Dear MIRC Community,
Happy Monday! I apologize for my delayed advocacy updates; your author has been bouncing around time zones and even spent a few days in a new state while doing a deep dive on child care policy. Fret not, we will return to our regularly scheduled program!
As I am sure some of you have heard, the longest government shutdown has ended (more on this below). During the time the government was shutdown, the Dodgers won the World Series, Nicole Kidman filed for divorce, and we had an election, with lots to catch up on, let’s get to the MIRC Advocacy Update:
| Local |
| The City Clerk’s office is seeking volunteers to serve on various boards and committees, which all play an important role in Portland’s government. Residents can find the full position descriptions and application instructions on the City’s website. Apply by Friday, December 12; applicants will be contacted for interviews. |
| For folks in the Portland area: the 2026 Natural Helpers Fellowship, a 4-month leadership program from the City of Portland’s Office of Economic Opportunity, is now accepting applications! |
| Demand at the Harrison Food Bank is soaring, as they are feeding 1,100 families weekly. This mirrors a statewide surge in food assistance needs as Mainers face rising costs and historic cuts to SNAP. Over 18% of Oxford County households, and nearly 1 in 4 children, rely on SNAP for groceries. |
| Friends of MIRC, ILAP also has a great newsletter that they put out on a regular basis with great information. The most recent edition honors immigrant veterans on Veterans Day, highlights the challenges immigrant veterans face, including deportation risks despite their service. The Trump administration’s policies, such as ending humanitarian parole and terminating Temporary Protected Status for South Sudan, calls to action, and so much more! They’re also hiring a Program Assistant for the Lewiston office! |
| Portland voters approved a measure to increase the city’s minimum wage from its current $15.50 per hour to $19 per hour over the next three years. The proposal, which passed with 63% of the vote, outlines a phased increase: the minimum wage will rise to $16.75 in 2026, $17.75 in 2027, and finally to $19 an hour in 2028. Following 2028, the wage will be adjusted annually based on cost-of-living increases. You can see how other Portland election results played out here. |
| Bangor’s only low-barrier homeless shelter, the Hope House Health and Living Center, has broken ground on a project that will add 7,000 square feet and 16 emergency shelter and transitional housing beds. This significant expansion brings the center one step closer to completion. |
| The Bar Harbor Story recently ran a story highlighting how the Jamaican community has been helping fill workforce needs, but most importantly, the deep community impact that has been created. |
| From our friends at Prosperpity Maine: Basic Money Management is held over 5 weeks, 2 hours each week. We cover goal setting, budgeting, banking basics, and managing credit. Our course is approved to help prospective homebuyers who qualify for the FirstGen program with MaineHousing. In order to receive the certificate of completion, you must attend at least 4 of the 5 classes. The classes are on Wednesdays, from November 19 to December 17. This free class meets virtually on Zoom. Register here. |
| Our friends at We Are All America are hosting a bimonthly Leadership Development Program. In this upcoming webinar titled Mastering Fundraising, they will provide an overview of grant writing and advanced fundraising techniques to help you craft compelling proposals and implement effective fundraising strategies. You can register here. |
| State |
| MeHAF is pleased to announce that the application process for the 2026 Health Equity Capacity-Building (HECB) Grants program is now open. The HECB program provides opportunities for unrestricted operating support awards of $30,000 per year for four years, along with a $5,000 annual budget for capacity-building activities to organizations that are led by and serving people with lived experience in one or more Underserved Communities, including communities of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and people experiencing homelessness, and that are working to advance health equity for their communities. Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) will be due by Wednesday, December 10, by 4:00 p.m. |
| Maine voters rejected a proposal to require voter identification and supported a referendum to create a red flag law in the last election. |
| While Maine is set to receive $707 million from the Rural Health Transformation Fund over the next five years, it remains uncertain if this amount will be sufficient to prevent rural hospitals from closing or reducing services. This is especially true given the threat of impending Medicaid cutbacks. Some experts have expressed doubt that the rural fund will offer a strong enough lifeline to struggling rural healthcare facilities. |
| Tri-State Learning Collaborative on Aging is hosting an offering a conversational space in November to address the recent cuts and changes to Medicare Advantage plans. Folks are invited from across the region to join the discussion to share and learn about how their communities are responding to these changes. Register here for the November 30, 2:00-3:00 pm meeting. |
