DiMare 88, Standing, by Rosemary O’Carroll, is part of a three-artist exhibit at DeBlois Gallery in Newport.

Artists are, almost by definition, cultural and intellectual migrants. They cross boundaries, break down barriers and slip back and forth across borders — all without asking anyone’s permission.

Many artists are also real-life immigrants. How different would the history of American art be, for example, if not for the contributions of foreign-born artists such as Willem de Kooning (Holland), Mark Rothko (Russia), Claes Oldenburg (Sweden) and Christo (Bulgaria)?

It’s no surprise, then, that many artists have strong opinions regarding the current immigration crisis — or that most of them come down on the pro-immigrant side of the debate.

As it happens, several new gallery exhibits tackle immigration-related topics, including the treatment and status of undocumented workers and the broader debate over American immigration policy. Two shows — one at the DeBlois Gallery in Newport, the other at the Hera Gallery in Wakefield — are already open. A third, at the Blackstone Valley Visitor Center in Pawtucket, is due to open next week.

As a group, these shows share a number of common themes and outlooks.

For one thing, they’re all staunchly pro-immigrant. (If you didn’t know it already, you’ll quickly find that immigrant-bashing isn’t nearly as popular in art circles as it is on talk radio.) They’re also relatively small-scale affairs. The DeBlois show, for example, features the work of three artists, only one of whom — Connecticut painter Rosemary O’Carroll — actually deals with immigration-related issues.

Still, with Rhode Island currently embroiled in its own debate over immigration policy, these shows couldn’t arrive at a better time.

Of the two exhibits that have opened so far, Hera’s “Crossing Borders/ Cruzando Fonteras” is both the largest and the most wide-ranging. It’s also a juried exhibit, meaning that the show’s 16 contributors were selected from a larger pool of artists by a guest juror — in this case, the RISD Museum’s contemporary art curator, Judith Tannenbaum.

Subtitled “Artists Creating Civic Engagement and Dialog on the Theme of Immigration,” the show manages to pack a wide variety of styles and viewpoints under its pro-immigrant banner. Photographer Iris Falck Donnelly, for example, puts a human face on the immigrant debate by snapping pictures of schoolchildren wearing face-paint and paper masks. Though it’s hard to tell where the kids come from — which may be Donnelly’s point — her pictures also remind us that children are often the biggest losers when governments crack down against “illegal” immigrants.

Christine LoFaso does something similar in Sweatshop Worker: Ovidia, a fiber-art portrait of an elderly factory worker. Interestingly, the “portrait” was woven on a jacquard loom, a type of loom that is widely used in the fabric and fashion industries.

Sculptor Faith Hagenhofer, meanwhile, takes aim at the fortress mentality behind many of today’s border-control methods. Her mixed-media assemblage Neighbor to Neighbor consists of a single patch of (felt) grass bisected by a piece of chain-link fencing. (The point: that most borders are simply arbitrary lines separating otherwise identical groups of people.)

Other artists remind us that border-crossing isn’t always done on foot.

In History of Sea Voyages, South County sculptor Ana Flores depicts a primal scene of escape and separation — a family torn apart by the sea — using a group of carved-wood figurines. Another South County artist, Troy West, pays his respects to his own immigrant past in My Ancestors Crossed the Ocean, a folk-artsy mixed-media sculpture decorated with portraits of the artist’s Anglo-centric ancestors.

Flores, who was born in Cuba, also contributes a group of hand-operated “Cuban Dancing Toys.” Made from tin cans that Flores has outfitted with tiny carved-wood dancers, these playful folk-artsy pieces bring a welcome note of humor into the exhibit. For a more satiric, even Orwellian look at immigration, try Valerie Mendoza’s Different, Naturally, a video display that imagines a not-so-distant future in which everyone is genetically coded and categorized at birth.

Perhaps the show’s most striking work comes from Agustin Patino, a Ecuador-born artist who now lives in Rhode Island. Though Patino has two paintings in the show, one in particular stands out — a group portrait of five young Latino men and women painted with such precocious skill that it wouldn’t look out of place in a museum’s Old Master gallery.

In fact, Patino may be the perfect embodiment of the show’s “Crossing Borders” theme: a Central American artist living in the United States who paints like a European Old Master.

Several artists involved in the Hera exhibit are also part of “Crossing Borders: Redefining the Dream,” a companion show opening Thursday at the Blackstone Valley Visitor Center.

Organized by the Pawtucket Arts Collaborative, the show will feature the work of 16 artists, including Pablo Alvarez, Maria Fernandes, Dusan Petran and Helena M. Stockar. Architecture fans will also recognize the name of Eric Owen Moss, a prominent California architect who will be exhibiting a recent series of drawings relating to the U.S.-Mexico border fence.

A number of events and activities are associated with the exhibit.

They include the opening night reception and lecture on Thursday and a closing reception and film screening on Thursday, June 12. Both events start at 5:30 p.m. For more information, call (401) 724-2200 or visit www.pawtucketartscollaborative.org.

At DeBlois, Connecticut artist Rosemary O’Carroll focuses on another side of the immigrant debate: the widespread use (and occasional abuse) of migrant workers. In a series of large, sometimes brightly colored paintings, O’Carroll shows us migrant laborers picking fruit, tending fields under a blazing sun and hoisting boxes onto the back of a flatbed truck.

Though O’Carroll clearly sympathizes with these workers, she also blunts her message somewhat by adding details — glowing sunrises, lushly colored fields — that seem more in keeping with traditional landscape painting. Indeed, it’s sometimes hard to tell whether we’re supposed to pity them for the hard work they do or envy them for their idyllic surroundings.

“Crossing Borders/Cruzando Fronteras” runs through May 24 at the Hera Gallery, 327 Main St. in Wakefield. Wed.-Fri. 1-5 and Sat. 10-4. Contact: (401) 789-1488 or www.heragallery.org.

“Crossing Borders: Redefining the Dream” runs May 15-June 12 at the Blackstone Valley Visitor Center, 175 Main St. in Pawtucket. Hours: daily, 9-5.

Works by Rosemary O’Carroll, Dorothy K. Magadieu and Nancy H. Shand are on view through June 3 at the DeBlois Gallery, 138 Bellevue Ave., Newport. Hours: Tues.-Sun. noon-5. Contact: (401) 847-9977 or www.debloisgallery.com.

bvansicl@projo.com