Stump Lane

LET’S EVALUATE what was for all intents and purposes the very first act of Maine’s new governor: cracking down on illegal immigration, by executive order, stating “…it is the intent of this Administration to promote rather than hinder the enforcement of federal immigration law…” [via]

The Associated Press reports, in the Bangor Daily News:

LePage spokesman Dan Demeritt said the governor wanted to send a message to those who have heard it’s easy for illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses and social services in Maine.

LePage, asked why he issued the order, said, “We have got many fiscal issues, and I’m intending to take care of Mainers first.”

The order also requires state employees and officials to cooperate with federal officials “on all matters pertinent to immigration.” [AP]

Does one take the governor at his word that this is to do with the state’s “many fiscal issues”? And what is the impact of undocumented residents on state finances really? And do these costs outweigh the cost of policing the situation more stridently?

This executive order, by emphasizing as a priority the exclusion of resident aliens from using state services by compelling state officials to aid in the enforcement of federal laws, will ultimately result in an expansion of the official use of coercive power. This is precisely the kind of power expanding task elements of hierarchical organizations seize upon in the interests of ambition and/or self-preservation.

As Darian Worden recently wrote in an article about Border Patrol sweeps on trains and buses traveling near, but not crossing, (so a case where Border Patrol is expanding their traditional role,) the US-Canada border in Buffalo, NY:

Social control is of course big business. Not only is there an entire offshoot of the military-industrial complex based on domestic control, but the individuals who administer government programs certainly profit when they expand their own power. The Rochester Border Patrol unit has grown tremendously as a result of its papers-please arrests on trains and buses. [Worden]

In Maine we have a case of what appears to me to be an expansion of state powers and obligations that will come at a considerable cost, presented as a solution to a problem that may or may not truly be a problem, and may or may not be costing the state as much as the solution will.

One wonders if this is just the ploy of a new governor being provocative to grab some headlines and make a name for himself, a shoutout to his base, an earnest albeit heedless attempt at cost cutting, or even worse?

[Sundry conspiracy theories, the other issue embedded in this executive order, and a music video under the cut.] Read more…