I hope Governor LePage's first act in office wasn't part of a larger anti-freedom agenda. Targeting immigrants does nothing to create jobs or fix the economy, yet that was Governor LePage's first act: signing an executive order allowing state officials to inquire about immigration status of those who approach their agencies.
You can read more about the executive order in the Bangor Daily News, Lewiston Sun Journal, or Portland Press Herald articles or listen to Maine Public Radio's coverage of the Governor's action targeting immigrants here:
Day One: Governor LePage Cracks Down on Undocumented Immigrants
It doesn't matter where we are born. We're all human, and we have a responsibility to take care of one another. I am inspired by the iconic lines of the Emma Lazurus poem inscribed on a plaque at the Statue of Liberty. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..." The United States and Maine have always been beacons of liberty and freedom to the rest of the world. Governor LePage's executive order contradicts that tradition of being a welcoming place.
I hope Governor LePage will focus on jobs and the economy, as he promised during the campaign. Targeting immigrants, people of color, or any other minority group for harrassment and discrimination doesn't help the economy; it just makes all of us feel a little less safe and a little less free. Voters didn't endorse an anti-freedom agenda. Governor LePage shouldn't either.
