Transcript of Governor Carcieri’s Live Web Chat on Projo.com
Governor Carcieri participated in a first of its kind (for a Rhode Island governor) hour-long live web chat earlier this afternoon, sponsored by projo.com. From reading the transcript of the comments and questions, it appears that there was a good back and forth on the subject of illegal immigration. It appears to have gone quite smoothly.
[Projo] Governor Carcieri today took questions on immigration issues in Rhode Island in a live chat hosted by projo.com.
Carcieri, with his spokesman, Jeff Neal, answered the questions for about an hour at midday from an executive office in the State House.
What follows is a complete transcript of the chat.
The governor’s recent executive order aimed at helping to control illegal immigration in Rhode Island has generated both support and opposition in the form of protests. Here’s a link to the order itself and another to coverage of recent events related to the immigration debate.
http://www.projo.com/news/pdf/2008/0327_immigrationorder.pdf
http://projo.com/extra/2007/immigration/
Governor Carcieri: Good afternoon. Before we start, I want to thank Projo.com for inviting me to participate in this online chat about the important issue of illegal immigration. I understand that this is a very sensitive topic and I hope this forum will help address some of the questions that have been raised.
Governor [Editor's note: This post is from a reader, not Governor Carcieri]: Governor I would like to hear more about your plan per your executive order to allow government entities or officials to send or receive from INS info regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual and the federal government established the E-verify program…. and to verify SSN#. What will be your approach with state entities, such as, investigators of different departments that work in the field and they find individuals that are recipients of state benefits for their US children only who are undocumented aliens. Such as, Low income child care assistance
Governor Carcieri: It’s a long answer but the upshot is that state departments such as the Department of Human Services already use a federal database to verify the immigration status of individuals applying for benefits. Over the last few years, we have worked to tighten up the system to ensure that only those who are entitled to benefits can receive them. The federal government also audits our performance in allocating federally-funded benefits to ensure that we are conforming to federal law.
artfer0307: You’re executive order will affect only a relatively few illegal immigrants. My question is; What exactly do you want to ultimately see happen for the other 39,000 plus illegal immigrants who currently make their home here in Rhode Island?
Governor Carcieri: I’m not sure I agree that the impact will be as minimal as you say, but it is true that there is a much larger group that won’t be directly affected. I have been very clear that this is a federal issue and needs to be addressed by the federal government. I support federal immigration reform. But until the federal government (Congress, in particular) acts, I have an obligation as an elected official to abide by current federal law. I would also add that, to the extent we make certain that no illegal immigrants are employed by the state or its contractors, the employment opportunities will be diminished. This order will also deal with illegal immigrants who have committed crimes. The General Assembly is also considering legislation, which I support, to mandate that all employers use E Verify.
Ethan: Governor Carcieri, I’m wondering how agencies doing business with the state have reacted to your executive order so far? Has anyone raised a stink yet?
Governor Carcieri: Good question. We have not received any negative reaction from any contractors doing business with the state. However, we are still working our way through the process by which contractors will verify the employment status of their employees. It is likely that if any concerns exist, they will be expressed at that time…
2 Responses “Transcript of Governor Carcieri’s Live Web Chat on Projo.com”
Yes, something we don’t get to say very often: kudos to the Providence Journal and their moderator. This live chat went very well - neither criticism nor praise was precluded, good questions got through but idiocy did not.
From what I understand, several hundred questions were submitted, so obviously he couldn’t answer everything during the hour. However, they did try to take a representative sample based on all the questions asked, so it was certainly not one-sided. Of course, one of the reasons why it went so well, was because certain Providence Journal “reporters” weren’t able to slice and dice his remarks to fit what they would have preferred him to have said instead.
From what I understand, the governor answered the questions himself, although Jeff Neal did the keyboard entry (the gov doesn’t have a computer in his office — yet). I think using this “new” medium to answer constituent questions was a great idea. I hope the governor makes it a regular occurrence.