Maine Governor Paul Lepage has threatened to cut state funding from the General Assistance Program to cities and towns that give aid to undocumented immigrants, a move that highlights increasing national anxiety over immigration reform and its trickle-down effect to the states, according to The Associated Press.
In a radio address Tuesday, Lepage, a Republican who is seeking re-election in November in what is expected to be a tight race, called on Mainers to "tell your city councilors and selectmen to stop handing out your money to illegals," the AP reported.
Maine's General Assistance Program provides benefits to families with children in emergencies, and receives as much as 90 percent of its funding from the state, according to Maine's Department of Health and Human Services, according to the AP.
Maine Attorney General Janet Mills, a Democrat, said the governor had overstepped his authority and worried the move would force city and town officials to ask everyone about their immigration status, the AP reported.
"The person fleeing domestic violence, the victim of human trafficking, the asylum seeker awaiting federal approval ... are least likely to have this paperwork on hand during a crisis," Mills said in a statement, according to the AP. Lepage said he was simply enforcing an 18-year-old federal law. "What about 'illegal' doesn't she understand?" he said.
Mills' statements suggest the feud could be headed to court as the window for national immigration reform begins to close, the AP reported.
President Barack Obama has pushed to create a pathway to citizenship for some 11 million undocumented residents but action has stalled in the Republican-controlled House as mid-term elections approach and political rancor increases, according to the AP.
The debate also highlights the divide in the closely watched race for governor in Maine between the Tea Party-backed incumbent Lepage and challenger Mike Michaud, a Democratic U.S. representative who, if elected, would be the country's first governor to declare he is gay before taking office, the AP reported. A recent poll shows Michaud and Lepage in a statistical dead heat.
