THE PRECIOUS ONES: Maine builds "palace-like" apartments for ILLEGALS using taxpayer money amid rising homelessness

By oliviacook // 2024-01-23

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The Daily Mail recently reported that a city in Democratic-run Maine has spent $3.5 million of taxpayer money on "palace-like" apartments with balconies for illegals while hundreds of U.S.-born residents struggle to pay rent and suffer eviction. Despite its distance and chilly climate, Portland, Maine, codified its status as a "sanctuary city" under a 2017 ordinance. Since January 2023, more than 900 illegals have arrived in this small city – and reportedly 80 more each week, with most, if not all, of the migrants in dire need of housing assistance. The steady influx had forced officials to place them in about a dozen local hotels, school gymnasiums and in Portland's large Exposition Center. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) reported: "Costs have skyrocketed such that the city’s social services budget has increased $43 million over last year – with the state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) picking up part of the tab. Local officials had warned that $43 million was not enough and had suggested a whopping 15 percent increase in local property taxes to pay the bills." Moreover, the non-partisan, public-interest organization said about 6,000 of Lewiston's 36,000 residents (nearly 17 percent) are African refugees and asylum seekers. Lewiston, which is about 40 miles north of Portland, is Maine's second-largest city. Portland, on the other hand, has over 10,000 refugees and asylum seekers. Migrants kept coming and Portland had started housing them in the first 24 apartments in a recently finished three-story clapboard block on the edge of the leafy coastal town of Brunswick about 30 miles north of the city. The Daily Mail reported that the competition for the apartments was fierce as the application list was capped at 250 only. Fortunate migrants have been allocated two-year stints living in "rent-free" homes and have started moving into 24 one- and two-bedroom apartments, Maine officials said. The Housing Authority said these migrants were expected to eventually get permission to work and start earning to pay their way. The state has also reportedly allocated $100,000 to help dozens of Brunswick migrants process their asylum applications and secure work permits and a bus service is “in the works” to help the migrants get into town. "What a slap in the face for Maine's taxpayers and the homeless – and all American citizens, in fact," an outraged critic posted on X. Other social media users who have reacted angrily to these revelations suggested that Maine residents should "quit paying taxes or voting for the Dem politicians who green-lighted the scheme."

Homelessness on the rise in Maine

As of Jan. 24, 2023, the Maine State Housing Authority’s 2023 Point in Time (PIT) count reported that 4,258 people experienced homelessness in Pine Tree State. (Related: There are now more illegal immigrants than homeless people housed in New York City’s shelters.) This number was based on information from emergency shelters and other service providers collected through the state’s Homeless Management Information System, (HMIS). Paper survey forms were used to collect data on those who were unsheltered on the night of Jan. 24, 2023, including information from non-HMIS participating shelters or programs. A mobile app (for the first time in 2023) was also used by volunteers in the field and outreach staff at encampments. (Related: Homeless population in Los Angeles grew 10% despite city spending millions to fight the problem.) As was done in 2022, the ‘sheltered’ homeless people count included 2,124 people staying in hotels funded by General Assistance and Emergency Rental Assistance and 791 individuals in Transitional Housing reported to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Last December alone, more than 10,000 arrests for illegally crossing the southern border had been reported per day over several days – with more people said to be fleeing political chaos in Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. On Jan. 6, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released more than 2.3 million migrants into the country – "a measure of last resort when agents don’t have the holding capacity or personnel to process migrants using standard procedures." The figures, published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had shown the extent to which CBP officials have been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of migrants crossing the southern border. "I know the data. And I will tell you that when individuals are released, they are released into immigration enforcement proceedings. They are on alternatives to detention. And we have returned or removed a record number of individuals. We are enforcing the laws that Congress has passed," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorjas said. “But it takes too long to deport people,” he added and urged Congress to boost the agency’s funding. "It is precisely why we have said since day one of this administration that the immigration system that is so fundamentally broken needs to be fixed." Watch the following video about homeless camps becoming an enormous weight in cities in the United States. This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

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Homelessness on the rise in Maine

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