An executive order by Gov. Donald Carcieri '65, which seeks to prevent illegal immigrants from working in-state, has brought national attention to Rhode Island.
But protests at the State House last Thursday may pressure Carcieri to answer to both his own constituents and the national media.
Carcieri's March 27 order states that illegal immigrants - which the order says may number 20,000 to 40,000 - create a "burden on the resources of state and local human services, law enforcement agencies, educational institutions and other governmental institutions."
The eight-point order calls for the state to implement an "E-Verify" electronic-verification program to ensure all executive branch employees are legally eligible to work. "E-Verify" will also be mandated for companies that work with the state.
The order also allows Rhode Island State Police officers to perform the duties of Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after proper training.
Once trained, State Police will be able to take on immigration enforcement duties, including prisoner transport, and they will have access to federal databases, according to a March 27 Providence Journal article.
The legal status of immigrants who are "taken into custody, incarcerated, or under investigation for any crime" is also subject to investigation, according to the order.
Last Thursday almost 100 protesters crowded the State House among a throng of politicians, lobbyists and state employees, demanding the order be rescinded.
Representatives from Providence Students for a Democratic Society were present at the protest. Ward 9 councilman Miguel Luna led the protest through the halls of the State House.
The protesters, the majority of whom were Hispanic, held up signs that read "No human is illegal" and "Fairness + Respect 4 All." The crowd chanted in Spanish while Luna led them to the office of Timothy Costa, the governor's policy director.
In the office, chants grew louder despite state police demands for the protesters to turn back. After a few minutes they took the protest outside, vowing to return.
Though protesters were hoping Carcieri would hear them in person, he was nowhere to be found. Carcieri did appear later that night on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight," explaining his decision to take over an issue usually handled by the federal government.
Carcieri told Dobbs that "states and governors around the country are bearing the burden (of illegal immigration) and our citizens - hard-working citizens - are bearing the burden," according to an April 4 article in the Providence Journal.
Protesters argued that the burden would be on immigrants, both legal and illegal.
Olneyville Neighborhood Association official Michael Wojcicki took part in the protest. He said a main problem with the order was "deputizing local police to perform ICE duties." The racial profiling of Hispanics might create an environment similar to that in the Japanese internment camps, Wojcicki said.
Luna, who immigrated from the Dominican Republic in 1984, said the order would cause racial profiling, making Rhode Island's Hispanic population "vulnerable."
Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, was concerned with the racial profiling and with the actual efficacy of the governor's plan.
Brown, who said Rhode Island already has a "significant" racial profiling problem, said the issue would be compounded by "turning local police officers into immigration officials."
Brown said illegal immigrants' effect on the job market was "overblown."
"Jobs that immigrants that are here unlawfully take are the ones nobody else wants to take," Brown said. "These immigrants are abused by their employers."
Brown attacked both the "E-Verify" system, which he says has "millions of errors in its database," and the state for choosing to address illegal immigration over "hundreds of other federal laws."
Terry Gorman, president of Rhode Islanders for Immigration Law Enforcement said the order was "long overdue" and would "eliminate a lot of the social costs of illegal immigration."
Social services for illegal immigrants in Rhode Island cost around $350 million a year, Gorman said. Because illegal immigrants are sometimes forced to accept jobs below minimum wage, they may be more likely to be hired over legal workers who would make closer to $12 dollars an hour, he said.
Gorman also argued that "a large portion of the money (illegal immigrants make) is being sent home to their countries - taken directly out of the U.S. economy and sent somewhere else."
Gorman estimated the number of illegal immigrants in Rhode Island is much higher than the 20,000 to 40,000 figure that Carcieri gave in his executive order and could be as high as 100,000.
"In 2006 the Guatemalan consulate here in Rhode Island said there were 40,000 Guatemalans (living in state)," Gorman said, adding that the Guatemalan population in 2000 was only 9,000.
Federation for American Immigration Reform press secretary Bob Dane said his organization estimates Rhode Island has close to 25,000 illegal immigrants.
Rhode Island gained 18,000 new immigrants between 2000 and 2006, Dane said.
Several Brown students attended Thursday's protest, including Providence SDS members Naima Brown '08 and Mael Vizcarra '09.
Vizcarra, who attended Thursday's protest, said "people are going to keep protesting until justice is served."
Students should discover Providence and its "huge Latino population," said Brown, who also attended the protest. Some students "don't even take the time to see what kind of city they live in."
The University does not record whether staff and faculty are foreign-born, but it does require job applicants to fill out I-9 forms, which verify their legal status, according to Wendy Lawton, a Brown spokeswoman.
