Thread: RI:Hearing delayed in case over RI immigration order

Hearing delayed in case over RI immigration order
Last Edited: Monday, 10 Nov 2008, 11:48 AM EST
Created: Monday, 10 Nov 2008, 11:48 AM EST


PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) --

A hearing to determine whether Gov. Don Carcieri can be held in contempt of court for not following a judge's order before enacting a crackdown on illegal immigrants has been postponed until Wednesday.

The American Civil Liberties Union wants Carcieri held in contempt for not seeking public comment before implementing an executive order regarding illegal immigrants. The ACLU asked for the postponement today because its lawyer is dealing with a family emergency.

Carcieri's order requires companies doing business with the state to use a federal database, E-Verify, to check the immigration status of new hires.

A Superior Court judge ruled in September that Carcieri could install the program. But it said he had to follow state laws requiring his administration to notify the public and accept public comment before imposing the new rules.
http://tinyurl.com/65xnzv

The Governor--- should exercise his power and recall any members of the RI National Guard home. He should then have them work with ICE to "collect" illegals in the state and deport them. He should file a lawsuit against the ACLU for aiding and abetting in the illegal immigtration issue.

The ACLU, daily, works against the laws of the United States of America and not FOR them.. The ACLU was founded by a Communist who openly admits he is. His goal is to destroy a republic governm,ent and replace it with communism.

IMHO the Governor has every riight to do that under states' rights in the Constitution./

Associated Press
ACLU: RI gov flouted judge with immigration order
Associated Press 11.11.08, 4:00 PM ET

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A civil rights group will ask a judge Wednesday to hold Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri in contempt of court for implementing part of his executive order cracking down on illegal immigrants before taking public comment.

The state branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has filed a lawsuit to block part of the order, said in court filings that Carcieri ignored a Superior Court judge's ruling by forcing companies doing business with the state to check the immigration status of new hires using a federal database, E-Verify.

In September, Superior Court Judge Mark Pfeiffer ruled Carcieri could enforce the requirement, but had to obey state laws mandating that the executive branch allow for public comment before setting administrative rules.

Carcieri used emergency powers to enforce the new rule beginning in mid-October. His administration plans to take public comment on the proposal during a hearing set for Dec. 3.

The ACLU claims Carcieri has abused the emergency rule-making process, a legal option meant to help state leaders respond to immediate threats to public health, safety or welfare.

The database requirement is part of an executive order that Carcieri signed in March to put pressure on the estimated 20,000 to 40,000 illegal immigrants that he blames for financially straining the state. Carcieri's order also forces executive branch agencies to vet new employees with E-Verify and requires state police and prison officials to identify illegal immigrants for possible deportation.


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http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/11/ ... 79314.html

Judge says RI Gov. not in contempt
By Hilary Russ
Associated Press Writer / November 12, 2008

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—A judge has ruled that Gov. Don Carcieri was not in contempt of court when the state made emergency rules implementing part of his executive order to crack down on illegal immigrants before taking public comment.

The state affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a lawsuit to block part of the order, argued that Carcieri violated a judge's ruling by forcing companies doing business with the state to check the immigration status of new hires using a federal database, E-Verify.

Superior Court Judge Mark Pfeiffer ruled Wednesday that "in no way, shape or form" did the state violate his order, which directed Carcieri and the Department of Administration not to terminate any existing contracts with the state for companies who didn't yet use E-Verify.

And the state had been taking appropriate steps to implement the E-Verify program according to the rules he specified, which include public input, Pfeiffer said.

A public comment period on E-Verify is scheduled for Dec. 3.

While the contempt question has been answered, the ACLU is still pushing for a restraining order against Carcieri and the state, claiming they used the "emergency" rules to skirt public input but that there is no true emergency.

With that tactic, state officials did an end-run around the public notice period "that Bill Belichick would be proud of," said ACLU attorney Randy Olen, referring to the New England Patriots' head coach in his argument.

But lawyers for the state said two events signaled an emergency: the economic crisis, coupled with raids on state courthouses in July resulted in the arrests of 31 janitors who were suspected of being in the country illegally, four of whom were also charged with identity fraud.

"We issued emergency regulations because we are under an executive order to follow the E-Verify requirements," Michael Mitchell, an attorney for the state, said in court.

"The fiscal crisis is very much an alarm bell," he said. Rhode Island, which currently has the nation's highest unemployment rate, needs jobs for Americans and legal immigrants, he said.

The federal government already requires employers to verify that potential employees are properly documented to work in the U.S., Olen argued.

Pfeiffer indicated his reluctance to interfere with the state's ability to decide for itself what constitutes an emergency.

"I sit here and am skeptical as to why the judiciary should second guess" Carcieri and his administration, Pfeiffer said.

He gave attorneys from both sides one week to submit information on case law about similar emergency measures and how they were decided. But his remarks led Steve Brown, the executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, to call the quest for a restraining order "an uphill battle" after the hearing.

The state's current economic woes are "totally irrelevant to this particular regulation," Brown said.

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