RI's Sanctuary State Status Blasted by Loughlin, DePetro

RI's Sanctuary State Status Blasted by Loughlin, DePetro

Rhode Island's designation as a "sanctuary state" for immigrants has drawn increasingly sharp criticism by some in Rhode Island including former Congressional candidate John Loughlin and radio host John DePetro. 

The Center for Immigration Studies recently published of a map of "more than 200 cities, counties, and states across the United States are considered sanctuaries" -- including the designation of the state of Rhode Island for the policy enacted under Governor 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.

"It only makes sense Rhode Island is a sanctuary state since our roads and infrastructure are truly third world to begin with," said DePetro. "On a serious note, I think it is a disgrace and embarrassment that our political leaders do nothing to discourage the amount of illegals that flow into our state. Chafee set the tone when he rescinded the Carcieri executive order. We cannot control what happens on a national level, but we certainly do not have to make Rhode Island such a safe haven for people living in the country illegally."

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Loughlin, who ran against former Providence Mayor David Cicilline for Congress in 2010, accused Cicilline at the time of running a "sanctuary city" in Providence -- and spoke to the "sanctuary" characterization of the state.  

"When you look at it from the 30,000 foot level, rather than running around and [having states] create a bunch of new laws, we should enforce existing laws," said Loughlin.  "When I ran for Congress, I flew down to the border.  One of the things I learned, is it's not compassionate to create sanctuary cities.  You encourage people to make a journey that can cost them their lives. so to the extent that we encourage people to come is neither smart nor compassionate.  You can't just arbitrarily decide which laws you'll enforce and which ones you won't."

Sanctuary Classification

Earlier this month, the CIS characterized its map of "sanctuary states, counties, and the cities" as the following:

"More than 200 cities, counties, and states across the United States are considered sanctuaries that protect criminal aliens from deportation by refusing to comply with ICE detainers or otherwise impede open communication and information exchanges between their employees or officers and federal immigration agents. These state and local jurisdictions have policies, laws, executive orders, or regulations to this effect. These sanctuary policies obstruct federal law authorizing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to administratively deport illegal aliens without seeking criminal warrants or convictions from federal, state, or local courts. Although federal regulations plainly require cooperation, the federal government has never sued nor sanctioned a sanctuary jurisdiction, nor denied federal funds."

Immigration policy has become a hot-button issue in the 2016 Presidential campaign, with Republican Donald Trump telling  CNN, "You have people coming in, and I’m not just saying Mexicans — I’m talking about people that are from all over that are killers and rapists, and they’re coming into this country" -- and critics of his remarks cutting ties with the real estate mogul, from sponsorships to former Miss Universe (and Miss Rhode Island) Olivia Culpo backing out of judging this year's pageant based in his statements.

"Trump clearly struck a nerve on how people are angry at the Obama Whitehouse and feel their voice is not being heard in Washington," said DePetro. "The Trump view on Mexico has been lost in the way it was presented and perceived by those with an agenda to maintain the status quo."

"I think that [Trump's] basically galvanized a lot of public support by saying what's on a lot of people's minds, but doing it in a way that's unfiltered, unhandled, and unprepared, and I think people respect that," said Laughlin.  "It's hyperbolic, but we have a right to determine who comes into the U.S. as a sovereign state. It's not xenophobic, and it's not racist."

Trump opponents in Rhode Island, however, countered the position. 

“At the same time Trump was gaining ground with the most hard core anti-immigrant slice of Republican primary voters, he was repelling Latinos and other general election voters.  Trump is now rated unfavorably by more than 8-in-10 Latinos, according to the most recent Washington Post Poll,and is trailing Hillary Clinton by about 20 points among the general electorate-doing much worse on both these scores than the other major Republican Presidential candidates," said Democratic consultant and GoLocal columnist Rob Horowitz. "Trump's movement with primary voters has come at the price of becoming all but unelectable in November in the unlikely event he does end up securing the nomination."

The Washingon Post reported on Monday that in their latest poll, "Trump Surges to Big Lead in GOP Presidential race."

Debate of Drivers Licenses

Loughlin pointed to Governor Gina Raimondo's support of driver licenses for undocumented immigrants as an issue for the state's "sanctuary" status. 

During the campaign, Raimondo said in response to an ACLU questionnaire that she was the first candidate in the gubernatorial race to explicitly call for drivers’ licenses for undocumented immigrants, saying it was an "issue of fairness and public safety"  

The ACLU supported the position, qualifying, "It is important that the state makes the process for qualifying for the license as simple as possible and ensures that the license does not contain obvious distinguishing marks that would stigmatize license holders."

Legislation was introduced this year by Senator Frank Ciccone III for licenses for undocumented immigrants, but did not move forward. 

“We want to ensure that all drivers, regardless of their immigration status, are trained, tested and insured when driving on our roads,” said Ciccone. “It would also be better for our economy.”

Loughlin, however, countered the position. 

"It encourages people to come here illegally," said Loughlin of the proposal. "Once you give incentives for people to come here illegally, you exacerbate the problem. Let's enforce the current laws.  We need to filter the way we look at state policies -- do they make us safer and more prosperous? That's what we should be asking."

"Illegals have become a tremendous burden on Rhode Island schools, hospitals, law enforcement and social services," said DePetro. "The leaders at the state house continue to roll out the " red carpet" to all illegals with the hope of allowing them to vote. Politicians always say it is about " the children," yet they have zero concern for legal citizen children of Rhode Island."