Portland is struggling to find homes for 64 asylum-seeking families after the expensive, taxpayer-funded motel they were staying in became infested with cockroaches, as Maine’s immigration crisis deepens.
The state Department of Health and Human Services revoked the lodging license of the Motel 6 on Riverside Street in Portland, where more than 100 rooms are used as emergency shelter for asylum seekers.
Inspectors found a cockroach infestation and other code violations at the motel, one of the few in Portland that accepts General Assistance vouchers for homeless people, asylum seekers and other recipients.
The city is now working to rehouse families by July 1.
‘Welcome’ at Motel 6 on Riverside Street, Portland, Maine, extends to cockroaches, safety inspectors say
The state Department of Health and Human Services says bugs were found at the motel this month.
The case highlights how the immigration crisis has spread across the United States, including in Maine, where taxpayers complain about paying millions of dollars each year for immigrants when residents also need help.
“Currently, approximately 64 rooms at Motel 6 are occupied by families with children,” city spokesperson Jessica Grondin told DailyMail.com.
“City staff are working diligently to find and transition these families into more permanent housing as soon as possible, with two more families scheduled to move in tomorrow.”
Grondin acknowledged that the motel’s exorbitant room rates, which have been “up to $225 a night,” were a burden on taxpayers.
By one estimate, the run-down motel was raking in more than $10 million a year.
“Given the cost to the city and state, we have been working to rehouse families as quickly as possible with more cost-effective solutions,” he said.
Motel 6 spokesperson Kelly Rogan said they were fighting the roaches.
“The property has regularly scheduled pest control and has been able to successfully treat the problem, as described in the latest pest control report,” Rogan said.
Portland health officials conducted a safety inspection of the motel in mid-March and issued a notice of violations to the owners, Maple Hotel Enterprises.
Longtime Motel 6 Residents Complained of Cockroaches and Harassment by Staff
TripAdvisor reviews of the hotel refer to everything from “mold” to drug dealers in the parking lot.
Maine opened the Portland Expo Center basketball arena to immigrants after the arrival of more than 800 asylum seekers last year.
Many of the families staying at the motel have children who attend nearby schools.
At one point, the four-story block was packed with 120 families.
Longtime residents complained about cockroaches, harassment by staff and that it was difficult to prepare food there.
There are only two microwaves in the building and residents were threatened with eviction if they installed hotplates in their rooms.
One former resident, an asylum seeker from Angola known as Maria, said cockroaches were a long-standing problem.
Maria, who lived at the motel for about eight months last year, said she often found bugs in her room and in her young daughter’s crib.
“Every time I put her in the crib, I found cockroaches there,” Maria told Maine Public, speaking in French.
“And he was afraid that the cockroaches might get into his ears or his nose.”
Maine has been hit by controversy over a housing development for asylum seekers on the outskirts of Brunswick.
Competition for Brunswick apartments was fierce. The application list was limited to 250 asylum seekers.
One tourist who stayed at Motel 6 in 2021 called it “the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed in” in an online review.
He described “homeless people coming in to use the microwave and get the free coffee” and “shady people loitering in the parking lot and lobby.”
The “bathroom floor was wet with human hair scattered on the floor,” he added.
The huge sums of money taxpayers are spending on Motel 6 are just the latest immigration scandal in Maine, as record numbers of asylum seekers cross the US southern border and spread across the country.
Residents and Republican politicians have criticized Maine officials for wasting millions of dollars on ‘Taj Mahal’ homes for asylum seekers while the state’s veterans and American-born homeless people are struggling.
Republicans say the Democratic-run state has spent $34 million on shelters, hotels and “luxury apartments” for immigrants, even as the Maine Veterans Homes and other digs for former military personnel face cash shortfalls.
Much of the anger is directed at the 24 one- and two-bedroom apartments in attractive three-story wooden blocks that were recently handed over rent-free to 60 immigrant families on the outskirts of Brunswick.