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.
Humans can’t be illegal. I think that if some of the most important people in your life were to be deported tomorrow, your ideas would probably change in a very drastic way. If we really want to solve the budgetary problems, it seems like it would make a lot more sense to examine the places where money is actually being spent rather than speculate on how changing immigration policies could have a trickle down effect on everything else. However, in Rhode Island this really can’t happen because the overwhelming government corruption and money laundering that happens here would be thrown under the spotlight. Also, your comparison of “illegal immigrants” to terrorists is pretty terrible. The worst terrorist is indicative of an organization that has purposeful plans to undermine our government or endanger the safety of our people. A group of immigrants fleeing to a better place out of desperation hardly seems comparable. I also wonder if you are actually from Rhode Island, because this article is written without a lot of basic understanding of how things actually work here.
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Joshua Unseth reply on October 20th, 2008 11:54 pm:
You’re right. People can’t be illegal, but they can be criminals. A criminal is someone who breaks the law. Illegal immigrants are breaking the law. Thus, they are criminals. The punishment for the crime is deportation. Is it really that hard? Beyond that, Kristina isn’t drawing parallels between terrorists and illegal immigrants. She’s saying that the law doesn’t discriminate. Either we follow it or we don’t (and the punishment is delineated clearly. I don’t think that it’s well worded, but dude, you are obviously just trying to find offense.
Oh, and my aunt was deported. She then waited ten years to get her green card. Guess what: I’m even more strongly for enforcement of immigration law. Chris, you’re a bleeding heart liberal without any understanding of what you’re saying.
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Aaron reply on October 22nd, 2008 1:48 am:
In reading Kristina’s article, what I could not understand was her belief in the sacredness of the law. Why are all laws automatically infallible? Some laws are good, clearly. It could be argued that most of the laws we have are good, even. But, just as I’m sure you would agree if, say, a socialist came into power and started major wealth redistributions, there are certain laws that are simply morally unjust. And we, as humans, deserve justice, don’t we?
The problem, it would seem to me (and I truly don’t mean to make an assumption, I’m simply guessing from what I read in this article) is that you’re not quite able to envision these ‘illegal aliens’ as being humans who, just like you, do, in fact, deserve justice. They may not speak your same language, or be your same color. But that is absolutely no excuse to make them into anything less than people. And don’t tell me you’re not doing that–denying a person of the ability to live, support a family…splitting up a family–there is no way to argue that this is not dehumanizing.
I don’t know how many ‘illegal’ immigrants you happen to know closely. I am friends with two. Let’s take my friend Nacho, for example. I worked with him at Corner Bakery for several years. His family is from a vastly impoverished town in Mexico, where there simply were no economic or educational opportunities. In the cliched American tale, they came here searching for a better life. Nacho works three jobs, as do his siblings–they use the money to buy American products, with sales tax. Nacho wants to get legal status, but it’s not really possible at this point without losing all he’s worked for.
A couple months ago he got in a car crash, and when the police came to report it, he was picked up. He is being deported, I am not sure of the exact date.
Ok. Tell me. Simply because my friend did not have the simply good luck we’ve had of being born in this country, is this just?
Is that a law, seriously, that has ANY bearing on what America is supposed to stand for?
I’d be very interested in your response.
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Joshua Unseth reply on October 22nd, 2008 12:16 pm:
You are conflating justice and American justice system. I’m not saying that all laws are just. And I support strongly the administration of justice for all people. As Pope Paul VI said, “if you want peace, work for justice.” I think that justice is an universal right. But I don’t think that it is unjust that some people do not have access to the same justice we have in America. While you are giving me Nacho’s anecdotal story, his is not necessarily the norm. He’s not paying taxes, he’s paying only sales taxes. If he is willing to be dishonest regarding the tax system, he’s probably also willing to be dishonest regarding his car insurance. I’d be willing to bet that Nacho’s accident cost him a bit of money, but probably cost the person he hit even more. Truth be told, I don’t really care if illegal immigrants are roaming our streets so long as they are living within the law. But, when they do things like not pay taxes, not get car insurance, or commit worse crimes, I think that those are the people that need to go. I think that in terms of true justice, the cost incurred by the driver your friend hit is more unjust than any law regarding illegal immigrants.
The dollars being drain from our coffers are not because of illegal immigration. Illegal aliens
do pay for education, welfare, and other services. How? They are contributing to Americans programs that illegals cannot profit from, due to their emigrational status. How do they pay for education? Education is paid mostly by property taxes. Illegal aliens either pay taxes or pay rent. Those who get pay by checks know that federal and state taxes are deducted thru their payroll system automatically. Rent pays taxes and taxes are paid by illegal aliens. Municipalities’ services? Oh, Rent helps pay for taxes. Again, taxes pay for police, fire, etc. The only one that really does not pay for taxes is health care but, this will change soon.
Many federal and state programs such as The Social security also benefits from illegal aliens; deductions are made automatically out of their pay checks (According to studies nearly 40,000 illegal live in RI) and those contributions are un-returnable funds that illegal make to us, Americans. Only Americans with a good Social Security number can benefit from this program.
All lobbyist groups that are constantly after illegal immigration have interest in making money due to others suffering. Interest groups such as unions or correctional departments want this to happen. The more prisoners, the more money is put into budget departments and promotions are most like to happen.
By all means, let’s stop generalizations of illegal immigrants and pressure the government to document all illegal immigrants. They are lots of great role models that are illegal aliens. Our ancestors made America the place we love and a lot of them were illegal aliens at one point. They came from different decent like Italian, Irish, Canadians, French, Hispanics, Asians and Indians are all types of examples of illegal emigrational cases in our country that contributed to our nation. STOP THE GENERALIZATION; Hispanics are not the only illegal immigrants. At one point of our American history, should we have deported all the Italians and Irish descent people because of their ties with the mob? Illegal activities to avoid taxes, NO! Not all Italians and Irish people were bad or criminals. In my opinion, make them join the Military Service, Join the peace-corps, do community service etc,. These are ways that illegal aliens can show loyalty towards the United States of America and give them an opportunity for them to earn and join our American dream.
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