Will Trump trump Providence?

What happens in Providence doesn’t stay in Providence. Taxpayers statewide often cough up funds to subsidize the capital city. East Bay legislators, for example, may face myriad issues related to providing more money to the state’s capital, particularly if President–elect Trump follows through on promises he made on the campaign trail. One such issue centers on immigration policy.

The standoff

While campaigning, Donald Trump threatened to block federal funds to sanctuary cities. One problem he will have is that the federal government does not maintain such a list. Various “think tanks” do, and Providence does not make the list of the Center for Immigration Studies, a conservative think tank (Dan McGowan WPRI 11/15/16 blog). Other groups like the Ohio Jobs and Justice PAC do list Providence as a sanctuary city (McGowan, Id.) Television pundits like Bill O’Reilly label Providence as a sanctuary city. It is highly likely that Mr. Trump will have to take some action since his pledge to rid this country of illegals was red meat to his supporters who won’t forgive any backpedaling. When Providence Mayor, Jorge Elorza, declared that he won’t change the city’s policy around undocumented immigrants for the incoming president he, in effect, painted a target on his back. The unusually thin-skinned President no doubt, has him in his cross hairs. Dan McGowan, in his excellent piece on the potential tussle, noted that there are 300-plus sanctuary cities. Those civic leaders, though, kept quiet about their respective intentions.
Ironically, Providence does fingerprint undocumented immigrants who are arrested, and the city enters those fingerprints in a computer system that federal immigration officers monitor (McGowan, Id.) The city does not alert federal authorities to civil infractions or minor crimes because the suspect is not fingerprinted.

A solution?

The stakes for Providence, therefore, re the withholding of tens of millions of dollars of federal funds, will depend on how far down the new president will dig in determining what constitutes a sanctuary city. Mr. Elorza may have exacerbated the attack since he threw down the gauntlet—and Mr. Trump is the kind of person to pick it up and beat the mayor over the head with it.

If that happens, Providence, which already has monumental money woes, will be coming to the rest of the state for more subsidies. That means you will be asked to dish out more tax dollars.

In fact, the entire state may be a target. It went for Hillary Clinton in the election. The Center for Immigration Studies does list the Rhode Island Department of Corrections on its list because the state prison does not honor detainers issued by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The entire congressional delegation are democrats. Nothing would appeal more to the newly elected president than to stick it to such a blue state.

The personal politics of the players are what is driving this potential fight, rather than policy. Unless such rapprochement occurs—which is highly unlikely given the personalities involved—2017 may very well see more taxes on everyone in Little Rhody over this showdown. Hold on to your wallet.

Arlene Violet is an attorney and former Rhode Island Attorney General.