During a town hall event Monday evening in Portland, Somali-American Maine State Rep. Deqa Dhalac (D-South Portland) claimed that immigrants’ “lives are at stake” in the 2024 election, as part of a rant against former President Donald Trump and defense of immigrants’ contributions to the country and state.
Organized by the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (MIRC), Monday’s “Centering and Restoring The Community: Elections 2024” town hall at the Portland Public Library featured representatives from a number of Maine-based progressive nonprofit organizations.
Speaking alongside Rep. Dhalac on the panel was Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, EqualityMaine Executive Director Gia Drew and Maine ACLU policy counsel Michael Kebede.
[RELATED: Maine ACLU Lawyer Likens ICE to Nazi Germany, Urges State to Block Illegal Immigrant Deportations…]
After brief introductory remarks encouraging the town hall audience — which included many immigrants — to become active in local and state politics, Rep. Dhalac turned to the topic of the presidential election.
“Another thing that I want to really touch on is what’s at stake as immigrants in this country today,” Dhalac said. “Our lives are at stake, our lives are at stake.”
“You know, we have a candidate who are on the top of the ticket, who is saying immigrants do eat cats and dogs. That is unheard of,” she continued.
Though not mentioning the former president by name, Dhalac appears to be referencing the claim recently made by Trump on the debate stage that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are “eating the dogs — the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
“It’s only a fear mongering tactic, and we should not be feared,” Dhalac said of Trump’s rhetoric. “We should not be scared of anybody.”
Dhalac then said she had received death threats as a state legislator because of the way she looks.
“As a state legislator myself, I got death threats just because I look like this. I did not do nothing to anybody,” she said. “The Speaker [Rachel Talbot Ross] gets that, my other representatives of color gets that.”
“It’s just for fear, and we said ‘no,’ because we really represent the State of Maine,” she said. “Look at us — we’re not all white, we are different colors, we are different backgrounds, we are different religious groups.”
“We have to really respect each and every one of us,” she added. “Does not matter what your religious backgrounds are, does not matter your color of your skin. If we respect each other, we really can move forward.”
[RELATED: Catholic Charities Maine Plans to Resettle 150 Refugees in 100-Mile Radius Around Bangor…]
Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, Dhalac fled her home country in 1990 amid the Somali Civil War, and eventually moved to Maine in the early 2000s.
She was elected to the South Portland City Council in 2018, and made national headlines in 2021 when she became the first Somali-American mayor in the U.S., after a unanimous vote by her fellow South Portland City Councilors.
Dhalac served her first term as a state legislator representing South Portland in the 131st Legislature, and was the sponsor of the controversial bill to establish the so-called “Office of New Americans” with the governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF).
[RELATED: Mills Admin, Nonprofits, and Big Biz Back New Migrant Resettlement Agency for Maine…]
The Mills Administration has said the “Office of New Americans” is aimed at helping the state meet its goal of attracting 75,000 new workers over the next five years by facilitating the incorporation of immigrants into Maine’s workforce.
Rep. Dhalac was widely criticized for remarks she made in a February work session on her bill, when she stated that migrants deserve priority for state services over U.S. veterans, as veterans “have the advantage of speaking the language.”
Speaking at the Monday town hall event, Dhalac argued that immigrants contribute “millions and hundreds of millions of dollars” to the U.S. economy.
“We have doctors, we have teachers, we have engineers, we have social workers,” Dhalac said. “We are part of this fabric of this amazing country of ours.”
[RELATED: Migrant Resettlement Agency Chronically Over-billed MaineCare, Has Not Repaid Taxpayers: Audit…]
“Everybody who’s coming in here are not really violent people, or people who are trying to kill all of us, or do this and that — that is information that is false,” Dhalac said.
“Is there some people who are violent and, you know, criminals? Of course, I’m not saying we’re not all, you know, saints, but we know when we welcome people, that we can end up having a good community, and that Maine is an example,” she added.
Dhalac then made the claim that Lewiston was a “dead town” prior to the arrival of waves of immigrants from Somalia, Cambodia and Vietnam over the last several decades.
“Look at Lewiston –Lewiston was a dead town before, you know, immigrants came, and now it’s a booming city, it’s a booming city, and it’s contributing to our economy,” Dhalac said.
“So instead of us looking into the negatives, let’s just take a look at what good can come out of this community that are coming to our spaces,” she said.
