Rhode Island Racial and Ethnic Minorities Disparities Project

An important landmark that is held responsible for causing a shift in immigration patterns to the U.S. is the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. This act essentially enhanced access to the United States for immigrants from less developed countries ultimately leading to a steady increase in the ethnic populations that reside in the country. Another important date that is crucial to immigration history is the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. The act was implemented in an attempt to stem illegal immigration. It offered amnesty to illegal aliens who could prove they had been residing in the U.S. since 1982. After the implementation of the 1986 Immigration Act, only 20 percent of the estimated illegal aliens in Rhode Island had applied for amnesty. Of the individuals that did apply, the majority was both young and single, therefore they had less to loose in coming forward than other families did.

The objective of this report is to envision what the impact of illegal immigration has been in the state of Rhode Island primarily over the past few decades. It begins by providing a brief historical overview of immigration to Rhode Island , beginning with the late 19 th century and following through the 20 th century. Tables that display the breakdown of the foreign-born population in Rhode Island are incorporated into the study. The collected data is organized according to country of origin of each documented immigrant as well as by time period in which he settled in Rhode Island . The next portion of the report outlines the major national trends in illegal immigration. In attempting to understand the impact that this population has had on the state, a lot of attention was placed on figuring out how much of federal and state funding was spent in favor of illegal immigrants. Some areas that were looked into include welfare benefits, education, emergency care, housing, and prison facility usage.

Major Findings

Nationally, the estimated illegal resident population increased from about 1987 to 3.2 million in 1992. The primary countries that illegal immigrants were coming from include Mexico , El Salvador , Guatemala , Canada , and Poland . Statistics also suggest that more than fifty percent of illegal immigrants are originally from different locations in North America . During the eighties, there was a fairly sharp increase in the ethnic populations in the State of Rhode Island . In fact, the state's Hispanic population grew by 132% and the state's Asian population grew by 246%. The most recent official estimate of Rhode Island 's illegal population according to statistics compiled by the INS in 1992 is between 6,000 and 9,900. This number accounts for .5 to 1 percent of the total state population.

According to INS statistics, it is believed that over 400 undocumented persons were arrested in Rhode Island in 1991 and of these over 90 percent were a result of drug-related offenses. By 1994, a total of 219 illegal aliens were incarcerated in the state's Adult Correctional Institution. Once an inmate is identified as having an illegal alien status, the INS places a "hold" on the inmate and obtains a court order for his release into INS custody after he has completed his prison sentence in order that deportation proceedings can occur.

In terms of financial costs, the collected data show an estimate of $18, 551,087 has been spent in General Revenues on behalf of illegal immigrants. Keeping this figure in mind, it is important to note that all population and cost statistics found are based only on estimates due to the fact that it is practically impossible to find data sources that provide exact information pertaining to the numbers of illegal immigrants in the nation.

After an analysis of all the information provided in the report, the authors conclude by making some recommendations. For example, one suggestion is that the state should institute more accurate record keeping on the citizenship status of all persons using social service benefits. Overall, all the proposals made hint at an underlying tone that suggests that the federal government is not doing enough to monitor the various legislation and eligibility regulations of illegal aliens. The report concludes under the premise that more needs to be done in this arena.

Unaddressed issues and/or concerns

This report only presents one stance on the impact of illegal immigration in the U.S. Aside from providing statistics on the historical nature of immigrants both in Rhode Island and nationally, the report focuses primarily on how illegal immigrants drain the resources made available to the public through state and federal aid. However, there is no discussion on how illegal immigrants contribute to the economy or how they are exploited. In truth, most illegal immigrants and undocumented workers dissolve anonymously in society while taking menial job and work assignments for extremely small wages. Moreover, the economy partly thrives on this undocumented labor because there is no need to worry about issues of providing fair treatment or living wages. For example in October of 2003, 250 illegal immigrants cleaning workers at Wal-Marts across the nation, primarily a source of cheap labor, were arrested when their illegal statuses were discovered (Maiello 74). Another relevant concern that the report doesn't take into full consideration is the combined impact of both race and resident status. It would be interesting to see and compare how illegal immigrants from various ethnic groups are represented, treated, and perceived.

Reference List
Maiello, Michael, Kitchens, Susan. "Preying on Human Cargo." Forbes 173.12 (2004): 74-80

How to Access Report
Rhode Island State Library, State House Room 208, Providence RI 02903
Call Number: 325. 1 R475