SOUTH PORTLAND — The South Portland City Council voted Tuesday night to support Portland and the asylum seekers arriving in the city.
It was a late night for the councilors, but they ultimately decided to help Portland with the influx of asylum seekers.
This measure allocates up to $40,000 from the social services budget to the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project to help the immigrants with legal fees as they apply for asylum.
Other actions discussed included searching for potential facilities for emergency shelters and communicating with Portland on exactly what it needs.
While some residents said this isn’t the right move, many others are endorsing the city’s decision to help.
City Councilor April Caricchio said they’ve thought very thoroughly about their decision.
“And I certainly have the ability to be emotional and rational at the same time. I mean, it’s not hard to be emotional and at the same time be rational enough to take effective action,” Caricchio said.
Mayor Claude Morgan said it’s important everyone comes together to lend support.
“I think it’s very important our state delegates are part of this conversation. I think it’s really important that our national delegates have shown up and spoken to this,” Morgan said.
South Portland city leaders will sit down with Westbrook city leaders to see how they can encourage other communities to help.
There are currently more than 250 asylum seekers staying in the Portland Expo.