Expect to see repeat legislation this year from Immigrants United (IU), a coalition of which the RI ACLU is an active member. IU’s legislative package consists of immigrant-friendly anti-discrimination bills dealing with everything from housing to workers’ rights to interpreter services. The interpreter bill would codify into state law an often-ignored consent agreement between the R.I. Department of Human Services and the federal government requiring appropriate language interpreter services for DHS clients. That bill, sponsored by Sen. Mary Ellen Goodwin, has died on the House side for two years running. The ACLU is hopeful that this is the year it will pass both Houses.

A new bill for 2010 – inspired in part by last year‘s close House vote on punitive E-Verify legislation – is one that prohibits forced employer participation in the E-Verify program. E-Verify is the federal government‘s faulty work authorization verification program; it contains millions of database errors and has been found to increase workplace discrimination on the basis of national origin. The proposed legislation (H 7527) , sponsored by Sen. Daniel Connors and Rep. Grace Diaz, would also codify into law federal standards that specify proper use of the program for voluntary users in an attempt to prevent abuses of the E-Verify system. It would also reverse Governor Carcieri’s executive order requiring all state contractors to participate in the system. This bill was heard at a hearing this spring. 

Session

2010