Rhode Island immigration plan may face delay

A national backlog will probably delay one main element of Governor Carcieri’s controversial executive order — deputizing state troopers and corrections officers with immigration enforcement powers — through at least next year, federal authorities say.

Rhode Island must first qualify for the so-called 287(g) initiative. Approval is not a certainty, but authorities say there are other federal options.

The directive in question, one of six in the executive order Carcieri issued in March, asks state police and the corrections department to join the 287(g) initiative with the federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The program speeds deportation of criminals and suspects who are illegal immigrants.”*

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