This week, Mills said she will allow LD 1971 to become law because she feels Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have engaged in “unacceptable actions,” though she still feels the law is “imperfect,” according to WMTW-TV.
Mills had dallied on signing the bill into law by failing to sign it during the ten-day window she had to do so. Since she missed the time limit, she had only two choices; veto it and scotch the bill, or let it become law without her signature. She chose the latter.
In an op ed excusing her actions, Mills called ICE “dangerous” and attacked federal immigration officials for arresting illegal aliens who otherwise have “no criminal records.”
Calling law-breaking illegals in Maine “immigrants,” Mills lamented that they are “wondering if they will pay a devastating price for believing in the welcoming promise of this country every time they drop their kids off at school to go to work to make a living for themselves and their family.”
Mills complained that ICE is “abducting U.S. citizens,” accused Trump and the federal government of “committing abuses,” and exclaimed that Trump has “weaponized” immigration enforcement.
While allowing this anti-law enforcement bill to pass into law, the left-wing governor also repealed a previous governor’s executive order mandating that state law enforcement cooperate with ICE and federal officials.
Mills also falsely claimed that ICE is “targeting school children.”
“By repealing the executive order and allowing this bill to become law,” she wrote, “Maine is making clear what we believe: that the federal government should overhaul a failed immigration system that is trapping law-abiding people in the shadows; that it should target criminals who actually pose a danger to public safety, not schoolchildren and their parents; and that no one will make us abandon our neighbors based on the color of their skin or the country they once, if ever, called home.”
LD 1971 was introduced by Somali immigrant Deqa Dhalac, who became a Democrat member of the state House of Representatives from Portland. In her introduction of the bill she engaged in identity politics and celebrated herself as the “first immigrant, black, Muslim, woman” elected to office in Maine.
Despite Mill’s full-throated support of LD 1971, Dhalc nonetheless blasted the governor for waiting too long to actually sign it into law directly.
“When the Legislature enacted this bill last June, we made it clear that defining the boundaries between state law enforcement and federal immigration authorities was critical to safeguarding our communities. Local police taking part in enforcing federal immigration law damages their relationship with immigrant communities, erodes public trust and makes us all less safe, whether we are immigrants or not,” Dhalac said in a statement.
“This new law will protect the dignity, due process, and public safety of all who call our state home,” she added.
Maine’s Republican Party issued a statement criticizing Mills for not vetoing the bill.
“Limiting cooperation between Maine law enforcement and federal authorities — a longstanding tradition due to Maine’s extensive foreign border — shows a reckless disregard for public safety and will put Maine’s public at risk,” the GOP statement reads.
The state GOP added that LD 1971 shields dangerous criminals and prevents law enforcement from doing their jobs to ensure public safety.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: Facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston, or at X/Twitter @WTHuston
Breitbart News
Read the full article .