Lewiston is indeed a “booming city” — police recently reported that the city has seen nearly 30 shooting incidents this year, many of which involve youth in the city’s immigrant community.
In August, gunshots interrupted a refugee organization’s back-to-school event with more than 300 attendees in Lewiston’s McGraw Park. In July, a 17-year-old male, Sahal Muridi, who worked as a youth mentor with the same refugee organization, was killed in a shooting at a public housing complex — one of three shootings that same weekend.
[RELATED: Lewiston Grapples with Gun Violence Surge after Two More Shootings in Less Than Two Weeks…]
The Lewiston Police Chief and Androscoggin County District Attorney have pointed to a lack of funding and a backlog of cases for the rise in unsolved shootings among the city’s immigrant youth.
Lewiston Police Chief David St. Pierre said at an August press conference regarding the shootings that the city plans to hold monthly informal meetings with immigrant and refugee groups based in the area , in order to “build trust” between police and the local youth.
Later in the town hall event, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows was asked by a member of the audience to make a statement condemning former President Trump’s claims related to the Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio.
While not explicitly denouncing Trump, Bellows offered the following statement in support Maine’s immigrant community and against political violence and “violent rhetoric” more broadly:
I will say here and now that immigrants make Maine a better place, that the New Mainer community here in Maine has strengthened our economy, strengthened our communities, brought love and light and laughter and good food and culture to our state.
That the presence of leaders like representative Deqa Dhalac and Representative Mana Abdi [D-Lewiston] make our legislature better and stronger, and that it shouldn’t be a Democrat or Republican issue to recognize our shared humanity, and to say political violence is wrong, violent rhetoric is wrong, dehumanizing people is wrong, and to spread lies, to spread lies about people, to create fear, is absolutely wrong.
It’s immoral, and so it really needs to stop, because we have — we’ve seen fear spread. We’ve seen property attacks, we’ve seen acid thrown on cars, apparently. We know we’ve seen swatting.
My mom, when I was swatted, said, ‘what’s swatting?’ Swatting is a fake emergency, all calling in bomb threats to schools to hospitals. That is wrong, and I think all of us, elected officials and members of the media, have a responsibility to say let’s agree to disagree about policy, let’s debate policy, but let’s stop the name calling, let’s stop the dehumanization, and let’s stand up for our shared humanity.
So that’s that’s my statement, and I am proud to have been in solidarity with this community for a long time, and I will continue to advocate for the rights of everyone to participate in our democracy.
I’m embarrassed the people of So. Ptld vote for her.
She’s a race baiting shill and anti white and anti American.
“I will continue to advocate for the rights of everyone to participate in our democracy” as long as they vote Dem and obey. That’s why she tried to keep Trump off the ballot and deny the voters their candidate. But that’s ok. Political violence is wrong but it’s ok when it’s against those on the right. Let’s have some more grandiose platitudes (BS) Shenna. We are looking forward to the day when we can send you packing but not in a violent way.
Gee I’m no expert but I’m pretty sure you don’t save a dying town buy adding hundreds on the welfare rolls, but hey who am I to judge, not like I’d ever live in that shithole. If you want your fellow third world countrymen to come work on the democrats plantation knock yourself out, after all they are the party of slavery. Just a thought… Wouldn’t it be funny if after all the third world’s get here we put em in a uniform and send them back to their homeland to fight the corruption that sent them here? If they succeed they can stay there, If they fail, and they probably will because the pentagon is all dei now, well let’s just say we won’t have to worry about them.
She’s absolutely right. You can hear boom, boom , boom almost daily.
If the picture was of three older men in flannel shirts with four day beards , sitting on a pile of old lobster traps , repairing their fishing nets ,, …….I’d guess it was a scene from “ Maine “ .
This photo of these three women , with names I likely can’t pronounce , would be the LAST THING that I would associate with “ Maine “ .Sorry .
Maine is getting permanently changed by a whole bunch of people from Way Way Away …..
Time to vote Republican .
In addition to her specious comments above, Dhalac is a Sharia-compliant Muslim meaning man-made laws are subordinate to Islamic law. She can’t be trusted…except by the likes of Bellows and other Leftists.
Ex. Dhalac co-sponsored Maine’s full-term abortion bill, LD 1619, even though it’s unacceptable under Sharia law for women to have an abortion and forbidden after 120 days. Did she do that knowing full well it would be only non-Muslim fetuses that would be aborted? You’d have to ask her, but then you’ll be called a racist.
