Only a few days ago we heard from reader A.O. that Mainers loved their immigrants and everyone there welcomed them to the welfare capital of the Northeast. Thanks to reader Meddidy, who disagreed with A.O. about the mood of Mainers on the topic of boosting Maine’s population with immigrants,* here is the latest immigrant crime story from Portland.
From the Portland Press Herald:
PORTLAND — Twenty-four people have been arrested in Maine as part of a regional action against gangs led by federal immigration authorities.
The effort led to a total of 47 arrests in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Homeland Security Investigations.
Twenty-eight known gang members were arrested, along with people who have ties to the gangs, such as buying drugs from them, according to the office.
Over the past three months, the effort in Maine led to 23 arrests in Portland and one in Westbrook, said Bruce M. Foucart, special agent in charge of the Boston office.
They are not the usual Hispanic gangs that law enforcement in other states are familiar with—gangs like MS-13—but actually Asian and African gangs so some of those arrested are likely legal immigrants.
In Maine, the people arrested were either members of the Asian Boyz and two splinter groups of the Bloods – True Somali Bloods and True Sudanese Bloods – or affiliated with those gangs.
Some were charged with criminal violations including narcotics trafficking, weapons possession, carrying concealed weapons, assault, and violating conditions of release. A few who were arrested for immigration issues will be processed for removal from the United States.
We’ve written about crimes involving Maine immigrants here, here, here, here, here, and here (for starters). There are more posts, I just got tired of putting in links.
* A.O. said the population of Maine was declining and needed to be boosted with an influx of immigrants. I am continually puzzled why Leftists, normally hollering about saving the environment, seem so anxious to populate a rural state with immigrants. More immigrants means a greater demand on the land and water resources of the state. The immigrants need homes, schools, cars, and stuff generally. That means forests will be cut and open-space devoured. It means parks and beaches will be crowded. It means air and water quality will decline. We posted on a comment by a Somali reader last spring in which he said they would take over America and fill up our “empty” land. Or, is a concern for the environment only expressed when it suits Leftwingers’ other goals?