Governor Carcieri’s order concerning immigrants and the activities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local authorities in arresting and imprisoning illegal immigrants constitute misguided exercises of police power by the state.

In 2007, the U.S. Senate rejected a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D.-Mass.) and Republican Sen. Jon Kyl (R.-Ariz.) to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws. It was a sound piece of legislation providing a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and effectively controlling the continued flow of illegal immigrants into this country.

Although the bill had the approval of President Bush, the legislation was blocked by conservative members of the Senate because of an endemic phobia in the guise of “amnesty” touted by conservatives in Congress, and some zealots in our media.

For decades our presidents and legislators turned a blind eye to illegal immigration, and knowingly and willfully failed to enforce our immigration laws because it was good for our economy to hire immigrants. It is contrary to any sense of fairness that we should now be hunting down and deporting those who came here with the tacit approval of our federal government and the encouragement of business entities.

If Americans are genuinely interested in solutions to the problem of illegal immigration, we should take an active part in ensuring that our representatives in Congress pass appropriate and fair legislation that is consistent with reason, as well as our country’s historic notions of fair play and decency.

We should also insist that our elected state officials press Washington to pass and enforce such legislation.

WILLIAM LeMOULT

Barrington