PROVIDENCE — A Superior Court judge yesterday denied a request for a temporary restraining order against the state’s requirement that its vendors screen new hires through a federal E-Verify program, to determine whether those hires are legally authorized to work in the United States. The directive is part of the executive order Governor Carcieri issued in March that cracks down on illegal immigration.

But aspects of Judge Mark A. Pfeiffer’s ruling pleased both the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, which sought the restraining order, and Governor Carcieri, whom the ACLU filed its request against, along with Jerome Williams, director of the state Department of Administration.

There was also disagreement over interpretation. The ACLU claimed a temporary win; the governor’s office said the only win was theirs.

Rejecting legal claims made by the ACLU, Judge Pfeiffer reaffirmed the governor’s executive authority to issue the order to use the E-Verify system. Pfeiffer ruled that the order “is not outside of the authority of the governor to issue”; that it does not violate the separation of powers doctrine or encroach upon the General Assembly’s power to enact laws regarding state contracts, and that “the chief executive power of this state is vested in the Governor.”

But Pfeiffer also found that the Department of Administration “more likely than not … illegally circumvented” the rule-making requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act, and must now publicly announce a new rule pursuant to that act. Until then, he ruled, the state will not be allowed to terminate any existing contracts and current vendors are not required to register with E-Verify until further notice.

Amy Kempe, spokeswoman for Carcieri, said the administration “will be filing an emergency promulgation rule as soon as possible.”

“Although our request for a restraining order was formally denied, we are pleased that the judge in essence granted us one,” said ACLU executive director Steven Brown.

“By acknowledging that the state clearly violated the Administrative Procedures Act in implementing the program, and by preventing the state from taking any action for the foreseeable future against vendors who do not register with it, the court has temporarily halted state enforcement of this flawed program, as we had requested,” Brown said. “I do want to emphasize we got what we had asked for, which is a temporary halt to implementation of E-Verify for current vendors until further proceedings take place.”

Carcieri, in a statement issued by his office, said, “We are pleased with the Judge’s decision to deny the temporary restraining order, which allows the Administration to move forward in requiring vendors to use E-Verify. More importantly, the decision clearly recognizes that my Executive Order was within my authority and allowed by the state’s Constitution.”

Carcieri said that in accordance with the judge’s decision, the administration department “will immediately move forward to promulgate a purchasing regulation that expressly requires vendors who are doing business with the State of Rhode Island to use E-Verify.”

Kempe, the governor’s spokeswoman, said last evening that state lawyers were “working on the language” of an emergency promulgation rule that would go into effect immediately for up to 120 days, during which time public comment will be taken.

The ACLU filed its complaint on behalf of itself, the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence and two Rhode Island College professors, against Carcieri and Williams. It did so in advance of last Friday’s deadline for some 4,000 vendors to file compliance certification forms for the program.

The ACLU’s complaint sought the restraining order on grounds that Carcieri’s directive falls outside of his executive purview; that he and the DOA ignored state rules requiring public review and input on that proposal, and that the E-Verify system — run by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration — is a pilot program “riddled with significant flaws” that is “strictly voluntary at the federal level.” (By law, employers can only use the system to determine whether new hires are legally authorized to work in the U.S.)

The complaint also states that the E-Verify program often returns “inaccurate information regarding the immigration and employment status of new hires.”

Lawyer Randy Olen argued on behalf of the ACLU last week that without a temporary restraining order, “the people and individuals who don’t file certification forms as of [last Friday’s deadline] will lose their right to do business with the state,” and that any current contracts those vendors hold might also be affected.

On Friday, state officials said that roughly 1,900 of the current vendors have abided by Carcieri’s directive on E-Verify.

Kempe said, “There are a number of vendors that have yet to register with E-Verify. The state and the Department of Administration are working diligently with them to get any questions answered and help the vendors. There wasn’t any intention as of Friday of mass terminations of contracts. In essence the DOA is working with the vendors and will continue to do so. So once the rule is promulgated there will hopefully be an expedited process to help those vendors become registered with E-Verify.”

Pfeiffer and lawyers for all parties agreed last week that a full hearing will be held on the matter before Thanksgiving.

kziner@projo.com