Elorza: "Providence Will Continue to Arrest Individuals on ICE Warrants"
GoLocalProv News Team and Kate Nagle
Elorza: "Providence Will Continue to Arrest Individuals on ICE Warrants"
On Sunday, President-Elect Donald Trump promised to arrest and deport two to three million immigrants with criminal records. Trump's comments were reported by The Hill, prior to the airing of the his 60 Minutes interview.
“What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, where a lot of these people, probably 2 million — it could be even 3 million — we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate,” President-Elect Trump said in an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes." “But we’re getting them out of our country. They’re here illegally.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTGoLocal asked Elorza's office, "If the President signs an executive order January 20 (or soon thereafter), ordering federal and state agencies to arrest and deport illegal immigrants with felony convictions, will the City of Providence comply?
"Regardless of Executive Order, Providence will continue to arrest individuals on federal criminal arrest warrants issued by the ICE or any other federal criminal investigatory body," said Acting Director of Communications Emily Crowell.
Conflicting Comments
The comments come in contrast to those made in the Providence Journal on Monday. Reporter Tim Mooney wrote:
Elorza’s comments were made hours after he told hundreds of people gathered Saturday evening at Hope High School in opposition to Trump’s agenda that Providence would join Los Angeles and New York City in protecting its undocumented citizens.
"I’ve been in touch with both mayors [from those cities] and I’ve told them that we’re going to stand together on this," Elorza told The Providence Journal Sunday afternoon. "We’re not going to sacrifice any of our people and we’re going to continue with the policy we’ve always had."
That policy requires Providence, like any other community, to hold anyone with an immigration detainer who is charged with a crime. But the city has refused for years to hold for possible deportation any undocumented immigrant charged with a simple civil infraction.
Latest in "Sanctuary City Debate"
The Center for Immigration Studies has listed all of Rhode Island as a "sanctuary state" due to the policy enacted under then-Governor Lincoln Chafee that the Department of Corrections wouldn't honor a Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer without a warrant, then altered to require that detainers be accompanied by a judicial deportation or removal order.
Governor Gina Raimondo and Attorney General Peter Kilmartin refused to answer the question on Monday; Central Falls Mayor James Diossa provided comment.
"Ensuring public safety in Central Falls is one of my primary responsibilities as Mayor. Currently, if a person is charged with a felony in Central Falls and that person has an immigration hold, they are reported to ICE. That is our policy," said Diossa. "I'm not going to speculate about what the President-Elect may or may not do in the future. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and push for comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level."
Elorza's comments came after his office announced the launch of a new "One Providence Initiative" on Monday, which will include "weekly announcements touching upon local immigration reform; implicit and embedded Racism; criminal justice reform; police-community relations; environmental justice; and support for women and families, muslims and religious minorities; and the LGBTQ community."
“These announcements are an expression of our values as a city,” said Elorza. “While folks may feel threatened by what they hear at the national level, I want them to know that they are supported and they are safe here in Providence.”
A community forum is scheduled for this upcoming Wednesday, November 16, at 7:00PM at Iglesia Vision Evangelica at 1014 Broad Street.
SLIDES: Winners and Losers in 2016 Election in RI
Winners and Losers - 2016 Election
Winner
Joe Trillo and John DePetro
While most Republicans in Rhode Island were hiding in the bushes, Trillo (the former GOP lawmaker) and DePetro (the WPRO talk show host) were loyal advocates for Donald Trump from the beginning and through the rough spots.
Both could be big winners and could score slots with the administration -- want to go to the White House? You now know the rings you need to kiss.
Winner
Donald Trump, President of the United States
The most unlikely candidate pulled off the biggest victory in Presidential history. The billionaire developer was underestimated which set forth much of his success during the primaries and in the election. The next four years will never be dull.
Winner
General Michael Flynn
The Rhode Island native and URI grad will have a major roll in the Trump Administration and America's foreign policy. As top GOP consultant Ian Prior wrote in GoLocal in July about Flynn when he was on the VP shortlist:
Of course, there are any number of national security experts that can prosecute the case against Hillary Clinton, but Flynn is unique. He is a registered Democrat that was appointed by President Obama in 2012 to serve as Director of the DIA. Even more importantly, he resigned two years later over what he believed to be a misguided approach by the administration as it concerned ISIS.
Loser
Nellie Gorbea, Secretary of State
This year's election was one of the the most mismanaged in modern Rhode Island history. First, the Chief-of Staff of the Secretary of State's office gets into a battle with talk show host John DePetro on social media. The action seemed inappropriate at best for the head of the office administering the election.
Then, the state's Presidential election hit a number of rough spots with faulty equipment and a failed repair and triage system that lead to long lines and frustration in a number of communities across the state.
The job of Secretary of State has three major components:
1) Take care of the State's achieves
2) Maintain a database of businesses
3) Run the state's elections
She needs to assure voters that she understands the problems and correct the mistakes.
Loser
Brandon Bell, GOP Chair
Both Democratic Congressional candidates won big. The GOP had a net loss in the legislature.
Bell went all in on taking out Speaker Nick Mattiello -- a pro-business legislator, instead of recruiting a large number of competitive candidates. If Mattiello delivers of paper ballots like his campaign claims - Bell will have wildly miscalculated at every level and will have left the GOP a weaker party.
Losers
Cicilline and Langevin
A Trump win greatly increases the likelihood that Rhode Island will lose a Congressional seat in the next federal redistricting. Rhode Island will be more like Vermont and Delaware -- two Senators and just one House member. This will mean a big loss for Rhode Island's clout in D.C.
Winner
Allan Fung, Republican Mayor of Cranston
Fung had just the kind of night he wanted to have. He ran up big numbers against Democrat Mike Sepe and put parkinggate in his proverbial rear window.
The margin of victory is impressive -- Fung ran up 68% of the vote and has established himself as one of the top Republicans in Rhode Island.
Now, the personable Fung is the GOP frontrunner to challenge Raimondo as it does not look like she is going to Washington, D.C. now.
Loser
RI's Broken Technology Infrastructure
No money, no car, and no vote.
Lets see if we got this right. You have to wait in line to vote in some locations for as much as two hours because not enough scanners were deployed. Some days you can't register your car because the Hewlett-Packard system is not deployed and the state is now suing the company. And, tens of thousands of folks most in need have not been able to get their most critical benefits (or the from benefits) because the UHIP technology was flawed despite hundreds of millions being spent.
Winner
Speaker of the House, Nick Mattiello
If Mattiello does hold on to his House seat, he will be a stronger Speaker than ever before. He has added more Democrats to his majority and was the architect to many of the Democrats victories.
The simmering stress between Mattiello and Raimondo will turn into a vibrant boil over during the next two years. Raimondo was no help to Mattiello or House members -- they had to clean up for her truck tolls and absorb her unwillingness to release 38 Studios documents.
Loser
Gina Raimondo, Governor
Raimondo's options and national political network just took a major blow. No longer can Raimondo jump to the Clinton Administration to avoid a difficult reelection. Moreover, national Democratic connections are now in Siberia as the Presidency, the House and the Senate are all in Republican hands.
Loser
Peter F. Neronha United States Attorney District of Rhode Island
In a short period, it is highly likely the Neronha and a few other high profile political appointees will be replaced by the Trump White House.
The impact of Ray Gallison and others is an unknown.
