A message from the Hancock Country Democrats:
Background: We previously suggested that Janet Mills should sign LD 1971. (1) The title of the bill is “An Act to Protect Workers in This State by Clarifying the Relationship of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies with Federal Immigration Authorities” and the text of the bill can be found here.
Last Friday night, at the Maine Dems Gala in Portland (an excellent event BTW!) she sat at the same dinner table with Governor Pritzker, had a private audience with him prior to the dinner, and listened to his keynote speech where he gave a blistering takedown of ICE actions in Illinois. After the dinner, I asked her if listening to Pritzker might have moved her to reconsider her reluctance to sign LD 1971. Her reply? “I think about it every day”, and then she went on to say that she was thinking of crafting an alternative, involving the law enforcement community.
All well and good, but this is an emergency. Maine law enforcement should not be put in a position where they are acting as an arm of the federal DHS/ICE, no matter how much the feds try to sweeten the deal with offers of equipment, funding or other inducements to local law enforcers. LD 1971 passed the Maine legislature on the 18th of JUNE “to be enacted”, but was HELD by Governor Mills on JULY 8. She has had lots of time – almost half a year – to craft her proposed alternative. We have seen NOTHING. This is unacceptable. She touts her resolve to stand strong against Trumpian overreach. She needs to follow her historic “see you in court” statement with proof that she means it.
Action: Call Janet Mills. Ask her to sign the legislation. As with any other legislation, if it needs to be modified after some experience in the field, that is always an option.
Contact:
Governor Janet Mills
https://www.maine.gov/governor/mills/contact
Extra Credit:
See Action 138 which we sent out June 20. Action 138 can be read online at https://isledems.org/actionitems/action-138-call-janet-again
