AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Maine’s Republican governor said on a nationally syndicated radio show that the state’s Somali community is “very much in support of” Republican President Donald Trump - only he meant to say Sudanese.
Gov. Paul LePage made the comments Thursday on “The Laura Ingraham Show.” He said Somali residents want a dialogue with Trump. Later, LePage’s spokesman clarified that he meant to say Sudanese.
But South Sudanese leaders say their community as a whole doesn’t support Trump.
Peter Steele, the governor’s director of communications, said LePage was referring on the radio show to a meeting with Sudanese immigrants who expressed support for Trump.
The chairman of the South Sudanese Community Association who met with the governor is pro-Trump but said his views only represent himself.
Kwan Malwal, a military veteran who served in Iraq, said the president has a right to restrict immigration as other presidents have done before him. He said the U.S. keeps sending foreign aid to help people who “end up being put into a nightmare by their own leaders.”
John Ochira, another leader of the group, said most of Maine’s South Sudanese community is worried about Trump’s recent executive orders on immigration.
“I think now it’s creating an image that this country is no longer welcoming, and I think that’s very bad for the country,” said Ochira, who arrived as a refugee from Sudan in 2005.
Trump’s revised ban bars new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries, including Sudan. It also temporarily shuts down the U.S. refugee program.
Immigrant communities in Portland and Lewiston include thousands of people from Somalia and Sudan, along with other African countries.
LePage said properly vetted refugees contribute to Maine and to the country. But he said asylum seekers cost more money and “you don’t know what you’re getting.”
A nonprofit is in charge of settling refugees in Maine after LePage’s administration opted-out from administering the program, citing concerns about the vetting process.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.