Portland is seeking more than $45,000 in state reimbursement for General Assistance the city provided to undocumented immigrants in June, despite Gov. Paul LePage’s policy of refusing to provide state welfare for what he calls “illegal aliens.”

The city also filed a separate $307,000 General Assistance request to cover recipients whose eligibility is not in dispute.

Portland’s decision to split the bill is the latest twist in a political and legal fight over General Assistance to undocumented immigrants, a population that in Maine consists largely of asylum seekers whose visas expire before federal immigration officials rule on their asylum requests.

Portland has filed a lawsuit challenging LePage’s policy. But the city doesn’t want to risk losing part or all of the $8.7 million in state welfare payments it expects to receive this year. The LePage administration has threatened to withhold all General Assistance reimbursements to communities that continue to use state money to cover welfare for undocumented immigrants.

On the other hand, the city has only until Tuesday to request state welfare reimbursements. If the city fails to request reimbursement for undocumented immigrants by then, the state could deny those funds, even if Portland ultimately wins its lawsuit, city officials have said.

The dual request puts Portland at odds with two other cities, Westbrook and Lewiston, that decided to pay benefits to undocumented immigrants, but not to request state reimbursement for them.

“The dual submissions was based on advice from legal counsel but also in order to allow DHHS to reimburse some benefits that were not the subject of the lawsuit,” Portland spokeswoman Jessica Grondin said.

In mid-June, the DHHS announced that it would no longer reimburse communities for General Assistance provided to non-citizens who don’t have valid visas. DHHS has said Maine lacks an explicit authorization that would allow such welfare expenditures under federal law.

LePage, a Republican who has made welfare reform a tenet of his administration and his re-election campaign, later raised the stakes by threatening to withhold all General Assistance reimbursements to municipalities that ignore his directive. His use of the terms “illegal aliens” and “illegal immigrants” has also angered immigrant community advocates, who point out that asylum applicants are considered “lawfully present” and are therefore protected from deportation while their asylum requests are processed.

Portland, Westbrook and the Maine Municipal Association challenged the LePage directive in court by arguing that the administration did not follow the proper rule-making process. But that case, as well as a counter-suit by the LePage administration, are still pending, thereby forcing communities that serve undocumented immigrants to decide whether to follow or ignore the new policy.

Portland filed two reimbursement reports Thursday for the period of June 17-30, which is when the new DHHS policy took effect. The city is requesting $307,422 for the “undisputed charges” paid to General Assistance recipients, and a separate $45,357 for recipients that city staff believe would be ineligible under the LePage administration’s policy on non-citizens, according to figures released Monday.

The city expects to pay $3.6 million in General Assistance to asylum seekers and other undocumented immigrants this fiscal year. The city did not provide a breakdown of how many individuals or families received General Assistance during the latter half of June.

Mayor Michael Brennan said in an interview that the city is in “uncharted territory” as it decides how to proceed before a court decision.

“We are trying to divine – and I mean that literally, divine – a governor’s directive that has gotten no public review and a plan with no public input,” said Brennan, a frequent critic of LePage. “And are also in the middle of a court case.”

A DHHS representative could not be reached for comment late Monday afternoon. But when asked two weeks ago about how the department would handle the reimbursement issue while the court cases were pending, DHHS spokesman John Martins said new reimbursement forms require municipalities “to certify in writing that they are not seeking reimbursement for non-qualified individuals.”

“We have also provided substantial guidance to assist municipalities in how they can ensure they are in compliance,” Martins wrote. “We are working with towns and cities to make sure their reimbursement requests are appropriate and allowable. This will include audits of some municipalities, which is something the State has always done routinely to ensure general compliance in the program.”

The prospect of an audit and the possibility of losing all General Assistance reimbursements were enough to prompt Westbrook and Lewiston to exclude undocumented immigrants from their June reimbursement request forms.

Westbrook officials still provide General Assistance to undocumented immigrants but opted not to seek state reimbursement for the $5,339 paid in the second half of June to 36 individuals likely to be deemed ineligible under the LePage policy. City Administrator Jerre Bryant said this month that the city did not want to risk losing all reimbursements.

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