I don't know if I spelled it right We need to alert North Carolina they are comin your way from Rhode Island
Associated Press
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.

Yahoo! Buzz"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.