Thread: RI-Uneasiness persists over RI immigration order

Uneasiness persists over RI immigration order
By HILARY RUSS , 03.26.09, 03:28 PM EDT



Simon Hernandez says his convenience store business is down by almost half in the past year. He blames the state's high jobless rate and foreclosure crisis, which hit this heavily Hispanic city hard.

But he also says an executive order signed a year ago by Gov. Don Carcieri cracking down on illegal immigration drove away his largely immigrant base of customers, who told him they were moving to North Carolina and other states where they could live without fear of getting deported.
They told me they left because of this order," Hernandez said. "It's not only me."

The governor's order was announced a year ago Friday and was aimed at helping state police and employers root out illegal immigrants. But some residents of recession-battered Rhode Island - suffering from one of the nation's highest unemployment rates, at 10.5 percent - wonder whether the order has done anything but stir up angry rhetoric and add to the state's misery.

Carcieri announced the order as the state was facing a $550 million budget deficit. He said illegal immigrants were on a burden on public schools, hospitals and law enforcement agencies and blamed the federal government for not taking action.

His order required state agencies, vendors and contractors to use a federal database known as E-Verify to check the legal work status of new hires. It also directed state police and prison and parole officials to identify illegal immigrants for possible deportation.

The order created an immediate stir. In the days afterward, Capitol police had to remove dozens of demonstrators from Carcieri's office policy office on Smith Hill.


Providence's Democratic mayor, David Cicilline, and police chief, Dean Esserman, said local officers shouldn't be enforcing immigration laws because it would erode community trust in police and chill immigrants' willingness to report crime.


In response, Carcieri, a Republican, appeared on Fox's "The O'Reilly Factor," where he agreed with host Bill O'Reilly that it would be "a lot of fun" to have Cicilline arrested.

And within months of the order, members of the governor's Hispanic advisory panel resigned, saying the order made immigrants scapegoats for the state's fiscal woes.

"It has been very successful in dividing the community," said Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island branch of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Still, the order's supporters say it's done what it should: make illegal immigrants feel uneasy.

"It's a deterrent to some illegal immigrants," said Terry Gorman, executive director of Rhode Islanders for Immigration Law Enforcement.

It's hard to gauge the success of the order since parts of it are incomplete. State Police are still on a waiting list for training that would allow them to tap directly into federal immigration databases. And the prison is still trying to identify nonviolent illegal immigrant convicts for deportation, but none has yet qualified.

It is not immediately clear how many illegal workers have been flagged by the E-Verify system.

Carcieri said that his order was aimed merely at enforcing existing law and that the most extreme concerns have not materialized.

"I know there was some concern at the time that somehow police were going to go out and round up illegal immigrants. That's not happening. It was never the intention," Carcieri said. "I think as time passes people are understanding that the scope of this executive order was very focused."

Carcieri last year cited estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center showing between 20,000 to 40,000 illegal immigrants in Rhode Island. A demographer at the center said this week that new estimates being released soon would not show a major population change.

"I would not assume that illegal immigration caused our problems, and eliminating it will not end our problems," said Leonard Lardaro, a University of Rhode Island economist. "Rhode Island's problems were caused by a lot of mistakes and missteps over the past several years."

But another economist suggested that Carcieri's premise was logical.

"My concern is that without the governor's executive order, we're liable to attract more people to the state that are going to be using these services, and some of them will be jumping into the underground economy," said Edward Mazze, a business professor at the University of Rhode Island who studies the state economy.

Workers - not all of them illegal immigrants - getting paid under the table in service, construction, hospitality and other industries aren't paying taxes and are contributing to the state's lost revenues, he said.

"Whether we're talking about 500 workers or 5,000 workers, that eventually adds up," Mazze said.

Some Hispanic immigrants remain on the defensive a year later.

Maria Vargas, 38, who runs La Casa Del Pueblo, a Mexican restaurant in Central Falls, said she has lost business and believes the executive order might have made some customers less willing to venture out in public.

"We're Hispanic, but we're not delinquent," she said.


http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/03/ ... 19032.html

But he also says an executive order signed a year ago by Gov. Don Carcieri cracking down on illegal immigration drove away his largely immigrant base of customers, who told him they were moving to North Carolina and other states where they could live without fear of getting deported.
They told me they left because of this order,"

It works!!! Other states or citizens, take notice.

If you are here and you are illegal then you are delinquent even if you are Canadian.

local officers shouldn't be enforcing immigration laws because it would erode community trust in police and chill immigrants' willingness to report crime

Why would any law enforcement officer at any level want criminals to trust them.

Are they afraid that they will not get their warm and fuzzies from the illegal alien workthiefs?

Richard the sad part is that illegals from Canada are deported quicker than Latinos. I have heard this from business owners. I thought illegal was illegal no matter where you came from but I guess there is some sort of heirachy. Even when you read about all the illegals that were rounded up if you look which countries they came from they don't reflect the numbers you see in South Florida.

On a lighter note Rhode Island was having a job fair for a strip club. Four clubs were looking for waitresses and strippers. I read about it in my former hometown newspaper and told friends of mine from Provedence.

Maria Vargas, 38, who runs La Casa Del Pueblo, a Mexican restaurant in Central Falls, said she has lost business and believes the executive order might have made some customers less willing to venture out in public.

So? Having a problem getting new customers or do you only care about "hispanic" customers?

The executive order is doing exactly what it was meant to do, deal with it or get out.

Carcieri announced the order as the state was facing a $550 million budget deficit. He said illegal immigrants were on a burden on public schools, hospitals and law enforcement agencies and blamed the federal government for not taking action.

Illegal aliens are a burden on the entire country. Rhode Island is the smallest state in the U.S. Just imagine how much money then entire country would save if illegal aliens were deported. We wouldnt need ANY bailouts! The majority of Americans want our laws enforced. Good job Carcieri.

North Carolina mentioned as a top destination for illegals again.

W

But he also says an executive order signed a year ago by Gov. Don Carcieri cracking down on illegal immigration drove away his largely immigrant base of customers, who told him they were moving to North Carolina and other states where they could live without fear of getting deported.
They told me they left because of this order," Hernandez said. "It's not only me."

FANTASTIC! just goes to show measures that target illegal invaders do work! BTW...any business that must rely upon the patronage of illegal invaders to sustain itself, probably needs to develop a new marketing plan or business model.

I'm sending news about this article over to NC lawmakers via this letter

A Few Lawmakers Attract More Illegal Aliens Into NC!
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-151424.html