A Republican House candidate in Maine who has made the border central to his campaign said this week that his family had become entangled in a deportation case.
Paul LePage, a former Maine governor and staunch conservative, said Monday that his son’s father-in-law, who he said was in the United States legally, was being deported “because he came from a country that’s not the liking to certain people in Washington.”
“That’s not right,” LePage said. “He has a work permit. He should be allowed to stay.”
For years, LePage has backed immigration enforcement and has supported Maine agencies working alongside federal authorities. More recently, the issue has touched a nerve in Maine, where the Trump administration began sending a surge of ICE officers in January. Six months later, in July, an immigration officer fatally shot a man in Biddeford.
This week, LePage reiterated his support for ICE’s immigration crackdown, but he made a fresh distinction, saying he supported operations specifically targeting people who may have come to the U.S. illegally.
“They have a job to do,” LePage said of immigration officers. “Now, 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 people in the gangs and the criminals.”
He did not share any further details about the situation, including the person’s country of origin. His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
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