Carcieri noncommittal on immigration panel report

PROVIDENCE—Gov. Don Carcieri brushed off suggestions Tuesday from an advisory panel that warned his crackdown on illegal immigrants in Rhode Island was causing fear and aggravating race relations, a response that left one adviser feeling politically used and others disappointed.

Carcieri created the advisory panel last year after three prominent religious leaders criticized him for signing an executive order targeting illegal immigrants in the state.

The panel issued its final report in January, but the governor twice-delayed meeting with its authors. He finally scheduled a sitdown Tuesday after several panel members publicly urged Carcieri to end the foot dragging, which the governor blamed on a busy schedule.

“There’s been no dialogue,“ said Rabbi Alan Flam, a panel member. “Our work has really been ignored.“

The meeting Tuesday was the panel’s last.

Despite creating the 26-member advisory group, Carcieri never seemed inclined to listen to it. The governor’s office estimates between 20,000 and 40,000 illegal immigrants live in Rhode Island. But his office limited the panel’s work to exploring the unintended consequences of the crackdown, not why it was necessary in the first place. Carcieri refused early on to rescind his executive order, as several panel members wanted.

“I guess I went into the meeting with a feeling that this wasn’t a very high priority for the governor or his staff, and I think I walked out with that same feeling,“ Flam said in an interview.

Panel member Maggie Picot departed with similar frustrations and wondered whether Carcieri created the commission for political cover.

“If you’re not going to take a group like that, the investigations that we do seriously, then just don’t do it for the sake of having a commission,“ she said.

Carcieri’s executive order requires State Police and prison officials to identify illegal immigrants for possible deportation. It also forces the executive branch and companies doing business with the state to use an electronic database to verify the immigration status of new hires.

In January, Carcieri’s panel issued a report warning the crackdown was widely misunderstood by immigrants, including those here legally, and was keeping some away from Spanish religious services and immigrant children from public schools.

It recommended that the state track the financial costs and benefits of enforcing the order, better communicate with immigrants and urged Carcieri to publicly clarify the intent of the crackdown.

Carcieri said Tuesday he was still considering the report and could not say whether he would adopt any of the suggestions. That response irritated several panel members since Carcieri had the four-page document for months.

At the same time, Carcieri seemed to dismiss several of the report’s suggestions, saying the cost of the crackdown would be minimal to the state. While Carcieri said he was willing to meet with immigrants, he did not say when or where.

Illegal immigrants may fear his order, but Carcieri has said they should not be in Rhode Island anyway.

“If someone is here illegally, you know, it’s unfortunate but the reality is there’s no way you can take away a fear or a concern,“ Carcieri said.