On Feb. 2, the Kennebec Journal reported on refugees and asylum seekers arriving in central Maine. The article illustrated the uplifting and vital work of the Capital Area New Mainers Project. The project helps new Mainers secure housing and learn English, skills essential to finding work. Those fortunate enough to gain entry join millions of poor and low-income Americans.

Maine has an aging population. We need new residents to enhance our commercial and cultural life. We can welcome new arrivals and lay the groundwork for the best possible outcomes for all. Experience tells us that immigration benefits society. Yes, we have a housing crisis, health care woes, persistent poverty, crime, and other challenges. None of this is new. Instead of blaming immigrants, it would be better to build unity and fight for solutions that will create a better deal for all of us.

We need immigration reform. We also need to overcome the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism, and the war economy. The Maine Poor People’s Campaign is holding a State House assembly in Augusta on Saturday, March 2 to mobilize against these wrongs and to shift the narrative away from fear and exclusion toward meeting the needs of Maine’s 417,000 poor and low-income people.

Mainers will join with poor and low-wage Americans on March 2 in state houses across our country. Our collective voices join to ask, to demand, to offer solutions to these injustices. We will not be silent anymore. Forward together!

Maryanne Scally

Augusta