provide State money to them in order to fund their coddling of illegal immigrant criminals within their city.

   The legislation is obviously a liberal attack on the policies of the Trump administration as it attempts shore up a broken and dilapidated immigration enforcement policy which has allowed criminals unchecked illegal entry to the U.S. for the past several presidential administrations.