The positive impact of immigrants on Maine

Maine Public Broadcasting - As President Donald Trump prepares to rewrite his controversial travel ban, a coalition of 500 business leaders and mayors is calling for meaningful immigration reform. The group, New American Economy, has released an interactive map with state and congressional district-specific data about the economic contributions of immigrants. Supporters are hoping that it will bolster the argument for expanding immigrant worker visas. According to New American Economy’s report, Maine has nearly 49,000 new immigrants who make up 3.7 percent of the population. The data were gathered using publicly available sources. What they show is that Maine immigrants have a combined spending power of $953 million. They also pay taxes. In 2014, the most recent year for which the data are available, they paid close to $362 million in federal, state and local taxes. Beth Stickney, who represents a new group called the Maine Business Immigration Coalition, points out that the city of Portland and Maine’s 1st