"R.I. troopers embrace firm immigration role; In contrast to Mass., they report all who are present illegally" by Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff | July 6, 2010
SCITUATE, R.I. — If the accident had happened 15 miles north in Massachusetts, the man would probably have been arrested for driving without a license, which carries a fine of up to $1,000 and 10 days in jail, then released pending an appearance in district court.
But in Rhode Island, illegal immigrants face a far greater penalty: deportation.
From Woonsocket to Westerly, the troopers patrolling the nation’s smallest state are reporting all illegal immigrants they encounter, even on routine stops such as speeding, to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE....
Troopers also ask for passengers’ identification, which they say is standard policy. Passengers could decline, but most hand over their identification....
They always ask me for mine!
Rhode Island’s collaboration with federal immigration authorities is controversial; critics say the practice increases racial profiling and makes immigrants afraid to help police solve crimes.
Related: Obama Administration to Ignore Immigration Enforcement
So they can pad the voting rolls for the fall fraud and 2012.
But it is a practice that Governor Deval Patrick’s opponents in the governor’s race are urging Massachusetts to revive. The Patrick administration has staunchly opposed having state troopers enforce immigration laws, and shortly after he took office in 2007, the governor rescinded a pact by his predecessor, Mitt Romney, to assign 30 troopers to the so-called federal 287(g) program, which trains local police to enforce federal immigration law.
Massachusetts troopers say they work with federal immigration agents on criminal cases, but otherwise focus on enforcing state laws.
“We investigate not just traffic violators but also homicides, sexual assaults, drug trafficking, and any number of serious, violent crimes,’’ said David Procopio, Massachusetts State Police spokesman. “We cannot have some of these people fearing that they’re going to be deported if they talk to us.’’
The wildly disparate approaches of the two neighboring states — one that helps federal officials enforce immigration law, one that does not — illustrate how police are often caught in the middle between politics and public safety.
With Congress mired in an increasingly angry debate over the 12 million illegal immigrants nationwide, police are left to contend with the fallout, from hard-core criminals who hide their identities to hard-working laborers who drive without licenses because they need to earn money to send home to their families.
More money being sucked from the American economy.
Related: The Boston Globe Leaves No Fingerprints
Actually, I'm not up for another war, and there are much higher priorities than this right now, thanks.
By some accounts, having states collaborate more closely with ICE could improve public safety. ICE has repeatedly urged police departments to take advantage of its Law Enforcement Support Center in Vermont, a 24-hour network that is distinct from the controversial 287(g) program.
Bruce Foucart, special agent in charge of ICE in New England, said the center helps police verify the identities of immigrants who are suspected, arrested, or convicted of crimes, and aids ICE by informing them about people who are here illegally. The federal agency can then decide whether to detain an immigrant for deportation or release them pending a hearing in immigration court....
Yeah, that is no picnic.
If it is a "terrorism" case good luck getting out.
--more--"Other things on ice around Rhode Island:
"Bank robber gets 10 years in prison
A Connecticut man was sentenced to 10 years in prison in US District Court yesterday for his role in armed bank robberies in 2007 in Chicopee; Cranston, R.I.; and Deer Park, N.Y., prosecutors said. The office of US Attorney Peter F. Neronha said Dwayne K. Lewis, 28, a Jamaican national living in Bridgeport at the time of his arrest, faces a deportation hearing when he completes his sentence. Lewis pleaded guilty in February to charges that he robbed the banks between March and July 2007, Neronha’s office said. Lewis and two accomplices made off with a total of over $265,000 in the heists, prosecutors said. The accomplices, Richard Ducran and Tiashen Johnson, have also pleaded guilty to armed robbery."
Yeah, you wouldn't want to hold them after a traffic stop, Massachusetts.
Pffft!
"Fight at strip club ends in fatal shooting
Yeah, I noticed those never improve a community.
Wherever they sight them, down goes the neighborhood.
Police say a 29-year-old Pawtucket man is dead after being shot several times during a dispute outside a local strip club. Police said the shooting happened around 5:30 a.m. when a fight between rival groups started in the Balloons club and spilled into the parking lot. They said they did not know if the man was the intended target. Police did not immediately release his name pending notification of his family. It was the second fatal shooting at Balloons, where a 21-year-old Woonsocket man was killed two years ago. The club, which caters to an under-21 crowd, is one of three Providence establishments with a 24-hour license (AP)."
What?
And if that is true, what is a 29-year-old man doing there?
"Police blame horseplay in teen’s gun death
Police in Providence are blaming horseplay with guns in the death of a teen who was shot in the head. Police who responded to a report of a shooting Friday found 18-year-old Luis Dominguez dead inside a house on Waldo Street at about 7:20 p.m. In a news release, police said several people were in the house with various firearms, and Dominguez was killed “as a result of the horseplay with these weapons.’’ Police were searching yesterday for 19-year-old Joshua Rosario in connection with the shooting (AP)."
"Scituate crash victim IDed as recent grad
Police have identified the driver who died when his car crashed into a stone wall in Scituate as a recent graduate of Scituate High School. Eighteen-year-old Joseph Conlon III died at about 1 a.m. on Sunday on Route 116. He was alone in his vehicle. The accident remains under investigation but police believe Conlon may have been driving too fast on the narrow, winding road. Family and friends say he just graduated from high school and was trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. A funeral is scheduled for Thursday at Trinity Episcopal Church."
That is way too young; I wish kids would understand what a dangerous weapon a car is when they get behind the wheel.
