LEWISTON — With Gov. Paul LePage set to cut off welfare funds for undocumented immigrants this week, city officials are weighing their options.

“I hope the state is not saying we need to make changes immediately,” Lewiston City Administrator Ed Barrett said Friday. “But I don’t know what the state is going to say.”

Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services is poised to change eligibility standards for the General Assistance cash grants that are issued by municipalities to people in dire economic circumstances. The money can be used for food, rent, medicine and utilities.

The state reimburses Maine’s municipalities for 50 percent of the General Assistance they provide. Now, DHHS wants to disallow the use of state funds for General Assistance that’s distributed to “illegal immigrants.”

Twin Cities’ officials Friday were waiting for DHHS to provide definitions of illegal immigrants and the preferred method for determining if a General Assistance applicant qualifies for help under the new rules.

General Assistance administrators in Lewiston and Auburn declined to comment until they had received the new DHHS rules and had time to study them. Those rules had not been received by 5 p.m. Friday.

But Barrett said the new rules could put the city in a difficult position.

“On one hand, if we stop providing assistance to illegal immigrants, then we could be subject to legal action on their behalf,” Barrett said. “If we continue to provide assistance, however, I would assume we are looking at the state withholding reimbursement.”

Maine Attorney General Janet Mills has already signaled that conflict, saying the new eligibility requirements may violate the state’s constitution.

In an email Friday afternoon, DHHS spokesman John Martins said the LePage administration feels it’s not an illegal position.

“Federal law doesn’t allow state reimbursement for illegal immigrants,” Martins wrote. “Additionally, we believe this is a common-sense measure to ensure that state funds are going to help U.S. citizens or those people who are in Maine with documented status.”

In the email, Martins said municipal General Assistance providers already ask all applicants if they are citizens.

“An applicant stating they are a legal noncitizen must provide proof of their immigration status,” Martins wrote. “A (General Assistance) administrator can contact DHHS to verify the legal status of an immigrant applying for (General Assistance). DHHS utilizes a federal service through United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to verify immigrant status.”

Lewiston Mayor Robert Macdonald said he applauds the change.

“These are people who are coming in with visas, but they let them expire and then never go back,” Macdonald said. “They come here as visitors, they never go back, and they expect us to pick up the tab for them.”

But Macdonald said the city’s next move is up to the City Council — especially if it opens the city to potential lawsuits.

“Everybody knows how I feel, but I don’t know how the others feel,” he said. “I say we go out there and fight for it. People may threaten lawsuits because that makes towns a little leery and they back off. My preference is to cut people right off, but I’m just one voice.”

Macdonald said he expects to discuss the matter informally at the City Council’s meeting Tuesday.

“This has to be a City Council decision,” he said.

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