Written by GOULD, CONRAD
Thu, May 29 08
By CONRAD GOULD

Several immigration bills continue to be looked at by committees in the State House as the session reaches its fifth month with only two months left. Bills being considered in Senate committees at the moment include one that would require E-Verify checks on new hires and another bill, S-2076, with much broader measures that would address undocumented immigrants in the state.
Bill S-2076 would call for a ban on transporting or harboring undocumented immigrants, verify citizenship status of those applying for public assistance and restrict access to drivers licenses.
The supplemental budget passed recently has already removed undocumented immigrants' RIte Care funding. Measures in S-2076 would place Rhode Island amongst states that have the harshest immigration laws in the country. The bill is modeled after similar Oklahoma legislation. Other similar restrictive immigration laws have been passed in Colorado and Arizona.

A separate bill being looked at in the Senate, S-2091, covers just the E-Verify legislation. S-2091 was heard in the Senate Labor Committee two weeks ago, but has not come to a floor vote yet. It requires E-Verify checks for businesses with three or more employees.
S-2076 was heard last week in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. The House has passed the corresponding bill to S-2091 (the E-Verify only bill) in a vote of 53-17 several weeks ago, but has not yet voted on the corresponding bill to S-2076, which is H-7138. House bill H-7138 is still under consideration by the Judiciary Committee after being tabled on April 9.
In introducing S-2076 to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, Senator Christopher Maselli (D-Dist. 25) cited statistics from the state's Department of Health and Human Services that showed that immigrant families with at least one undocumented member received more than $1 million per month in funding from state programs (from two different agencies) and $2.7 million per month in health care assistance.
Maselli added, however, "departments do not keep statistics in most cases." He also said "we can argue about figures and numbers we don't know," and indicated interest in finding better data at a later time through the tracking of various departments.
Additionally, Maselli provided data from the Department of Corrections, which said that there are 130 undocumented immigrants currently incarcerated by the state that cost $5.3 million a year.
Senator Juan Pichardo (D-Dist 2), a member of the Health and Human Services Committee, questioned why Governor Donald Carcieri had not released figures earlier when he issued his executive order.
He also said the measures cause an atmosphere "that creates an environment of hostility in the community and state. Rhode Island has been a place of refuge, and through Roger Williams, a place of freedom of religion and expression."
Senator James Sheehan (D-Dist. 36) added during the hearing, "liberty must be paired with respect for the law."
Pichardo agreed that there could be further studies that would provide more accurate data on the impact of undocumented immigrants in the state.
Rhode Island A.C.L.U. Attorney Amy Vitale said the requirements against renting to undocumented immigrants in the bill could result in problems for other renters.

"People avoid the risk of whether [the immigrants] are legal or illegal, and they [won't] rent to people who might be illegal."
Terry Gorman of Rhode Islanders for Immigration Law Enforcement said he is in support of both E-Verify and S-2076, though he said the E-Verify bill is "easiest to pass."

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