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We expressed concerns about a piece of legislation which would have required an “individual career and academic plan (ICAP)” for all Rhode Island students in grades six through twelve.

Responding to President Trump’s decimation of the DACA program – the Obama program that provided legal status to young children brought to the country unlawfully by their parents – a diverse array of seventeen organizations that work with, or advocate for the rights of, immigrants in Rhode Island have sent letters to all state legislators and municipal leaders calling on them to help DACA recipients with the tools at their disposal. The organizations said in separate letters to state legislators and municipal leaders that they were “heartened by the many strong condemnations of the President’s actions” from state and local leaders, but that “the time has now come for action, not just words” to protect those victimized by Trump’s “inhumane action.” The letter to legislators noted that they had the opportunity to pass three bills pending in the General Assembly – and could do so as early as their upcoming special session this month – to provide protection to DACA students while the program remains in limbo:             *  H-6021, which would generally bar schools and other “sensitive locations” from allowing ICE agents access to their facilities without a warrant, passage of which would give DACA students “at least some limited protection from the roundups that have been happening elsewhere.”             * H–5237, which would treat DACA recipients as Rhode Island residents for purposes of qualifying for in-state tuition at the state’s public colleges and universities, allowing them to continue their education even as their legal status remains in limbo. The letter noted: “We can’t condemn President Trump for refusing to treat DACA recipients as Americans if we refuse to treat them as Rhode Islanders.”             * Passage of narrower versions of two bills, S-183 and H-5686, that would provide special driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. The groups urged that the bills be amended to specifically authorize licenses for DACA recipients, who currently qualify for driver’s licenses but will no longer be able to do so once their status expires under Trump’s DACA repeal.

For individuals in RI on green cards, a conviction of many misdemeanor charges can have a severe and overly punishing – and unexpected – impact. This legislation would have decreased the maximum possible misdemeanor by one day to ensure that such harsh consequences don’t flow from a minor offense.