PROVIDENCE — The Carcieri administration won a sizable political victory when a Superior Court judge on Friday upheld the legality of his order requiring contractors doing business with the state to use the federal E-Verify database to screen the immigration status of new hires.

Rejecting a challenge by the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, Judge Mark A. Pfeiffer ruled that the governor acted within the scope of his gubernatorial authority when he issued an executive order implementing the E-Verify program.

“The executive order and the final regulation are a proper exercise of executive authority and do not violate any constitutional authority of the General Assembly,” the judge ruled.

In a statement Monday, Carcieri said he is “extremely pleased” with the decision.

“Requiring vendors doing business with the state to utilize the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify program helps protect the integrity of our government system and promotes public confidence, the governor said.

The ACLU affiliate’s executive director, Steven Brown, vowed to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.

Since Carcieri signed the executive order, a year ago, the ACLU has opposed the move on the grounds that the federal E-Verify database is “rife with inaccuracies” that could wrongly identify workers as illegal immigrants.

The organization filed suit to block the administration from implementing the order, arguing that it took months for Carcieri’s team to draft regulations governing the program –– relying first on emergency rules –– and asked for public input only after it compiled a permanent set of regulations.

“The decision wasn’t unexpected in light of past preliminary decisions by Judge Pfeiffer,” Brown said. “But our concerns are both substantive and procedural. Obviously, we were concerned about the implementation of E-Verify in light of all the documented flaws in the system. But the bigger concern is that procedurally, the public should be concerned about the incredibly broad authority the ruling gives all state agencies to adopt emergency rules when there is no emergency.”

Brown said he plans to file the appeal within weeks.

cneedham@projo.com