MEXICO – At next week’s selectmen’s meeting, officials will again discuss sending a letter to Gov. John Baldacci asking him to rescind his 2004 order that prevents state agencies from asking immigrants their status before granting benefits.

Selectmen wrote to Baldacci in May 2004, stating that his executive order “could potentially expose the state to situations where safety could be in jeopardy, notwithstanding that it violates federal law.”

Baldacci’s order grants access to state services to all entitled residents regardless of background or status.

According to Mexico’s 2004 letter, federal law states that unless a state has passed a law specifically designed to prevent state agencies from ascertaining the status of immigrants, no state or municipal benefit can be given to undocumented aliens.

Last week, former Selectman Monique Aniel again pressed officials here to draft and send a second letter demanding that Baldacci rescind his order.

“Because of this (order), thousands of people from unknown origin have applied for Maine driver’s licenses,” Aniel said last Wednesday. “Essentially, anybody can go to a state service agency, ask for benefits and receive them without any proper legal document.”

She and Rumford resident Len Greaney have started campaigns to ask area selectmen to push the issue at the state level.

Aniel said, “No effort seemed to be made by the Legislature nor by the governor to revisit the current and future consequences of making Maine a sanctuary state, nor to see the importance of protecting the people. We believe that the towns should start to make their voices heard and push for the removal of policies that do not protect the well-being of its citizens.”

“Someone can get a Maine driver’s license and when they do, they can go anywhere in the country,” Greaney said last week. “When you allow something like this to be loosey-goosey … it is an issue.”

According to Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, the problem is that neither he nor legislators have jurisdiction on federal immigration laws.

“We don’t do immigration law,” Dunlap said Tuesday afternoon by phone in Augusta. “That concern drove the governor to issue his executive order … because he didn’t want state employees acting without authority or guidance in trying to act regarding immigration laws.”

Citing a 2006 incident, Dunlap said Maine and federal agents investigated allegations of transport of possible illegal aliens from Poland to Maine via New York to get drivers licenses and non-driver identification cards.

That investigation, along with parallel efforts to improve the security of state credentials, prompted Dunlap to submit a bill to amend driver’s license laws. The goal, he said, was to stop the issuance of Maine credentials to people who didn’t actually live here.

Legislators and Baldacci, however, changed Dunlap’s bill into a resolve directing him to examine Maine’s driver’s license laws.

Last month, Dunlap released the findings of that study, recommending that Maine lawmakers create a residency requirement for issuing driver’s licenses.

“I am hopeful a residency requirement will assuage the concerns many have regarding illegal aliens procuring driver licenses. Although it is not a magic bullet aimed at ceasing illegal immigration, a residency requirement would add another layer of security to an already-rigorous license issuance process,” Dunlap stated in a recent report.