Republican Dean Scontras of Eliot, who is running for the 1st Congressional District, challenged Democrats this week to outline their positions on immigration.

Scontras wants Gov. John Baldacci to rescind an executive order he signed in 2004 that allows immigrants to get access to social services.

“As I travel the campaign trail, illegal immigration is the issue at the forefront of most voters’ minds,” he wrote. “Mainers feel that the federal government has let them down on this issue by failing to secure our borders and pass comprehensive immigration reform during the last legislative session.”

Scontras said he’s got an online petition on his campaign Web site (teamdean08.com) calling for the governor to overturn the order.

In response, state Sen. Ethan Strimling, D-Portland, fired back that Scontras should “stop watching Fox News and Bill O’Reilly.” After noting that “we are a nation of immigrants,” Strimling said there are laws that should be changed to reform immigration policy.

Among them are efforts to crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers and finding a way to help immigrants who are already here become citizens, according to Strimling.

“Your ancestors, like mine, were immigrants,” Strimling wrote. “The Republican Party’s frenzy over immigration seeks to divide our nation, not bring it together.”