ILAP Testimony in Opposition to LD 107, Resolution Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine To Specify the Qualifications of Electors

Testimony of Julia Brown, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project In Opposition to LD 107, Resolution Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine To Specify the Qualifications of Electors

“Good morning, Senator Luchini, Representative Caiazzo, and distinguished members of the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs. Thank you for the opportunity to testify in opposition to LD 107, Resolution Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine To Specify the Qualifications of Electors.

My name is Julia Brown, and I am the Advocacy and Outreach Director at the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP). ILAP is Maine’s only statewide nonprofit provider of immigration law and related legal aid to Maine’s low-income residents. Each year, ILAP serves over 3,000 individuals statewide, coming from approximately 100 countries around the world. On behalf of ILAP, I ask the Committee to vote “ought not to pass” on LD 107.

Maine has a thriving and growing immigrant community. Four percent of Mainers are immigrants, while seven percent of Maine residents are native-born U.S. citizens with at least one immigrant parent. Many members of Maine’s immigrant community are subject to systemic racism as well as anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy. LD 107 is anti-immigrant and aims to make immigrants feel less welcome in Maine.

Noncitizens pay taxes, work and live in their local community, and send their children to local schools. If a local community wants noncitizens to participate in local elections, there should be no constitutional barrier to doing so. Moreover, expanding the right to vote in municipal elections to noncitizens encourages civic engagement that will grow stronger for those who are eligible to naturalize as US citizens.

I urge you to vote “ought not to pass” on LD 107. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration.”

A PDF version of this statement is available here.