PROVIDENCE – An executive order signed today by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri directs the R.I. State Police, Department of Corrections and Parole Board to work more closely with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to combat illegal immigration.
And among other provisions, the order requires all state vendors and contractors to verify the legal status of employees, using the federal E-Verify program; the R.I. Department of Administration is required, and other state agencies encouraged, to use E-Verify as well. It also calls on the state to inform people who are victims of identity theft.
“We all know that we are a nation of immigrants and most Rhode Islanders are descendants of immigrants,” Carcieri said in a statement this afternoon. “My grandparents emigrated from Italy and Sweden. I fully understand the desire to come to the United States to build a better life.
“For generations, people have arrived on our shores from all corners of the world to realize the American Dream. But they followed the letter of the law and did so legally. We have, and always will, welcome legal immigrants to Rhode Island,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the federal government has not effectively addressed the complex issue of illegal immigration,” the governor added. “That means that governors throughout the nation must deal with the consequences. … Last year, states enacted three times the number of illegal immigration bills [as] in 2006. And the issue is being debated in all 50 state capitols.”
In Rhode Island alone, “we have approximately 40,000 illegal immigrants,” Carcieri said, citing figures from the Pew Hispanic Center. “That’s more than the population of 32 of our state’s [39] cities and towns.”
Because illegal immigrants are entitled by law to access a number of taxpayer funded services, including public education and uncompensated hospital care, “this puts a tremendous strain upon our public schools, hospitals, state and local human services organizations and law enforcement agencies,” he said. “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.”
News and information from the governor’s office is available online at www.ri.gov/governor.
Get the State Police on it as well!!!!