PROVIDENCE — Governor Carcieri has consistently attacked the civil rights of the state’s most vulnerable residents during the first year of his second term, according to a report released yesterday by the Rhode Island Affiliate, American Civil Liberties Union, which likens the term-limited governor’s recent comments to the “nativist” philosophies of the 18th century.

The report, according to Steven Brown, ACLU executive director, was prompted by a string of actions the group deemed a broad attack on underprivileged groups such as immigrants, the poor, blacks and Latinos, and gays.

“Whether it is congratulating people who demand an end to language interpreters in the courtroom, chastising women for bettering their lives as a result of no-fault divorce laws, demonizing the poor in general and single mothers in particular for their financial condition, or denouncing civil unions as ‘disastrous for future generations,’ Governor Carcieri’s comments and actions can only be seen as promoting a politics of division,” reads the 52-page report.

“This is a politics that gives official voice to nativist fears, to a ‘blame-the-victim’ mentality against the poor, and to bias against a range of groups in society that have faced widely-tolerated discrimination and prejudicial attitudes for decades. This is not what a state leader should exemplify.”

The governor’s office dismissed the release as a public relations maneuver from an organization that is “pro-government, pro-welfare and anti-family agenda.”

“It is not news that the ACLU and Governor Carcieri have deep philosophical differences,” said the governor’s spokesman Jeff Neal. “The Rhode Island ACLU should be congratulated on their latest PR stunt. By compiling all their previous press releases attacking Governor Carcieri into a so-called ‘report,’ Steve Brown and the ACLU have managed to resurrect a number of issues that have already been the subject of significant media coverage.”

Indeed, the foundation for the ACLU’s criticism lies in separate incidents that have been well-publicized in recent months. But the consistency of the incidents taken as a whole, Brown says, illustrates the actions of a governor who disrespects the civil rights of “just about every vulnerable group in Rhode Island.”

The report notes five issues of concern that surfaced in the last nine months:

•Carcieri suggested on talk radio in October that English-language interpreters are unnecessary.

•He made statements in a legal brief in August condemning “no-fault divorce” laws, adding on talk radio last month that the state’s welfare system is “enabling” unmarried women to “have children they can’t support.”

•He vetoed a bill in July that would have eliminated mandatory minimum sentences for various drug offenses associated with urban, minority offenders. The General Assembly passed the initial bill but declined to override the veto during a special session.

•He vetoed another bill in July that would have provided retirement and death benefits to domestic partners of state and municipal employees. The Assembly later overrode the veto.

•And Carcieri last spring supported legislation sending all 17-year-olds in the juvenile justice system to adult court. The Assembly approved the law in July, but reversed it four months later.

Neal criticized the ACLU for ignoring the General Assembly’s role in the “attacks on civil rights.”

“The fact that the ACLU’s so-called report ignored the Democratic General Assembly’s decision to approve this new law shows that this document is a political attack against the Republican governor.”

Of the ACLU’s concerns, it was perhaps the governor’s comments regarding interpreters that created the most controversy.

In October, Carcieri said on talk radio that he didn’t know “why in God’s name” the state should provide English-language interpreters “for people who want benefits from us.”

Carcieri said he found one state department that had eight Spanish-speaking interpreters, and “I said, why are we, at taxpayer expense, providing interpreters for people who want benefits from us. It seems completely illogical to me … my grandparents immigrated from Italy. My grandmother didn’t speak English. She learned it.”

A coalition of 22 state civil-rights and community groups sent a letter to the governor calling on him to apologize. Carcieri refused.

The ACLU report likened the exchange to complaints by Benjamin Franklin in 1751 over the influx of German immigrants to Pennsylvania:

“Why should the Palatine Boors be suffered to swarm into our settlements, and by herding together establish their language and manners to the exclusion of ours?” Franklin said. “Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will … never adopt our language or customs, any more than they can acquire our complexion?”

The report says that it is “quite unfortunate to note that the same attitudes prevail among some members of the public more than 250 years after Franklin’s remarks. It is even more unfortunate, however, when public officials at the highest level of government also continue to play off and promote these nativist fears.”

Claims that the governor shares “nativist” philosophies are not fair, according to Neal, noting that Carcieri “has repeatedly said that America needs more legal immigrants.”

“Governor Carcieri has made it clear he respects the role that immigrants play in America Rhode Island,” Neal said. “He has noted repeatedly that both he and his wife are descendants of immigrants who came here legally … The governor’s concern has been primarily about how the federal government has failed to deal with illegal immigration.”

And Neal added that the report was released less than a year into the governor’s second term.

“The fact that the ACLU has already passed judgment on Governor Carcieri’s second-term record when he still has over three years left in office conclusively demonstrates the ACLU’s bias,” he said.