ACLU Applauds Legislators for Rejecting Anti-Immigrant Bill

Augusta – The ACLU of Maine today applauded Maine House Democrats for rejecting the governor’s latest anti-immigrant bill. LD 1652 would have punished municipalities that chose to eliminate unconstitutional “show me your papers” policies and irrelevant interrogations about immigration status, by withholding needed school funding.

Police departments nationwide have put an end to such anti-immigrant policies, recognizing that they actually make it harder for law enforcement to fight crime by wasting time and resources and breaking down trust in law enforcement. Further, “show me your papers” laws encourage police officers to practice racial profiling by treating residents differently based on what they look and sound like.

The following can be attributed to Oamshri Amarasingham, advocacy director at the ACLU of Maine:

“Police can do their job better when every member of the community feels safe talking to them. We should be encouraging law enforcement to build trust among immigrant communities – not punishing them for doing so.”