”We have 50 million Muslims in Europe. There are signs that Allah will grant them victory in Europe – without swords, without guns, without conquest – will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.” -Muammar Gaddafi He was referring, of course, to birth rates.
Is this Dhalac going to get to be the next speaker of the house ?
Say it ain’t so ..
“Speaking at the Monday town hall event, Dhalac argued that immigrants contribute ‘millions and hundreds of millions of dollars’ to the U.S. economy.”
Yes, but immigrants also drain off trillions from the economy and contribute a whole lot of crime.
“. . . but let’s stop the name calling, let’s stop the dehumanization, and let’s stand up for our shared humanity.” So she wipes his name off the presidential election ballot?
Unfortunately, Lewiston is far from booming. I walked through the middle of town today and it was depressing. Office buildings that were occupied 15-20 ago are vacant or half vacant. Businesses are fleeing downtown. Lewiston was not a “dead” town before the immigrants arrived as she claims. It was a much nicer town than it is now. It is well on its way to becoming a dead town.
Time will tell, but does this method have any track record
Lewiston Thriving ? Really ? Compared to Mogadishu it is rocking although it doesn’t have the “nice donkey cart rides yet ” … Give the Primates time and it will happen. Maine is a hot Target for White Genocide because of its aging population the Commies think we( The White Population) won’t fight , They maybe right it is up each person … Regardless the Sub Saharan Savages never created , nor can they maintain a First World Society … Add 7th Century Desert Pedophile Muslims and it is a sure bet to make Lewiston a Northen Port au Prince
how’s that working out for you Lewiston and SoPo? You like the money being pissed away and the violence? You people parade your stupidity daily by voting these people inn to office and then agreeing to take on the ILLEGAL ALIENS.
Not sure what the three people in the picture are scared of, but it is obvious that they are not suffering fear of starvation from “food insecurity”.
Understand that this is the same woman that publicly stated that Illegals have a place BEFORE our combat vets. Reported by Maine Wire.
I see the three of them have received more than equity and inclusion at McDonald’s while middle-class Mainers struggle with their Party’s unnecessary inflation!
2020 census Lewiston 95% white. They have nothing to do with what’s good in the cities economy ?
39 K population. Add in 20% Haitians, that’s 7800. Then these people might wake up.
When will Mainers REMOVE these Democrats from office?
They are NOT representing the majority of what Mainers believe. ILLEGAL ALIENS bring nothing to the community, they are standing with their hands out waiting for the State to give them everything. Free housing, free food, free education, free money.. Mainers are supporting these illegals to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars daily!
Anyone entering the USA illegally is a criminal and should be removed permanently, no reentry allowed.
Sheriffs and ICE need to be allowed to do their job!
She got that right…Lewiston is now a BOOMING CITY with all the drive by shootings and gun fights, courtesy of the Somali immigrant youths and gangs.
The VP has a gun. What kind? where did she take the courses to get a permit? where does she keep it? Has she taken it to NY or Ma? Does the separate service know the answers? What is she afraid of? OR IS IT JUST A LIE.
lets get something straight. they are ILLEGAL ALIENS, not New Americans. If you want to come to the USA then come legally.
Still no answer from the VP Harris sa to were are 30,000 kids who crossed the border with out parents are. In whose custody are these kids? and most are not white.
Current rep. Dhalac fell asleep during one of the South Portland City Council meetings where she presided as mayor. We are glad to be rid of her.
First of all do something about your front beaver teeth and secondly get on your flying carpet and go back where you came from.
” immigrants contribute “millions and hundreds of millions of dollars” to the U.S. economy.”
Show me your 1099 please.
If you’re an illegal immigrant, pack your bags, go back to your lovely country, and utilize legal immigration if you wish to return.
Of course “lives are at stake”, lives of leisure with everything paid for by hard-working Mainers. Get off the dole or get out!
The more diversity you have, the more crime you have.
The browning of the State of Maine will lead to more crime and a massive drain on resources.
That is a Statistical fact.
Catholic Charities are neither. They are leftist contractors for the government used to bring these third word Islamic uninvited guests to our towns and cities These same people have vowed to conquer The U.S. using their wombs to subdue us for Allah (pbuh).
If they make plans es so much better, how come where they are from are shitholes?
I will buy those three a bus ticket to ANYWHERE else they want to go !
Don’t you bitches think you’d be happier in California ?
We would be happier if you went .