"4 districts quit disputed truancy program
The Woonsocket, North Providence, Cumberland, and Coventry school districts have dropped out of Rhode Island’s Truancy Court program since the American Civil Liberties Union named them and others in a suit against the system. The suit, filed in March, asserts that administrators threatened to arrest or place truant students into state custody to get them to waive their constitutional rights. A state Supreme Court spokesman said that other districts want to join the program and that their interest “speaks volumes.’’ (AP)."
Just preparing them for the future.
How much you want to bet they end up in a program that converts them into soldiers?
"Bail is revoked for killer of Boston officer
A Superior Court judge has revoked bail for a man who served time for killing a Boston police officer and is now accused of trying to run down two Cranston officers. Judge Edward Clifton initially said that Terrell Muhammad could be released on $50,000 bail, but changed his mind after a prosecutor asked him to reconsider. Muhammad was released in May 2009 after serving 15 years for voluntary manslaughter in the 1993 shooting of Officer Thomas Rose Sr. Muhammad was arrested last month after he allegedly fled a traffic stop and pointed his car at Cranston officers (AP)."
That's the wrong kind of name to have in the AmeriKan justice system.
"Escapee who impersonated inmate is held
A man who escaped from a Rhode Island prison after impersonating another inmate has been apprehended by police. Nayquan Gadson, 21, was captured Friday in a Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment, said Colonel Brendan Doherty of the Rhode Island State Police. Doherty said Gadson cut his hair and tried to mask a facial scar, but his fingerprints gave him away. Gadson is being held pending arraignment tomorrow in New York as a fugitive from justice. Authorities say Gadson escaped from the Adult Correctional Facility by posing as another inmate and arranging bail for that man. Gadson was facing numerous charges in Rhode Island, including first-degree robbery (AP)."
So much for the escape.
Time to get out of the state myself.
"Associate pastor dies while hiking in Colo.
The associate pastor at a Rhode Island church died while hiking in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park. The Denver Post reported that on Thursday, Jeffrey Rosinski, 29, of Middletown fell several hundred feet in high winds from a stretch of trail on Longs Peak. A hiker found Rosinski’s body Friday, the paper reported. Rosinski’s mother, Lois of Tiverton, told the Providence Journal that her son was associate pastor at Kings Grant Fellowship Church in Portsmouth. His father, Robert, is senior pastor. She said her son was married with a 2-year-old son and an 8-month-old daughter (AP)."
And God called him home?
Maybe I should try flying out:
"Ultralight airplane crashes, witnesses say
Authorities in Rhode Island are searching for a one-person ultralight aircraft after receiving a report that one went down in Block Island Sound. The Coast Guard said it received multiple calls at around 9 p.m. yesterday saying that a small aircraft plunged into the water a half-mile from the beach in Charlestown. The Coast Guard said there were no reports of missing aircraft from any airports (AP)."
"Search at sea for ultralight is called off
The Coast Guard called off its search yesterday for an ultralight aircraft reported to have gone down off Charlestown Beach Saturday night. Six Coast Guard units searched through the night for an ultralight after witnesses said they saw one go down, but no evidence of any aircraft was found. A call was placed to 911 about 8 p.m. Saturday, according to Petty Officer Trent Storm of the Coast Guard. Storm said they searched 150 square miles of Block Island Sound, suspending the operation about 8:45 a.m. yesterday. Storm said the units have exhausted all areas of search and will not resume unless a report of a missing person or aircraft comes in."
Maybe they got caught in the wind:
"Officials back Block Island wind farm site
Governor Donald L. Carcieri and legislative leaders have written a letter in support of a wind farm off Block Island. Carcieri, House Speaker Gordon Fox, and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed urged the state Public Utilities Commission to approve a power purchase agreement between National Grid and Deepwater Wind. They said they believe Rhode Island has a chance to be a national leader in the offshore wind industry. The Legislature passed a law this year aimed at speeding approval of the proposed wind farm (AP)."
Related: On wind power, Mass., R.I. aim to collaborate
Wal-Mart Cuts Cape Wind
Just pray the wind is blowing in the other direction.
Isn't there any good news in the state?
"Zoo welcomes birth of 6-foot giraffe
This newborn measures in at a healthy 6 feet. A giraffe calf has been born at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence. Its gender wasn’t immediately determined, but zoo spokesman Benjamin Sibielski said it’s 6 feet tall and weighs 125 pounds. It was the eighth successful giraffe birth at the zoo since 1997 (AP)."
Related: Pen pals: Giraffe and goat form unlikely friendship when kept in same enclosure
Also see: Meet Franklin Park's New Pivot Man
That's always cause for a party!
"Free beaches, saltwater fishing in RI for Bay Day
Rhode Island is celebrating the annual Governor's Bay Day with plenty of freebies for people headed to the ocean. Beach parking will be free at state beaches on Sunday, buses to the beach will also be free and there will be free saltwater fishing. Among the activities planned for Bay Day is a complimentary barbecue at Goddard State Park in Warwick. In Narragansett, a sand sculpture contest will be held at Roger Wheeler State Beach and a sunset beach bonfire is planned at Scarborough State Beach."
Also see: Lynch quits quest for governor of R.I.
Yeah, it sure is good to be back home:
"R.I. gaming company refiles Cahill suit; Alleges treasurer helped bidders who gave money" by Frank Phillips, Globe Staff | July 10, 2010
A Rhode Island gaming firm is headed back to court to pursue its contention that state Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill rigged lottery contracts in exchange for campaign funds, a move that could reignite a troublesome controversy for his flagging campaign for governor....
Yup, there is NO PLACE like HOME!
--more--"
