Local Spotlight: Lisa Nieves

In the final days of this year’s presidential election, the subject of immigration has become a hot-button topic.

During a recent rally for former president Donald Trump, a well-known comedian made a remark about Puerto Rico being a “floating island of garbage.”

Lisa Nieves of Biddeford says comments like those -- on top of intensifying rhetoric and mistruths regarding “illegal immigrants” -- unfairly castigate people who have come to the United States in search of a better life.

Nieves, 56, was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her family moved to Puerto Rico when she was five and they stayed there until she was 12.

“So many people just toss around the words ‘illegal immigrants” without any clue of how our immigration system works.” Nieve says. “It’s so discouraging to see people vilified for political gain.”

After spending some time vacationing in southern Maine, Nieves decided that she wanted to raise her children here. She moved to Portland and then bought a home in Biddeford in 1996.

As a woman of Hispanic descent and former resident of Puerto Rico, what goes through your mind when you hear or read something about illegal immigrants?

“It can be overwhelming and it infuriates me,” she said. “First of all, there are no open borders. That is a lie.

“In 2023, the United States changed its policy regarding asylum seekers, now requiring people to start that application process in their own country before coming here.

“But these are things that are not told to the public or hidden so deeply in the false rhetoric so that most people just accept what they hear and don’t do their own research.

“It’s very easy to demonize immigrants, and so many people seem to just accept whatever they hear without studying the issue on their own.”

You say that many people lack empathy when discussing immigration.

“Just think about it for a minute. Why would somebody want to leave their home, their culture, their family, their language – everything -- to walk hundreds of miles to a place where they know that they’re going to face hostility?”

The term ‘illegal immigrant’ seems to be a catch-phrase to address all immigration issues.

“Exactly. People want to score political points by using the word ‘illegal’ as an automatic negative connotation.

“Most of the people coming here are documented. When people cross the border, they give themselves up to detention centers. At this point, they are given a case number but the court system is so backed up. It can take up to three years to get a court date, so people are just released on their own, but they’re not allowed to work.”

You actually work in the court system as a paralegal.

“Yes. I am bilingual, so I get called into cases where the defendants only speak Spanish or just a bit of English. I’m also a notary so I officiate a lot of their marriages. I’m one of the only bilingual notaries around here. That’s why I am basically immersed in the immigrant community.

“There is also a significant language barrier. If a Spanish speaking person gets pulled over for a traffic offense, we have very few people who can translate. It’s not a fair system if the defendant is penalized simply because he or she doesn’t speak English.

“There is no national language. You are not required by law to speak English. It’s a free country.”

Even though you are a native-born citizen, you say that it still stings when people vilify immigrants.

“Yes. I listen to some people talk, and I wonder if that’s how they see me. It’s sort of the same thing when I hear people say negative things about Biddeford.

“Biddeford is my home. I love this community. I have lived here 28 years, and it makes me mad when I hear people say nasty things about our community.”

Randy Seaver is a freelance writer living in Biddeford. He is a former newspaper reporter and editor and is the principal of a small strategic communications firm. He can be contacted at randy@randyseaver.com