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Poll results

Immigration seems to be on everyone’s mind these days. National politics is consumed with questions about who’s coming to the U.S., how they’re treated, and what they might do inside the country’s borders.

In Maine, a state where even some lifelong residents are jokingly classified as “from away,” new arrivals have a profound impact.

Maine businesses, eager to recruit them, have said the federal government isn’t issuing enough H-2B visas, which allow foreign workers to enter the U.S. and perform seasonal jobs that would otherwise go unfilled. And last week, Aroostook County’s Northern Maine Growth Initiative received a $10,000 grant toward its efforts to increase the working population in the county with New Mainers.

Whether focused on job seekers or asylum seekers, the debate over how we receive people from other countries isn’t new. But it has reached new heights in the intensity of its rhetoric and the stakes for all involved.

In general, how do you feel about the U.S. border controls adopted under President Trump?
They’re irresponsible and immoral. (39%, 90 VOTES)
They’re simply bad for business. (3%, 8 VOTES)
They’re OK; we needed to do a better job of vetting newcomers. (6%, 13 VOTES)
They’re a good idea, even if they’ve been bungled a little. (6%, 14 VOTES)
It’s about time! (46%, 108 VOTES)
Poll Description

Immigration seems to be on everyone’s mind these days. National politics is consumed with questions about who’s coming to the U.S., how they’re treated, and what they might do inside the country’s borders.

In Maine, a state where even some lifelong residents are jokingly classified as “from away,” new arrivals have a profound impact.

Maine businesses, eager to recruit them, have said the federal government isn’t issuing enough H-2B visas, which allow foreign workers to enter the U.S. and perform seasonal jobs that would otherwise go unfilled. And last week, Aroostook County’s Northern Maine Growth Initiative received a $10,000 grant toward its efforts to increase the working population in the county with New Mainers.

Whether focused on job seekers or asylum seekers, the debate over how we receive people from other countries isn’t new. But it has reached new heights in the intensity of its rhetoric and the stakes for all involved.

  • 233 Votes
  • 4 Comments
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4 Comments

  • July 17, 2019

    The results here are not surprising because this is what the media has been spouting. They media has gotten caught up in Trump's rhetoric around stopping certain of types of individual from coming in, namely drug dealers and MS13 types, and presented that as being descriptive of all who cross the border illegally. Clinton and Obama both promised almost identical policy to Trumps in terms of putting more agents on the borders, deporting people who shouldn't be here, improving the vetting, separating and detaining families to make sure children weren't being used as shields. The difference is the media liked Clinton and Obama and they don't like Trump.

  • July 17, 2019

    We do not do enough to uphold the laws on the books with regards to immigrants. To use a broad brush and say I am a racist because I believe in legal immigration is unjust. I don't care what color someone is or where they come from. If you are not here legally, you need to go back and come into this country the correct way. What I have a problem with is illegal immigrants coming into this country and getting welfare and rights not afforded to American citizens. Every other country strictly enforces their borders, why can't we? This nation was founded on immigrants and I am all for it as long as it is done legally.

  • Becky Schnur
    July 17, 2019

    The human rights abuses at the border, the administration's racism, and the conflating of migrants seeking jobs and refugees fleeing for their lives seeking asylum are anti-American, embarrassing and bad for the economy as a whole. If the United States relies solely on its birth rate to maintain its population, growth will stagnate. The only reason we're not in the pickle that Japan and Italy are in is because of immigration. As Maine goes, so goes the nation. Already we have a worker shortage, exacerbated by high housing costs and an aging population. The only way we will get new Mainers in the mass that we need them is if we welcome immigrants with open arms. Besides, it's the ethical, humane thing to do.

  • July 17, 2019
    The wall needs to be completed and the welfare system needs to be amended to disallow anyone coming into the country without a marketable skill from seeking government subsidy and healthcare for up to 5 years. We should only allow people to immigrate into the country that have the capability of supporting themselves. Until there are no more homeless American citizens and homeless veterans we should not allow further burden upon the already strained welfare & health care system.