About 50 protesters crowd into the governor’s policy office Thursday to demand that Governor Carcieri, below, rescind his executive order. The immigration debate has knocked the state’s fiscal crisis off the front page of newspapers.

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The Providence Journal / Connie Grosch

PROVIDENCE

The emotion grew as the days passed last week.

Governor Carcieri was hailed as a hero by some and attacked as a demagogue by others.

The daily protests nearly turned violent Thursday when more than 50 people stormed the governor’s policy office. And Friday, more than a dozen police officers stood in the State House rotunda, riot gear in a nearby office in case that day’s protest got out of hand.

It did not. But Carcieri’s attempt to curb illegal immigration in Rhode Island has set off a political firestorm that transcends the specifics of the executive order he signed at a State House news conference late last month.

“Watching what has been an extraordinary week, I think the state and certainly some of the governor’s critics need to take a collective breath,” said Donna Perry, a spokeswoman for the state Republican Party. “The depth of the emotional reaction to this order has really been in gross disproportion to what’s been proposed.”

The practical effects of the governor’s plans won’t be felt for some time, as they require formal agreements with federal immigration authorities and comprehensive training programs.

But the political effects were felt immediately.

Rhode Island conservatives have rallied around the Republican governor, whose public approval rating fell to 40 percent in a February Brown University poll, the lowest level in his five years as the state’s chief executive.

The immigration debate has also knocked the state’s fiscal crisis off the front page. State officials are struggling to close the largest state budget deficit in nearly two decades, a struggle that means millions of dollars of cuts for cities and towns, state workers and social service programs.

“It’s hard to imagine you could actually balance the budget through the measures he’s considering,” said Brown University Prof. Darrell West, who characterized the governor’s proposal as “pure distraction” from the fiscal issues at hand. “Immigration is a hot-button issue that really energizes a lot of people. So if you’re in the middle of a very contentious budget dispute, some people use these kinds of issues to build support for themselves.”

Carcieri’s office soundly rejects assertions that the executive order was politically motivated.

“The governor is not at all concerned with the political impact of this policy,” Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said. “Anyone who believes that this is about politics is fundamentally –– and probably deliberately –– missing the point.”

The governor’s order requires state agencies and vendors to verify the legal status of all employees. It also directs the state police and Department of Corrections to work with federal authorities to help enforce immigration laws.

It’s unclear whether that means prisoners found to be illegal immigrants might be deported, or if state troopers might begin requesting proof of citizenship for those pulled over during traffic stops. Critics fear the policies may lead to widespread racial profiling.

The details of the plan will be set when state leaders ink a Memorandum of Agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agreement is a federal requirement, as is an intensive four- to five-week training course for officers who will participate in the governor’s plans, according to ICE spokeswoman Paula Grenier.

KEY LEADERS in the immigrant community, even Republican officials, learned of the governor’s immigration plans through the news media.

The Governor’s Advisory Commission on Hispanic Affairs issued a statement last week calling for “an urgent meeting” with the governor because the commission was “never approached or notified about the draft or execution of this order.” The governor has agreed to meet with the commission tomorrow.

David A. Quiroa, chairman of the Rhode Island Hispanic Republican Assembly, was so upset that he quit the Republican Party altogether. He said last week that the governor and the subsequent conservative reaction “set the party back 50 years in the eyes of minorities.”

Two top Republican leaders say a debate on immigration was needed in Rhode Island, but they would have approached the subject differently.

“The biggest issue for me is however we deal with this issue, we need to bring all of the different facets of the community together, and I don’t think that’s happening in this discussion,” said Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian, a moderate Republican. “I think more outreach to minority communities would have been part of what I would have done.”

Former Cranston Mayor Stephen P. Laffey, who is considering a run for governor when Carcieri’s term expires in 2010, largely agreed with Avedisian.

