RHODE ISLAND is in serious, serious trouble and many Rhode Island are genuinely worried about their future. The response of our elected officials — including the governor — should be to get to work on solving problems instead of pointing fingers.

State unemployment is growing at an alarming rate, reaching 7.2 percent as of May. That’s the highest in 14 years, second-worst in the nation and up from 4.7 percent just one year ago. We are the only New England state in recession. Gas prices in Rhode Island are up 40 percent from a year ago. Rhode Island has the seventh highest foreclosure rate in the nation. A vast majority of Rhode Islanders think the state is on the wrong track, and they’re right.

Constituents expect their elected officials to be more focused than ever before. But in this critical hour our chief executive appears to be consumed with the Providence Police Department and me, and the process of reporting arrests to federal immigration agencies.

Clearly, illegal immigration is an important issue and comprehensive immigration reform is long overdue. I know how tough an issue this is. But a failing economy, job losses, home foreclosures, high gasoline prices, government corruption and taxes are critical issues too. In a recent poll of Rhode Islanders, immigration ranked last behind these issues.

Do we take it seriously in Providence? Of course. Contrary to what Governor Carcieri is asserting, Providence has always reported and will continue to report all arrests to immigration authorities. Also, the governor’s assertion that Providence is a “sanctuary city” is wrong. A single member of the City Council proposed the idea, which I opposed, and it was never even voted on by the council.

In the case of Marco Riz, famously charged with a recent rape in Rhode Island, the governor is bent on distorting the facts to serve his fixation. Here is the actual record: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has known about Riz since 2003. It issued a deportation order in 2004 but failed to take action. When Providence police officers arrested and charged Riz in 2007 with domestic assault, they followed the policy in place for 20 years and immediately notified ICE. ICE had the information but failed to act. By the way, all of this happened before the governor’s executive order was issued ICE requested that police change their reporting procedure.

But distortions aside, the governor’s decision to point fingers on this issue, instead of working to solve so many of Rhode Island’s problems, has implications that go far beyond the time and energy expended responding to it. It is a grave disservice to Rhode Islanders who are really struggling. The leader of our state has not only ignored so many of our pressing problems; even worse, he’s undermining solutions to address them.

The governor has just vetoed some of the best legislation to come out of a session in which the General Assembly worked harder and with more focus than at any time in recent memory. Many Rhode Islanders are aware that groundbreaking alternative-energy legislation was vetoed. But many more measures that addressed serious problems were also wiped away.

For instance, I worked with the General Assembly to pass legislation that created the Working Family Property Tax Credit. In an era when costs have been shifted down to local property-tax payers, this gave residents who are most affected by the economic downturn some much-needed property-tax relief. It did so without any additional cost to the state. The governor vetoed it.

In addition, the League of Cities and Towns — the voice for local government at the State House — saw one of its top legislative priorities vetoed. It was a bill that relieved local property tax payers from subsidizing tax-exempt institutions for the cost of fire-hydrant rental — a surprisingly significant, and unfair, cost. The governor’s interest in vetoing property-tax relief and a fair division of cost is a complete mystery.

We have a lot of work to do in Rhode Island: creating jobs, repairing our state’s infrastructure, assisting families facing mortgage foreclosure, and reducing energy costs by promoting alternative energy sources. Maybe the governor thinks his job is to laugh it up on shows like Bill O’Reilly’s The Factor. But Rhode Islanders have a message for him: We’re hurting — and it’s time for him to start doing his job back at home.

David N. Cicilline is mayor of Providence.