PROVIDENCE –– In this summer of $4-a-gallon discontent, a Rhode Island economy hemorrhaging jobs at an alarming rate, and the housing slide eating away at homeowners’ accumulated wealth, you might think our political leaders would have something more important to do than wrangle over the illegal-immigration issue.

During the legislative session that closed last month, the State House was the scene of contentious debates over proposals to crack down on illegal immigrants. In the end, the measure requiring private employers to use the federal E-Verify system to check the immigration status of new hires crashed in the waning hours of the session.

Last night, Governor Carcieri was again on national television –– conservative Fox News pundit Bill O’Reilly’s show –– to talk about his executive order cracking down on immigration.

While Carcieri, some legislators and the talk-radio hosts may think the issue is gaining traction locally, a recent public opinion survey by veteran pollster and political science Prof. Victor Profughi, of Rhode Island College, shows a substantial disconnect between average Rhode Islanders and political figures pushing illegal immigration as a top issue.

When asked “what do you think is the biggest problem facing Rhode Island right now,” hardly any respondents mentioned illegal immigration. Thirty-three percent said the economy, 17 percent said the state budget, 6 percent mentioned gas prices, 8 percent listed government corruption, 6 percent said taxes, 5 percent said education and 4 percent said illegal immigration.

The same poll also showed that an overwhelming majority wanted state government to require state government to hire only legal workers. Ditto for companies doing business with the state.

Yet, most Rhode Islanders seem to go about their daily business without worrying about illegal immigrants. “This is not something that is at the top of the minds of the electorate,” says Profughi.

The random sample of 500 registered Rhode Island voters, conducted between June 18 and 27, carries an error margin of plus or minus 4 percent.

Political leaders always claim to be standing up for small business, but on the immigration issue that doesn’t seem to be the case. Rhode Island’s economy is heavily reliant on tourism, which requires seasonal workers, many of whom are foreign.

Take Newport, the city that reinvented itself as a tourist mecca after the Navy’s Atlantic fleet, once the foundation of the Aquidneck Island economy, left in the 1970s.

The hospitality industry has always used seasonal help, says Keith Stokes, executive director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce. Years ago, those workers were Irish, Greek or Portuguese, he says, and today “they tend to be from Eastern Europe or Latin America.”

Newport’s population swells from 25,000 in the winter to 95,000 in the summer. There is no way for the locals to fill all the jobs washing dishes, slinging cocktails and busing tables.

This is where state attempts to force businesses to use E-Verify or other anti-illegal-immigrant measures hurt the little guy, says Stokes. A large hotel, says Stokes, can probably afford to have a human resources department to keep track of government regulations on immigration and can hire lawyers in the case of disputes. But to subject a small bed-and-breakfast or restaurant to penalties or fines because they hired someone with documents that turn out to be phony just doesn’t seem fair, says Stokes.

“What I’m hearing consistently is that small business people feel they are over-regulated by this state and nation,” says Stokes. “We are in a serious recession in this state … small business cannot handle any more regulatory burdens.”

“We support consistent, reliable immigration policies. We want a consistent, reliable system we can work with,” he says. What is frustrating, Stokes adds, are attempts by the state to put small business owners on the frontline in stopping illegal immigration; that’s a task for the federal government –– not a Newport restaurateur trying to make a living under the fleeting summer sun.

smackay@projo.com