“I think a lot of folks share this concern in the longer term,” said James Myall, a policy analyst with the Maine Center for Economic Policy, who was not involved with the report. Myall said that though Maine’s immigrant population is very small at just over 4%, it’s still an important part of the aging state’s workforce, and especially noticeable in construction and health care.
While new immigrants are often blamed for burdening local economies, Myall said that attack on foreign-born Mainers is short-sighted. While he says it’s true that many of the refugees and asylum seekers who land in Maine often rely on public assistance that can put pressure on local budgets, most of those newcomers eventually get jobs and settle in, relying less an less on help — typically at the same rates as native-born Mainers. But, he said, the long-term advantage to the state is they come to Maine at relatively young ages, going on to contribute to the tax base and economy throughout many decades.