In an ironic twist, Donald Trump-endorsed GOP running candidate feels betrayed after his family faces deportation under his policies: ‘That’s not right’

Maine congressional candidate Paul LePage has found himself having to revisit some of his earlier rhetoric around immigration. At a recent news conference where the Fraternal Order of Police was endorsing him for his congressional seat, the Republican admitted to the press that his family is currently dealing with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation. 

According to WGME, he declared, “Not everybody that’s here is illegal. I have a father, my son’s wife’s dad is here legally, but he’s being deported because he came from a country that’s not of the certain liking of some people in Washington. That’s not right. He has a work permit. He should be allowed to stay.” 

Interestingly, per The New York Times, LePage was an early supporter of President Donald Trump. The outlet also noted that LePage built a lot of his political identity on a hardline stance against immigration. However, in this instance, he characterized it as unfair. WGME noted that he also added, “Would I go after everybody that’s here that have work permits and have been here for decades? Probably not. I’d probably go for the gang people and the criminals.”

An inconsistent stance

NYT reported that this statement was made when a journalist had asked if Maine was becoming safer when immigrants without criminal records were arrested. In addition to talking about his in-law, he noted that some laws “need to be fixed.” LePage also, per HuffPost, said, “Well, are they here legally? If they’re not here legally, they’ve broken the law. Unfortunately, and [ICE] have a job to do now.”

HuffPost noted that in his time as Maine’s governor, he has often made aggressive statements about immigrants, even going as far as to suggest that they bring diseases into the country. NYT also noted that he enacted policies that cut off state benefits for many migrants and curtailed refugee resettlement programs. Despite his current personal conflict, he seems to be maintaining his broader political platform. 

In a campaign ad released this week, he displayed some of these inconsistencies again. When noting that his first language was French, NYT reported that he said, “Immigration built out nation.” Then he went on to tout his record, saying he “ended Maine as an illegal immigration sanctuary state, cut off welfare to illegal immigrants, and made sure taxpayer dollars went to Mainers.” 

In response to LePage’s remarks, DHS issued a firm response. As WGME noted, it said, “We stand by our statement. Work authorization or a pending application does not confer legal status in the United States.” Per HuffPost, the statement further added, “Anyone here legally has nothing to fear. We are targeting the worst of the worst, but if we encounter someone in the country illegally, we will arrest them. This administration does not ignore the rule of law.” 

To add to DHS’s stance, NYT pointed out that a work permit is usually granted to migrants who do not have visas or green cards. They are often provided to migrants with special statuses like Temporary Protected Status, which was rescinded for hundreds of thousands of migrants from Afghanistan, Haiti, and Venezuela. 

Right now, LePage is running for a House district in northern Maine against Matt Dunlap, a progressive state auditor. Dunlap told the NYT that LePage’s comments are him “trying to run from his record” on immigration. He firmly stated, “Paul LePage is no friend to immigrants or their families. He spent eight years demonizing them as governor, and he welcomed ICE’s overreach into Maine.”

Maine itself has had a rocky relationship with ICE, having been subject to one of their mass immigration operations earlier in the year. The operation saw a lot of citizen protests, and civilians were even told that they would be considered domestic terrorists for filming the agents. 

Then in the summer, NYT noted that an ICE agent fatally shot an unarmed Colombian man named Johan Sebastian Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, triggering further protests. Around the same time, FBI agents were allegedly told that the bureau would no longer be looking into ICE confrontations. 

Per WGME, Le Page still spoke for cooperation with ICE enforcement at the press conference. He had won his endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Police because of his stance that police should be allowed to cooperate with Federal law enforcement.

Thanks in part to these past stances, Trump has already endorsed LePage for the congressional seat twice. HuffPost noted that when the president reaffirmed his support in June, he called LePage a “proven America First Fighter.” They noted that LePage himself has often spoken for Trump,  once describing himself as “Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular” and claiming they were cut from the same cloth.