PROVIDENCE –– Patricia Martinez yesterday became the first high-level member of the Carcieri administration to criticize the governor’s push to crack down on illegal immigration, blaming her boss for creating a climate of hatred across Rhode Island.

Martinez, the director of the Department of Children, Youth and Families and a member of the governor’s Cabinet for the last three years, said Carcieri’s proposal, like a handful of bills proposed by the General Assembly, “is really slamming immigrants” by promoting racial profiling.

Extra

Audio: Listen to a clip from yesterday's interview with Patricia Martinez (MP3)

M. Charles Bakst: Immigration, children's issues and Carcieri

Your turn: What do you think of the specific provisions of the governor's executive order?

Your turn: Should Carcieri rescind his executive order?

PDF: Read the full text of the order

Special Report: Continuing coverage of the debate over immigration in our area

“I think the executive order along with what has happened in the media has really created an environment that is unfortunate,” Martinez said, speaking to The Journal yesterday after the annual Kids Count breakfast. “Whether it was the purpose or not, you talk to people in church, you talk to people in the supermarket, you go to the little hair salons, people are afraid. And not because they are undocumented, but it’s just because you are going to be stopped just because you look different, just because you have an accent, just because now it has created this hatred.”

Carcieri signed an order late last month that 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, but does not outline a specific plan.

The reaction from both sides of the debate has been strong and swift. The issue has dominated talk radio and local news coverage. Almost-daily protests last week nearly turned violent when dozens stormed the governor’s policy office Thursday, calling on the governor to rescind the order.

Carcieri’s office, meanwhile, largely dismissed the concerns of Martinez, the Colombian-born former head of the Hispanic advocacy organization Progreso Latino.

“Each of us has our own personal opinions based on personal experience. Patricia Martinez is a fine administrator and, as a member of the minority community, she is certainly hearing the concerns of that community first-hand,” said the governor’s senior communications adviser John Robitaille. “I am certain she understands that the governor’s responsibilities are to the broader community and the governance of the state.”

Carcieri yesterday held a two-hour closed-door meeting with his Advisory Commission on Hispanic Affairs, which had requested an urgent meeting with the governor after he signed the executive order last month. The commission had no idea it was coming.

“If we are an advisory committee, we need to be advising,” said the commission chairman, the Rev. Eliseo Nogueras, before the meeting, echoing Martinez’s concerns. The executive order “caused widespread panic in the community,” Nogueras said.

The governor promised to work with the group in the future, Nogueras said after the meeting. Carcieri did not address the media.

It’s unclear how or when state leaders will begin enforcing the governor’s order. Federal immigration authorities encourage state and local cooperation in dealing with illegal immigration, but require local officials to sign a memorandum of agreement outlining specific protocol and extensive training sessions.

Another Kids Count breakfast attendee, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, said he wasn’t convinced that fighting illegal immigration would improve the Rhode Island economy.

“I think the jury is still out on the extent to which those folks, by performing jobs that many Americans are unwilling to perform, by performing jobs at wages that many Americans are unwilling to accept, and by doing things like paying into Social Security without any claim on Social Security later, are a benefit economically to society, or whether by use of services they’re a drain on society,” Whitehouse said.

He criticized the governor’s decision to announce the executive order at a news conference packed with supporters.

“I think the sort of talk-show aspect of the way he chose to announce it and some of the anti-illegal alien extremists he surrounded himself with, gave people the impression that the administration wasn’t trying to be fair,” Whitehouse said. “It may be a misimpression, but it’s one that I think that followed from the way that was done.”

Neither Martinez, nor Whitehouse noted concerns about the specifics of the governor’s proposal. That’s a point that the governor’s staff has emphasized repeatedly amid mounting criticism.

“Does anyone really think that state government should knowingly hire illegal immigrants as state employees? Does anyone really think that when the state police pull a car over for speeding and determine that the driver is an illegal immigrant, they should turn a blind eye and instead bid him or her a good day?” Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said.

The governor has attributed his executive order to the inability of the Congress to adopt immigration reform in recent years.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed yesterday responded to the criticism: “We tried to address the problem of immigration in the Congress last year; we passed comprehensive immigration reform. Unfortunately, it was filibustered by the Republican leadership.”

Reed refused to comment specifically on Carcieri’s plan, but suggested the issue should be left to federal officials.

“To the extent that they are functional and effective, the issue I think goes beyond individual measures of any state,” he said. “I think there has to be comprehensive legislation at the national level.”

The General Assembly’s House Judiciary Committee tomorrow will consider several proposals aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration. The bills would block undocumented immigrants from receiving housing assistance, unemployment benefits, and driver’s licenses, among other things.

speoples@projo.com