PROVIDENCE — A national backlog will probably delay one main element of Governor Carcieri’s controversial executive order — deputizing state troopers and corrections officers with immigration enforcement powers — through at least next year, federal authorities say.

Rhode Island must first qualify for the so-called 287(g) initiative. Approval is not a certainty, but authorities say there are other federal options.

The directive in question, one of six in the executive order Carcieri issued in March, asks state police and the corrections department to join the 287(g) initiative with the federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The program speeds deportation of criminals and suspects who are illegal immigrants.

As more states become frustrated at the inaction on the federal level regarding immigration, at least 90 law enforcement agencies have asked to join the program, and the government is having trouble keeping up. After a slow start, 50 agencies are now participating.

“Our training classes are filled until the end of this fiscal year, Sept. 30,” said Sheriff Jim Pendergraph, director of state and local coordination with ICE in Washington. His office oversees a number of programs, including the 287(g) initiative.

“Until Congress allocates our new budget, we’re not going to be able to train anyone after Oct. 1, because we don’t have any money to do that,” he said. New funding may not be available until February, he said, when training could resume.

Other ICE officials have cited a potentially longer backlog.

“If you were to take that bulk 90 [applicants] and approve them all, it could take three years to train that lot,” said ICE spokesman Richard Rocha. He said ICE hopes to bring the wait period down to “three to nine months” by steering some agencies to other programs.

If Rhode Island’s requests are approved, the federal government pays for the four-week training session, new technology, transportation and other costs. The state pays trainees’ salaries and any overtime. The price tag remains in question.

Meanwhile, ICE is steering some agencies to alternatives, including a Criminal Alien Program, in which Rhode Island already participates, that focuses on identifying illegal immigrants who are incarcerated.

Carcieri’s sweeping executive order on illegal immigration touched off a firestorm. Another main component, the E-Verify system, was implemented last month. It screens employees who work in the executive branch of state government and those who work for vendors of the state.

Many applauded Carcieri for taking action in the absence of federal immigration reform. Community advocates and clergy said they’re worried the state police might conduct dragnets or engage in racial profiling, particularly targeted at the Hispanic community.

Jeff Neal, the governor’s spokesman, said Carcieri is aware that approval for the 287(g) training “is not an automatic process. However, we believe our discussions with ICE have been positive, and we have been given no indication that our requests will not be approved.”

Neal added, “In the unlikely event that ICE declines to approve the state’s requests, we will continue to work with ICE to better identify and transfer to federal authorities illegal immigrants encountered by state officials or in state custody.”

Neal said state police Col. Brendan Doherty met with ICE representatives in December and January, before the state police sent in a formal written request in April for a memorandum of agreement. The Department of Corrections sent its written request in May.

ICE does not confirm which agencies have applied to join the 287(g) initiative; and it is unclear how many requests are ahead of Rhode Island’s.

“We evaluate according to severity of the problem and resources available,” among other factors, Pendergraph said. “If we have an agency with only three officers and another with 2,000 officers and large illegal immigrant population, we’re going to go with the agency we’re convinced is the largest bang for the buck.”

Maj. Stephen G. O’Donnell, state police spokesman, said Rhode Island is waiting to sign a memorandum of agreement that will define the program’s scope in Rhode Island. “The ball is in their court,” he said. “We know these things don’t happen overnight.”

Rocha said a 287(g) agreement does two things.

“In jail [or prison] settings, it allows local officers to determine alienage — or country of origin — of anyone who is processed through facility, and initiate removal proceedings,” he said.

“Or, it allows officers to work with ICE on various ICE-led task forces targeting problems such as guns, drugs, gangs and documents theft.

Rocha said for agencies that do not qualify for 287(g) for whatever reason, “one option is to join an ICE-led task force, but they wouldn’t have the immigration enforcement authority.”

Pendergraph, who started the first 287(g) program on the East Coast, said several applicants have been rejected for 287(g), “and others will be turned down.”

“They realize, looking into it, that they don’t have the resources to support a full-blown 287(g) program and we don’t have the money and the resources to support it in the areas that they come from.”

Pendergraph said ICE is also developing a new program with the FBI and Department of Justice: it will make “immigrant fingerprints” — currently available to only 287(g)-trained officers — to all law enforcement agencies. He said that program will be phased in over the next 3½ years.

The 287(g) program requires a two-year commitment, and contains an “escape clause” for either side.

The memorandum of agreement precedes an intensive, four-week training session that addresses immigration and constitutional law, ethics, racial profiling issues, and technology related to accessing ICE data bases.

Racial profiling, a concern raised by opponents of Carcieri’s executive order, is among the reasons ICE could back out of an agreement.

“That’s one of the things taught in our 287(g), what you cannot and can do [with regard to] ethics and constitutional law,” Pendergraph said. “That’s very, very strictly covered and we inspect the 287(g) partners to make sure they abide.”

He said no agreements have been terminated to date.

Rhode Island State Police are currently facing one pending complaint of racial profiling, filed last year by the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLU alleged state police engaged in racial profiling and violated the constitutional rights of 14 Guatemalan immigrants in July 2006, when a trooper pulled over a van and cited the driver for allegedly failing to signal a lane change. The trooper demanded to see immigration documents from everyone.

kziner@projo.com