***Article first publisehd by 'Maine First Media' on April 26, 2018***

Maine’s immigrant population has only a 60% workforce participation rate.

Meanwhile, Maine’s overall population has a 64% workforce participation rate.

That comparison already shows the flow of so-called, “new Mainers” is bringing down the labor participation rate in the Pine Tree State. However, it’s even worse than it looks on the surface.

The labor force participation rate is calculated by adding up all residents who are employed or actively seeking employment and then divided by the total population over the age of 16.

One of the leading factors bringing down Maine’s participation rate is our high number of retirees. In fact, Maine has the oldest population of any state in the country. Retirees are counted in the workforce participation rate figure, despite not looking for work. So, a high number of retirees will artificially bring down your labor participation rate.

The younger immigrant population doesn’t have the same rate of retirees. Remember, that’s why we’re told by Open-Border Leftist the immigrant population is the savior of Maine’s economy. But that means there is no excuse for having a lower workforce participation rate than native Mainers.

When you factor in the lack of retirees among the “new Mainers” population, almost half of working-age refugees, asylum-seekers and illegals are not only unemployed and likely receiving government handouts but aren’t even looking for a job.

Bangor Daily News, of course, had the complete opposite take on the numbers. Somehow, the editorial staff at BDN believe that with a workforce participation rate less than native Mainers, more immigration is the answer to Maine’s supposed workforce woes.

The BDN editorial also touts the fact that nearly 30% of “new Mainers” are not fluent in English as a selling point. As well as the fact that 21% of immigrants to Maine live in poverty (compared to about 13% of native Mainers).

These numbers point to less immigration — and hence, fewer costs to Maine taxpayers — as a better solution than opening the floodgates to more mass immigration.

The BDN article makes a special point of the population loss in Aroostook County since 2010. In fact, According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Aroostook County has lost nearly 6% of its population since in the period. And the county only had about 70,000 people at the last census.

According to the open-border authors at BDN, Aroostook County is in desperate need of an influx of refugees and other immigrants. Of course, considering Open-Border Legislators killed a bill proposing fines for municipalities harboring illegal aliens, it is safe to assume illegals will be expected as part of that influx.

This is not the first attempt to flood northern Maine with a foreign-born population. As Maine First Media previously exposed, The Maine Community Foundation and Northern Maine Community College are partners in crime in a plot to move Somali refugees to farmland in Aroostook County.

If Maine wants to improve its future economic outlook, the state’s best bet is not listening to the ill-advised tips from BDN’s editorial staff. Instead, focus on keeping native Mainers here after college, refocus education to emphasize skill training, help with training and transitioning Mainers who’s been left behind with the surge of new technology into the economy, and attract English-speaking workers from out of state with competitive new job opportunities.

Harboring Havens acting as giant magnets for illegals, killing E-Verify legislation and programs ushering in more refugees are not the answers.