Gov. Martin O’Malley joined pro-immigrant group leaders in Langley Park on Wednesday to herald a planned facility that advocates say will provide a variety of services to low-income area residents, but anti-illegal immigration group members say is a waste of taxpayer dollars.
CASA of Maryland, an immigrant-advocacy organization, will turn the historic McCormick-Goodhart Mansion into a regional headquarters and multicultural center for the area’s diverse communities. CASA leaders said the mansion will provide space for their group and several other nonprofit agencies to offer health, legal, education, leadership and economic development services. Officials in the governor’s press office said the state gave CASA a $1.2 million historic tax credit for agreeing to renovate the deteriorating property.
“Maryland is a diverse state and I am proud to support CASA in their campaign to renovate the historic McCormick-Goodhart Mansion and create a multicultural center,” O’Malley said in a written statement. “… It will provide critical resources to the non-English speaking communities.”
Brad Botwin, director of the anti-illegal immigration group Help Save Maryland, said the governor is wasting taxpayer dollars on a group Botwin believes aids illegal immigrants.
“Despite a $1.5 billion state of Maryland budget deficit and threats of huge tax hikes, Governor Martin O’Malley somehow found untold millions, and a taxpayer owned mansion, to donate to support the activities of the pro-illegal alien advocacy group CASA of Maryland,” Botwin said.
According to information provided by CASA, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties also donated to the group’s new $30 million Langley Park-based campaign to “improve the quality of life of hard-working yet low-income residents of the area.”
