Thread: RI Gov blames Providence mayor after rape

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RI gov blames Providence mayor after rape
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PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Gov. Don Carcieri pointed a finger Tuesday at Providence Mayor David Cicilline, saying the city's lax attitude toward illegal immigrants is partly to blame for the alleged rape of a woman by an illegal immigrant.

The governor told WPRO-AM that city police had an opportunity to help federal officials deport Marco Riz when he was arrested twice last year while under a federal deportation order. Riz was charged earlier this month with allegedly carjacking a woman in a Warwick parking lot, then driving her to a Providence park and raping her.

Both times Riz was arrested last year, Providence police faxed his name to immigration authorities as part of their standard procedures, but federal officials failed to take him into custody, Cicilline said.

"I don't think you can hold court systems and police departments responsible for the inaction of a federal agency," Cicilline told reporters at City Hall. "For reasons inexplicable to me, they took no action."

Carcieri has widely criticized Cicilline's administration for refusing to require city police to identify illegal immigrants for possible deportation. City officials have said local law enforcement should not be responsible for enforcing federal immigration laws.

"If it were a family member of his somewhere that were, you know, had what happened to that woman, (he) might view it differently," Carcieri said on WPRO-AM.

Cicilline said it was "disgraceful" that Carcieri dragged the mayor's family into the public debate.

Carcieri said Monday that Providence police should have used a computerized database to check Riz's immigration status. If Providence police worked more closely with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, "this man might have been taken off the streets," he said.

Federal officials asked Providence police to switch to the computerized system in April, seven months after Riz's second arrest in Providence. Cicilline said police officials are considering the request.

The Republican governor has feuded with the Democratic mayor of the capital city for months over immigration policy.

Carcieri signed an executive order in March cracking down on illegal immigrants. The order requires state agencies and companies doing business with the state to use a federal database to verify the immigration status of new employees. It also forces state police and prison officials to identify illegal immigrants for possible deportation.

Carcieri asked local police departments to take similar steps, but Providence Police Chief Dean Esserman refused. He said the governor's order could deter illegal immigrants who witness or are victimized by crime from contacting police.

© Copyright 2008 Associated Press








http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_ ... fter_rape/

earlier tread at

http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-709743.html#709743