As a long time New Englander but relatively new Maine resident, I am appalled at the proposal to offer free health care coverage to new immigrants. Few Americans can afford U.S. healthcare. Waiting lists abound for U.S.-born people who are developmentally disabled, mentally ill and struggling with substance abuse. Further, since pediatric inpatient care makes so little money, U.S. hospitals are deconstructing this as well.

There is absolute refusal to pay reparations to indigenous communities. Yet we will bring in new immigrants, feed, house, care for them with our tax monies (though the U.S. may have played a significant role in destroying their own countries). And we will build a bigger defense budget. Maine elders, unable to provide heat for themselves in our cold winters, live in their kitchen by propane stoves, sleeping in their chairs. These are not the values I worked for all my life. Do these choices reflect your values?

Vicki Ward

Penobscot