As governor of Maine, Paul LePage's administration cut off state-reimbursed General Assistance for asylum seekers waiting for work permits, a fight that took roughly $3 million from Portland's budget in fiscal 2015, by city officials' estimate, and that left local taxpayers paying for the people the state excluded. LePage also ordered state officials in 2011 to cooperate with federal immigration agents, and in 2017 he threatened to remove county sheriffs who refused ICE requests to keep people in jail.
As the Republican nominee for Maine's 2nd District in 2026, LePage called Maine's new law restricting police help to ICE "sick" and opposed new congressional limits on ICE, while most of the people ICE arrested in Maine that year had no criminal record.
Paul LePage's Actions as Governor and Statements as a Candidate on Immigration Enforcement
- LePage's Administration Cut Off State Aid for Asylum Seekers and Left Cities to Pay. In January 2014, Governor Paul LePage's administration moved to end General Assistance, Maine's last-resort aid program, for asylum seekers still waiting for federal work permits, the Portland Press Herald reported. After that rule failed, the administration told cities it would stop reimbursing them for aid to asylum seekers, and a Superior Court justice ruled on June 9, 2015 that it could withhold the money. Rules that his health department issued in May 2016 then excluded asylum seekers who had not yet filed their applications, parents of children born in the United States, and unaccompanied minors. Portland officials estimate the dispute cost the city roughly $3 million in fiscal 2015, and in 2015 the city put $2.6 million into a fund for about 900 people who would otherwise have lost their aid. In Portland, help for the people the 2016 rules excluded came only from local tax dollars.
- LePage Ordered State Officials to Work With Immigration Agents and Threatened Sheriffs Who Would Not Hold People for ICE. On January 6, 2011, in one of his first acts as governor, Paul LePage issued an executive order rescinding his predecessor's orders and ordering everyone who works for the state to cooperate with federal officials "on all matters pertinent to immigration." The Associated Press reported that the order let officials in state agencies question people about their immigration status. On September 26, 2017, LePage cited the order in a letter directing all 16 Maine county sheriffs to honor ICE requests to hold people, and he said on national radio that he could remove sheriffs who refused, Maine Public reported. Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce said holding people past their release dates for ICE without a criminal charge "would be against the law and the Constitution" and could expose county taxpayers to lawsuits for wrongful imprisonment. The order stayed in force until Governor Janet Mills repealed it in December 2025, calling it, under the Trump administration, "a broad and dangerous promise that Maine will not make."
- LePage Called Maine's Law Limiting Police Help to ICE Sick and Criminal. On September 21, 2026, at an Augusta event where the Maine Fraternal Order of Police endorsed him, Paul LePage attacked the new state law limiting local police cooperation with federal immigration agents. Spectrum News recorded his words: "They don't want our law enforcement to communicate with federal law enforcement," he said. "That is sick. That is sick. It's criminal." The law, LD 1971, bars Maine law enforcement agencies from arresting or holding anyone for immigration purposes, WMTW reported. Before the law, Maine State Police troopers had been instructed that they could keep people at the roadside for immigration agents even when no crime was suspected. In at least two traffic stops a trooper held people for more than an hour until Border Patrol arrived, and a Brazilian man stopped over where his license plate was mounted spent three months in an ICE facility in Texas, the Portland Press Herald reported.
- LePage Opposed New Limits on ICE While Most People ICE Arrested in Maine Had No Criminal Record. At the October 1, 2026 WMTW debate, Paul LePage opposed new congressional limits on ICE, the Bangor Daily News reported. "I think we need to have a robust law enforcement division of our country that deals with it," he said, according to Maine Morning Star. Of the nearly 200 people detained in Maine during ICE's January 2026 surge, only 11 had criminal convictions, and 68% of the people ICE arrested in Maine from January through July had no criminal record, the Bangor Daily News reported.
What Paul LePage's Immigration Record Means for Asylum Seekers and Immigrant Families in Maine
- Asylum seekers cut off from aid in Maine could not legally work while they waited for permits. General Assistance pays for vouchers that cover emergency food, shelter and other basic needs, and federal law bars asylum seekers from getting work permits until at least six months after they apply, so asylum seekers in Maine cut off from the program could not legally earn wages while they waited.
Frequently Asked Questions About Paul LePage on Immigration and enforcement
What is Paul LePage's record on immigration and enforcement under Trump?
Paul LePage's record starts with his years as Maine governor, when his administration stopped paying cities' General Assistance costs for asylum seekers and he ordered state officials to cooperate with immigration agents. As the 2026 Republican nominee in Maine's 2nd District, he has attacked the state law that keeps local police out of immigration enforcement and opposed new limits on ICE from Congress. Those positions come as ICE operations in Maine have mostly arrested people with no criminal record.
What did Paul LePage do about aid for asylum seekers as governor?
Paul LePage's administration tried in 2014 to end General Assistance for asylum seekers awaiting work permits and then stopped reimbursing cities that kept helping them. When the Legislature passed a 2015 bill making asylum seekers eligible for up to two years, LePage had promised to veto it but missed the deadline, and it became law, the Press Herald reported. Supporters said that law would help more than 1,000 people living in Maine legally.
What did Paul LePage say about Maine's law limiting police cooperation with ICE?
Paul LePage called the law "sick" and "criminal" at a September 21, 2026 campaign event in Augusta, according to Spectrum News. Besides barring arrests for immigration purposes, the law, LD 1971, stops jails from alerting ICE when they hold someone who may be undocumented, WMTW reported.
Did Paul LePage threaten Maine sheriffs over ICE?
Yes. Paul LePage said on Laura Ingraham's radio show in September 2017 that the Maine Constitution let him remove sheriffs who would not hold people for ICE: "I got a couple of sheriffs that say they are not going to work with ICE," he said, according to Maine Public. The Cumberland and Oxford County sheriffs had said they would not keep people in jail for ICE unless they had been charged or a court had ordered it.
Last updated: 2026-10-26