I visited with Lincoln Chafee at the Watson Institute at Brown this afternoon. (He's still not saying what he's going to do in 2010.) One of the things I asked him about was his reaction to Governor Carcieri's executive order last week on illegal immigration. Here's what Chafee had to say:
I think it's a diversion from the real issues, the priorities we should be talking about here in Rhode Island -- realizing our economic potential, getting DOT functioning better, getting the train station built [in Warwick], taking advantage of our tourism industry, working on our ethical issues that we have here in Rhode Island. Immigration is going to whip up a lot of emotions and divert us from real priorities.
To play devil's advocate for a second, the people who are very activist on the issue in supporting the governor would say that there are a lot of costs of government spending associated with illegal immigration. They say it is an important issue because of that. How do you respond?
I understand. I heard someone else say, "We're a land of laws and we're a land of immigrants." You got to adhere to both -- welcome our immigrants, but make them adhere to the law. On the economic side of some of the social costs of illegal immigrants, I'd say there are a lot of economic contributions going on also that you just can not deny. And it's just a reality.
In other news, Chafee seems pleased with the publication this week of his book, Against the Tide: How a Compliant Congress Empowered a Reckless President. He says he was told by his co-writer, former ProJo scribe Tony DePaul, that the Borders in North Attleboro has been selling out as quickly as copies are stocked.