The Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, speaks with Juan Garcia, an organizer in the Hispanic community.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

PROVIDENCE — In an extraordinary show of unity, leaders of Rhode Island’s religious community yesterday called on Governor Carcieri to reconsider his executive order on illegal immigration, saying it threatened to ignite widespread vitriol against entire immigrant communities.

More than 40 clergy members from various religious denominations gathered outside the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul and applauded as Rabbi Alan Flam, president of Rhode Island’s Board of Rabbis, denounced the governor’s order as “a top-down, poorly conceived” policy that promised “discrimination against people of color and immigrants in Rhode Island.”

Further, Rabbi Flam said, the order — designed, Carcieri said, as a way of saving the money the state now spends on illegal immigrants — “comes with no data as to the cost to Rhode Island taxpayers and the impact on local law-enforcement agencies and businesses.”

Among those applauding Rabbi Flam’s remarks was the Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, leader of Rhode Island’s Roman Catholics, who in his own prepared remarks stopped short of directly calling on Carcieri to rescind his order.

But in speaking to reporters after the news conference, Bishop Tobin said: “I would like the governor to look at this issue again very, very carefully and to study, to see if there is another way of accomplishing the goals he has in mind.”

Bishop Tobin went on: “An executive order like this … causes a lot of fear” among both properly documented and illegal immigrants. “So it’s caused that kind of ripple of fear and anxiety …”

In his prepared remarks, Bishop Tobin said that while national leaders work toward an effective immigration policy, “the immigrants who are already in our state should be able to live without fear. They should not be persecuted, intimidated or harassed.”

The bishop said he believed the governor “got some bad information, some bad advice on this one. I know he did not intend to cause harm or fear in our community.”

Carcieri last week signed a six-point executive order that he said would enable “a vast array of state government agencies” to address illegal immigration in Rhode Island.

The governor said he was signing the order because the federal government has failed to act on immigration reform and had left state taxpayers to pay what he termed the considerable costs of illegal immigration.

“This is not about taking a hard line against immigrants,” Carcieri said at the time. “The motive is to get control of an issue that has to be dealt with,” he said. “If you’re here illegally, you shouldn’t be here.”

The measure will require state agencies and vendors to verify the legal status of all employees; allow the state to inform people whose identity has been stolen; and directs the Rhode Island State Police and Department of Corrections to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “to ensure federal immigration law is enforced.” The agreements between the state police and the DOC have yet to be worked out.

But in trying to respond to an economic crisis, contended Rabbi Flam, the governor’s order was feeding a “spiritual crisis” characterized by “fear and mistrust, by blaming the other person, and by vitriolic public discourse in our papers, on our airwaves and even in the State House …”

The Rev. Donald C. Anderson, executive minister of the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, also called on Carcieri to rescind his order and to meet with community members and faith leaders “to discuss a better way to move forward.”

He, the rabbi and the bishop, all called for a national solution to the illegal immigration debate and urged Rhode Island’s congressional delegation to move the subject forward.

In the meantime, Mr. Anderson reminded those in attendance that “In God’s kingdom there are no second-class citizens, only sisters and brothers.”

Carcieri responded to the religious leaders’ remarks yesterday with a prepared statement sent out to media outlets.

The governor said that while he respected the three men and would be happy to meet with them to discuss the issue, “I must respectfully disagree with their position on illegal immigration in Rhode Island.

“While I sympathize with the plight of illegal immigrants in America, I also believe that a nation must have laws and controls on its borders. We cannot simply leave our borders open to all comers.”

Carcieri said that besides supporting an overhaul of immigrations laws, “I have argued that we need more legal immigration and that new legal immigrants play a critical role in our economy. Unfortunately, Congress has repeatedly failed to act to make this possible.

“I appreciate the clergy’s right and obligation to speak about this and other important issues from a pastoral viewpoint,” the governor said. “When an individual seeks their help, I understand that they have a responsibility to respond, regardless of that person’s immigration status.

“But as governor,” Carcieri said, “I have a different obligation. Until Congress reforms America’s immigration laws, I will continue to permit state officials to act on immigration violations that come to their attention.”

tmooney@projo.com