On September 5, 2017, the day that the Trump Administration announced its rescission of DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the George Hale and Rick Tyler show on Bangor-based WVOM radio interviewed MeBIC’s Beth Stickney about DACA and the reasons why DACA holders need a path to permanent residency in the U.S.
Beth Stickney appeared in a September 14, 2017 article in The Ellsworth American about the negative impact that the end of the DACA program will have on Maine’s labor force, including in Washington County.
On September 27, 2017, MeBIC’s Board Secretary Dana Connors, the CEO of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, spoke to Maine Public radio about why 30 business, education and economic development leaders sent a letter to Maine’s Congressional delegation urging them to pass the Dream Act of 2017 for those with DACA.
Update: On November 10, 2017, the Brunswick Times Record published an opinion piece urging passage of the Dream Act of 2017 co-authored by MeBIC’s director Beth Stickney and David Vail, Bowdoin College Professor Emeritus of Economics and chair of Coastal Enterprise, Inc.’s Public Policy Committee. CEI is a MeBIC partner.