Governor Carcieri spent several minutes last night on national television during an appearance on The O’Reilly Factor criticizing Providence’s mayor and police chief for not endorsing his attempt to curb illegal immigration.

The governor cited the recent arrest in Providence of Marco Riz, an illegal immigrant arrested several times before he allegedly kidnapped and raped a Warwick woman, as an example of the need for his executive order.

Carcieri’s order requires law enforcement and correctional officers to work closely with immigration officials to identify illegal immigrants.

“Illegal immigration is a huge issue in our state and around the country,” Carcieri told Fox News host Bill O’Reilly. “This case just epitomized that and, unfortunately, the City of Providence, which is our capital city, has not climbed on board. They are in the dark ages, if you will.”

Carcieri told O’Reilly that police officers can connect directly into the computers of immigration officials to see if a criminal suspect they’ve arrested has an immigration warrant or deportation order against them.

But what Providence is doing, said Carcieri, is “faxing a list of names at the end of the day of all their arrests, which is totally unhelpful.”

Carcieri said he feels Mayor David N. Cicilline is “not really interested” in curbing the problem of illegal immigration.

“No, they’re not,” agreed O’Reilly. “It’s a sanctuary city. You’re a Republican. You recognize the chaos illegal immigration is causing, particularly in the criminal justice system. This guy Riz should have never been in the country, now he winds up allegedly raping a Rhode Island woman. Now… the mayor’s on record of saying, ‘Look, I don’t care. If they want to come here, we want them.…’  ”

O’Reilly asked Carcieri where Rhode Islanders stand on the issue.

Carcieri said in a recent poll of 500 Rhode Islanders, “75 percent of them agree with me on this issue.”

Carcieri’s positions received much more support from O’Reilly than they did from state lawmakers; the state Senate last month defeated many of the governor’s immigration initiatives.

For instance, the governor’s controversial E-Verify bill, requiring private employers to check the immigration status of new hires, died in the Senate amid concerns about its constitutionality.

Opponents of the program said it was fraught with flaws that could lead to problems for Rhode Islanders who were legally able to work. But Carcieri criticized Senate leaders, who he said blocked the bill from getting to the floor for a vote. The House had passed the initiative.

The state began using the E-Verify system in May after Carcieri issued an executive order requiring state agencies and vendors to check the immigration status of new hires and contractors. Last month, President Bush signed an executive order establishing a similar mandate for federal contractors.

Carcieri also wanted to deny drivers’ licenses and workers’ compensation to illegal immigrants, but that plan died as well.

The governor’s appearance was taped earlier yesterday.

O’Reilly joked that the governor should make a citizen’s arrest of Mayor Cicilline. Carcieri chuckled and then had to explain that his executive order was for those who ran the state, not the city.

O’Reilly said Cicilline declined to appear on his show. He said the mayor was “hiding under his desk.”

tmooney@projo.com