“You have to constantly work on these relationships. [Carcieri] has not done that obviously,” Laffey said, adding that the governor must do more to convince Rhode Islanders that illegal immigration is a budgetary issue.

“To me, Rhode Island is in a death spiral financially. It all comes down to the money,” he said. “Our hearts go out to these people who try to leave these countries.… But there’s a cost to what’s been going on in America for a long time.”

He continued, citing a burden of illegal immigration on public schools, hospitals and social services: “I don’t think the governor has emphasized it enough. It’s not whether we like or don’t like these things –– it’s whether or not we can afford them.”

Democratic strategists, meanwhile, criticized Carcieri for perceived ideological differences.

“He’s really going after some of the most vulnerable people in our society. And it’s really at a time that he should be focused on growing our economy,” said Angel Taveras, a Providence lawyer, Hispanic activist and former Democratic congressional candidate. “I think he’s struggling, his administration is struggling, I think they’re trying to appeal to their base. And I certainly think he’s accomplished that.”

West, the Brown professor, said that Carcieri’s move may hurt the Republican Party’s ability to attract Latino voters in the future.

A national study released last month reveals that there are 43,000 eligible Hispanic voters in Rhode Island; they represent 6 percent of all eligible voters, a rate that is 13th highest in the nation, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

“Even Bush nationally has tried to appeal to the Latino vote,” West said.

THE IMMIGRATION debate is playing out in city council chambers and state houses across the country, as local officials are drawn in by the federal government’s inability to address illegal immigration.

“Sadly, Congress’ failure to address the issue of illegal immigration has forced states across the nation to act,” said Neal, the governor’s spokesman.

A recent study by the National Conference of State Legislatures found that immigration is being debated in all 50 state capitals: 1,562 bills addressing immigration were introduced across the nation in 2007; 240 became law, which was nearly triple the previous year’s total.

In New England, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has signed memorandums of agreement with four law enforcement agencies: police departments in Framingham, Mass., and Hudson, N.H., the Barnstable, Mass., County Sheriff, and the Massachusetts Department of Corrections.

Danbury, Conn., is also working with ICE to authorize some of its police officers to enforce federal immigration law, although the arrangement has not been finalized.

Grenier, the ICE spokeswoman, said the federal government “welcomes anyone who wants to come to the table to discuss partnerships with ICE. Criminal activity is most effectively combated through a multi-agency approach that utilizes the skills and expertise of federal, state and local resources.”

The federal government pays for the required training, Grenier said, but does not reimbursement state and local governments for the time their officers must spend in the classroom.

The political effect of Carcieri’s move is not unique to Rhode Island.

“There’s no question that the issue has had some intensity around the country,” said Karlyn Bowman, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank. Politicians use the issue to “rally their base, or to the conservatives of their base.”

Bowman said that immigration has been pushed off the national radar by the economy and the war in Iraq, therefore it’s not surprising that the issue has become a heated local issue.

West, the Brown professor, said the debate probably won’t end up helping Carcieri’s public approval rating.

“It’s hard for him to take a stand without alienating people at the same time,” West said. “It will work in terms of building support among his base. But every vote he gains on the conservative side, he’s going to lose on the moderate to liberal side, so it’s not clear there will be a net payoff for him.”

The governor, meanwhile, said he’s not concerned with politics.

“When I look at our little state, when I see what’s happening in our schools and the influx in our schools, and our hospitals, our law enforcement, it’s crystal clear the impact that illegal immigration is having, and we need to deal with that,” Carcieri said last week on CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight. “And if Congress isn’t going to act, I feel as a governor I’m responsible for enacting and following the laws of our state and our nation.”

The CNN appearance excited the governor’s talk radio supporters.

“Governor Carcieri has found his footing. Governor Carcieri, who I support, has found his issue. Governor Cariceri, Governor Don Carcieri, from East Greenwich, is about to embark on the national stage,” WPRO host John DePetro told listeners Friday morning.

speoples@projo.com