| The USDA issued directions to all states to issue full SNAP benefits ongoing basis, now that the federal shutdown has ended. SNAP will go out as expected for December and all following months. DHHS has put together an FAQ that will stay open until the end of the month. |
| The Lewiston City Council will vote Tuesday to request a special election for the seat, which longtime Rep. Kristen Cloutier, D-Lewiston, vacated Oct. 31 to take a job as chief of staff to Maine Senate President Mattie Daughtry. |
| Federal |
| Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is putting together a “National Call Center” in Nashville, Tennessee, meant to track unaccompanied migrant children for potential deportation. The notice placed on a government contracting website said the center is expected to be operating next summer, and it could take “6,000 to 7,000 calls per day.” |
| The Trump administration reassigned at least a dozen ICE field office directors and replaced most with Border Patrol officials in an unprecedented leadership overhaul affecting roughly half of ICE’s 25 field offices nationwide. Senior administration officials expressed a preference for Border Patrol’s tactics, including helicopter deployments to residential buildings and retail parking lot operations, amid dissatisfaction with ICE’s performance |
| Representative Golden announced he was not seeking reelection for CD2. The race for CD2 has gotten interesting as candidates have shifted. |
| A recent analysis found that 44% of 70 immigration judges fired by the Trump administration had a background of defending immigrants in court. While we can’t definitively know why the judges were fired without more information, “the way the Trump administration is approaching immigration courts reflects a really high prioritization of immigration enforcement and [the administration] has really made deportations this whole-of-government effort,” said Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute. |
| A new State Department directive has significantly broadened the health conditions that can lead to a denial of U.S. residency visas. Embassy and consular officers are now instructed to reject applicants based on an expanded list, which includes conditions such as obesity and diabetes. Furthermore, age and the likelihood of needing public benefits are also factors that will flag an applicant for rejection. Please note that this DOS cable has nothing to do with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security public charge policy, which remains unchanged. The cable only affects public charge reviews done by embassy and consular officials outside the U.S. and will not affect DHS review of green card applications inside the U.S. |
| The National Immigration Forum put together a great explainer and analysis of the executive order suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program indefinitely, explaining how the order represents a significant departure from nearly five decades of federal refugee policy established under the Refugee Act of 1980. |
| Despite recent warnings from the United Nations and other organizations that South Sudan could actually be slipping back into a state of open warfare, the Department of Homeland Security is planning to terminate Temporary Protected Status for nationals of South Sudan. |
| The detainees in ICE custody increased to a record 66,000 last week, according to internal Department of Homeland Security data, as the Trump administration intensifies its crackdown on immigrants. Never before has ICE held so many detainees facing deportation at one time, according to officials, historical data, and immigration policy experts. This article by a professor at Syracuse also explains how the shutdown and delayed reports hurt the public accountability efforts. |
| As a result of ASAP v. USCIS litigation, USCIS has paused the issuance of AAF billing notices. Individuals who received a billing notice from USCIS but have not yet made the payment may wait to do so until additional guidance is provided. |
| The longest government shutdown in US history has come to an end. The Continuing Resolution (CR) keeps most of the government running at last year’s spending levels until the end of January. While the CR that passed left out the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, it reverses the recent firings of federal workers, guarantees back pay once the government reopens, funds SNAP through September, commits Republicans to a December vote on extending healthcare subsidies (passage is not guaranteed), renews several expiring health programs, and a provision that allows GOP senators to sue the federal government if their phones records were seized as part of the FBI’s Janurary 6 probe. |
Well, you can’t say I didnt leave you without reading material to start your week with! While we try our best to cover most of the news and stories from our Coalition, I probably missed some. Please feel free to share any highlights I missed, and you may see them featured in the next edition of our updates.
Best,
-RT