February 1, 2009
Tabula Rasa: The Attorney General's Position on E-Verify
Under "General Treasurer Frank Caprio on E-Verify and Immigration," commenter JoeB asks:
Has Lynch taken a stand on e-verify?
Good question. Where does Rhode Island's chief law enforcement officer stand on the question of a tool to aid compliance with certain laws?
My quest to answer this question actually began last July. After some research failed to uncover any public stance by Attorney General Patrick Lynch on the question, I left a message for Michael Healey, Director of Public Information for the Attorney General's office. He returned my call on July 21 and left me a voicemail saying, among other things:
I need to get a dialogue going with the General. I want to hash it out and refine it.
It appears that nothing ever came of the dialogue, if it even took place. On January 21 and then January 28, I left a second and third message for Mr. Healey with the same question: "What is the Attorney General's position on e-Verify?"
On Thursday, at last, came a voice mail reply. In it, Mr. Healey accepted with genuine regret all blame for both a "lack of timeliness" of response and for the continued lack of an answer to the question itself.
Mr. Healey can accept responsibility for the former. He cannot, even if he wants to, accept it for the latter. The merits of e-verify have been very publicly and sometimes vociferously debated for a year. In that time, the Attorney General never formulated an opinion. If he had, Mr. Healey would have simply called me back, whether six months ago or last week, and relayed it. Clearly, the Attorney General's spokesperson cannot be held responsible for the studious lack of a stance by his boss on an important law-enforcement issue.
If the Attorney General's position is eventually "hashed out," "refined," and communicated, either to me or through another medium, I will be pleased to share it here. In the meantime, it appears that Rhode Island's chief law enforcement officer has the time to lend a hand with, in his words to Dan Yorke, "court safety" — that's basketball, not judicial — but has not found the time over the last year to formulate an opinion as to whether potential employees of either the public or the private sector should be screened for compliance with U.S. immigration law.
Just an FYI- the House Labor committee will be hearing both the pro & con bills on 2/11.
Posted by: Jay at February 1, 2009 8:43 AMUnforunately it sounds like a case of holding up a finger to the wind.The AG supported Obama.Obama referred to "ICE raids terrorizing our communities"while posturing for votes in front of "La Raza".If the President has that attitude,he probably doesn't much care for E-verify,although it IS in the stimulus package bill-both a 5 year extension,and a denial of stimulus funds to any entity not using it.
Poverty Institute-eat s**t.
Patrick needs to be decisive.
To Cesar, or not to Cesar, that is the employee...
If we recall, the AG had two maintenance people cleaning his office, one was 'Cesar', a legal, and the other was not a legal. I recall she didn't show up for work the day after the Feds rounded up the lawbreakers at the six judicial buildings.
The AG fought to keep Cesar citing it would be unfair for him to go because of the scumbag company that employed him.
How come we never heard a word about Desimone's Tri-State business on Mineral Spring Ave. but only of Falcon?
Posted by: Roland at February 1, 2009 10:22 AMMonique,
Thank you sooooo much for bringing this up!!!!I'm currently not aware of the A G'S stance on E-Verify but he should at least come out on the side of "LAW & ORDER ". If he does it will go an awfully long way towards solving the Illegal Alien problems in our state. Enforcement of E-Verify is probably the single most effective deterrent to any additional Illegal Aliens coming to Rhode Island and may even cause those who are here hiding in the shadows taking scarce jobs to consider leaving. This has already been the case in many other states who enforce their laws.I'm sure the Attorney General realizes how important HIS positive stance on E-Verify is. It would prevent Rhode Island from becoming a "Sanctuary State ".I'm sure he's aware how quickly news of his positive stance will travel through the Illegal Alien and Advocate Underground .Let's start solving this problem with the best solution , LAW ENFORCEMENT!!!!!!!
I hope the AG checks in here,because I for one think he's a decent and honest public servant who is anything but arrogant,however he needs to step up on this issue.
Posted by: joe bernstein at February 1, 2009 4:41 PM