Carcieri Cracks Down

While the smallest state in the nation may be geographically far away from the border, it has not managed to avoid the problem of illegal immigrants who, along with their supporters, think they are above the law. Luckily, on March 27, 2008, Governor Donald L. Carcieri signed an Executive Order aimed at bringing them back to the real world, in which criminals are pursued and corrective action taken against them. And he also took a stab at the $550 million budget shortfall in this state. Carcieri said that he made the decision to implement the program because “the federal government has not effectively addressed the complex issue of illegal immigration.” That would be the understatement of the year.

During his press conference in which he unveiled the new program, Carceiri cited a Pew Hispanic Center study that concluded that there are approximately 40,000 illegal immigrants in Rhode Island. The Governor was quick to point out that that number of illegal immigrants was “more than the population of 32 of our state’s cities and towns. This puts a tremendous strain on our public schools, hospitals, state and local human services organizations and law enforcement agencies. That, in turn, has an impact upon state and local budgets. In these difficult fiscal times, we barely have enough resources to take care of the neediest amongst us who are here legally.” That is right liberals — money does not grow on trees, and every dollar illegal immigrants drain from our coffers is one not spent on education, welfare, and other services for Americans.

I am all for getting new Americans through legal immigration, but it has to be legal; I cannot support law-breaking in a democracy where we, the legal citizens, make the laws. If we are truly to have a government “of laws and not of men,” we must enforce those laws.

The Executive Order was designed to “enable a vast array of state government agencies to better address the issue of illegal immigration in Rhode Island.” According to the Governor’s website, “the measure requires state agencies and vendors to verify the legal status of all employees, allows the state to inform people whose identity was stolen, and directs the Rhode Island State Police and the Department of Corrections to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] to ensure federal immigration law is enforced.”

The Executive Order included six provisions. One provision requires the Department of Administration to use E-Verify to confirm the legal status of all workers being employed by the executive branch or by companies, contractors, and vendors doing business with the State of Rhode Island. Imagine that the state government only hires people who are not breaking the law — that would contradict a few hundred years of corruption.The Executive Order also establishes a system to notify all citizens who have had their identities stolen by illegals who then take the benefits they should receive, including child care, health care, or drivers licenses. That is right — there are victims of these lawbreakers, not that the Left ever cares about the victim. Another provision of the order establishes a Memorandum of Understanding with the Rhode Island State Police, the Department of Corrections, and ICE, to allow the state police to access federal databases for the purpose of assessing the immigration status of prisoners. It will also enable the Parole Board and the Department of Corrections to work with ICE personnel to provide for the parole and deportation of criminal aliens. The cops will be empowered to do something about people breaking the law, a revolutionary idea!

To be generous, the reaction to Governor Carcieri’s Executive order was mixed.

In fact, even many top officials in Rhode Island’s government criticized the order. Colonel Brendan P. Doherty, superintendent of the state police, had a lukewarm response. Doherty said that he was “not overzealous,” and was “not here to do anything other than the right thing and to pursue criminal aliens and get the job done.” In addition, Patricia Martinez, a member of Governor Carcieri’s cabinet and director of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, said that the Governor’s executive order “is really slamming immigrants” by creating a climate of racial profiling and “hatred.” That is like saying that arresting terrorists creates a climate of “hatred.” The fact is that law-breakers should be caught; the law does not discriminate; and it is not going to turn a blind eye to an entire community just because some of its members do not want it there.

While Governor Carcieri went out of his way to make it clear that he believed “that we are a nation of immigrants and most Rhode Islanders are descendants of immigrants,” and that, like his grandparents who emigrated from Italy and Sweden, most immigrants desired “to come to the United States to build a better life,” he could not escape the onslaught of liberal attacks and protests.

For example, on Thursday, April 3, a group of nearly 75 protesters believed to be associated with the group Direct Action for Rights and Equality, tried to storm into the Governor’s policy office, demanding that Governor Carcieri rescind his Executive Order. Holding signs reading “No Human is Illegal” and chanting, “El pueblo unido no sera vencido!” (“A people united will not be defeated!”), the group reportedly filed into the office until six Capital Police officers escorted them out of the building — obviously a very dedicated group if they exited quietly given their overwhelming majority. No one was arrested, although all should been (and depending on immigration status, deported).

While those protesters stormed to the Governor’s office, other opponents of the Governor’s initiative blitzed the media with vicious criticisms. Tim Grilo, executive director of the Rhode Island Democratic Party, characterized Governor Carcieri’s remarks as being “closer to a hate rally than a press conference.” Grilo did not stop there. He went on to say that, with his executive order, Governor Carcieri “chose the low road and took another cheap political shot. Given his plummeting public-approval numbers, this looks like little more than a desperate attempt to throw a little red meat to his withering right-wing base.” Rev. Eliseo Nogueras, chairman of the Advisory Commission on Hispanic Affairs said that the executive order “caused widespread panic in the community.” Meanwhile, Ali Noorani, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy coalition, said that Carcieri was “the one that’s inflaming the debate” by his actions, and that he “scapegoated the immigration population for political gain and along the way has undermined the safety of each and every resident of Rhode Island.” In addition, Anibal Lucas, director of the Maya K’iche Organization in New Bedford, said that “people are terrified” of Rhode Island’s new initiatives and that “if they go to work, they don’t know if they’ll end up in jail at the end of the day. It’s horrible.”

It is a crazy idea I know, but it seems to me that criminals should never feel comfortable by thinking that they will not get caught. If you speed down Interstate 95, do you blame the state trooper when you are pulled over? (Although this country does need an Autobahn.) And getting those committing crimes off the street makes law-abiding citizens safer — meaning that each and every legal resident of Rhode Island will have their lives improved by this order, provided that Carcieri does not chicken out of it under the media’s pressure.

Governor Carcieri went on CNN’s Lou Dobbs to defend himself against these baseless criticisms. Asked by Dobbs why it was necessary to issue the executive order, Carcieri replied, “at the end of the day, the states and governors around the country are bearing the burden, and our citizens, hard-working citizens are bearing the burden. We’re seeing it in our hospitals, we’re seeing it in our schools, we’re seeing it in our prisons, in all the social service agencies” and that “if Congress isn’t going to do (something), I feel as a governor, I’m responsible for enacting and following the laws of our state and our nation.”

I for one am glad someone is finally stepping up and doing their job concerning these outlaws, since the federal government has clearly indicated that it will not.