Driven from their home countries, and rejected and waved on by everyone else, dozens of asylum seekers from Africa are staying for the meantime on cots in a gymnasium-turned-emergency shelter in Portland.
For stranding so many vulnerable, untethered people within a broken immigration system – whether it be along the southern border, in awful detention camps or in a crowded gym with no way to support themselves – the United States should be ashamed of itself.
For offering help to their neighbors, even if those neighbors arrived yesterday and from 13,000 miles away, Portland should be proud.
But it’s not only Maine’s largest city that will ultimately benefit from the new arrivals – the state as a whole will be invigorated, just as it has been before by waves of migrants. That’s why the Mills administration should help ease the short-term burden on Portland.
Nearly 100 migrants arrived in Portland in the first half of this week, and another 150 or so are expected soon. The families are from the broken African countries of Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and arrived here by way of Central America, Mexico and the San Antonio, Texas, border crossing.
They’re here because Portland has established communities of African immigrants – and few barriers to assistance, even for those who don’t qualify for state programs.
For asylum seekers, it’s a lifeline. Asylum seekers are not allowed to work for at least six months while their claims are processed. The Trump administration has made things worse, slowing down and disrupting the asylum process in a way that has encouraged Africans to come through the southern border.
Now, many African asylum seekers are being released into the U.S. without “parole,” a designation that allows them access to government assistance while they wait for a decision on asylum.
Unsafe in their home countries, vulnerable to violence and exploitation outside of the U.S., and unable to work here or access assistance for housing or food, asylum seekers are left in a horrible, stateless limbo. It’s easy to see why Portland’s generosity is so inviting.
Of course, the city has ulterior motives. City officials are betting that this wave of immigrants, when all is said and done, will be more of a benefit than a burden, just as previous waves of African immigrants have proved to be, and Asians and Europeans before them.
It is a good bet, and one Maine – whose population is old and getting older, and which is struggling to have enough babies or attract enough immigrants – should make every time. The asylum seekers are in Portland now, but in a few years they will be residents of the suburbs, and further out. They will be students, workers and business owners.
The Mills administration has been in touch with Portland officials since the latest busload of migrants arrived and is helping to coordinate the response. State health and emergency management resources have been engaged. The University of Southern Maine has offered dorm rooms.
But there is more the state can and should do. Mills has a contingency fund she can tap into in an emergency like this and she should consider changing the rules on General Assistance to make help for migrants available in than one municipality.
State officials are expected to meet with the city Friday. Portland has stepped up for the sake of the migrants, and for Maine’s future. Gov. Mills should follow their lead.
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