Tuesday, April 08, 2008

UPDATE: This just in from the gov's office:

Patricia Martinez, Director of the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), today issued the following statement regarding Governor Carcieri’s Executive Order on illegal immigration.

 

“This afternoon, I met with Governor Carcieri to discuss my recent public comments about his Executive Order on illegal immigration,” DCYF Director Patricia Martinez said.  “I explained to him that I was relaying what I was hearing in Rhode Island's immigrant community, and that those comments are separate from my personal position on the issue.”

     

“I apologize for any misperceptions my comments might have caused,” Martinez continued.  “In particular, I did not mean to imply that the Governor’s actions were spreading hatred.  Instead, I was trying to explain that immigration is a very sensitive and polarizing issue.”

 

“I support the Governor's Executive Order addressing illegal immigration,” Martinez concluded.  “I respect Governor Carcieri’s willingness to lead on this and many other important issues.  I believe it is an important step toward immigration reform.  In the coming weeks, I will work with the Governor to dispel public misconceptions about the Executive Order and to communicate its true intent.”

----

Things were getting unusually quiet yesterday on the immigration front. Fortunately, Patricia Martinez weighed in, keeping the story on its rightful place on the front page of the ProJo, and front and center on the airwaves.

Martinez, the director of the Department of Children, Youth and Families and a member of the governor’s Cabinet for the last three years, said Carcieri’s proposal, like a handful of bills proposed by the General Assembly, “is really slamming immigrants” by promoting racial profiling.

In related news,

-- The House Republican caucus has sent a letter to Governor Carcieri, expressing support for his executive order.

-- Justin finds evidence that the governor's executive order is working:

Governor Carcieri's executive order is already proving to be a success:

Rhode Island's decision to order State Police and other state agencies to help enforce federal immigration law is jarring border cities in Massachusetts, where illegal immigrants say they are now afraid to enter the Ocean State.

If they're that reluctant to cross a state border (with habitual experience of the ease of travel from state to state), imagine how much less likely they'd be to make a beeline to our state across a national border. Those who've opposed attempts to control illegal immigration on the grounds that it is impossible ought to take note.

Personally, I find the part about verifying the status of state workers and contract employees to be reasonable, at least on the surface. It's interesting, though, that the folks who seem to think that the government can't get anything right are willing to put their faith in eVerify. It also strikes me as unsurprising that the executive order would foster fears of racial profiling. More to the point, the issue is worsening polarization, and taking attention away from more serious issues in the state.

The immigration issue has developed over decades, with the tacit support of the federal government and big business. It should be addressed at the federal level.

In terms of the vox populi, two letters recently published in the ProJo stood out in expressing different sides of the issue.

Here's one:

In his March 30 column, M. Charles Bakst questions Governor Carcieri for his efforts to bring order to the illegal-alien problem here in Rhode Island. Why do apologists purposely gloss over the word “illegal” before the word immigrant?

Rhode Islanders understand fully the difference but Bakst appears to be challenged by the word. The governor, who is required to uphold the rule of law, is roundly criticized by Bakst for doing exactly that. Is there a vendetta in the works? Congress and the president have been disgustingly AWOL on achieving a just solution to this problem but the politics of special-interest groups and Congress’s own chicanery have caused them to not only throw the taxpayers under the bus but the illegal immigrants as well. Bakst has his own liberal philosophy, including ignoring the law, but most Rhode Islanders do not share it.

Rhode Island may be a “blue state” but the people are not fooled by that sort of clumsy commentary by confused writers.

SAM PARENTE

Cranston

And another:

I am the grandson of immigrants who came to Rhode Island in the early 1900s to work in textile mills. All that was required to enter the country then was a birth certificate showing country of origin. Even those who lacked the proper documentation were admitted, although their entry visa was stamped WOP, meaning without papers. Since so many Italians lacked papers and were so noted, the slur “wop” adhered to “illegal” Italian immigrants. It would be interesting to know if Governor Carcieri’s grandparents were legal immigrants, or if they were labeled WOP.

PAUL LeBON

Highland Village, Texas