BY VINAYA SAKSENA

CENTRAL FALLS — A Providence store owner’s response to two men speaking Spanish in his store and the resulting controversy has captured the interest of local groups on both sides, but they’re not necessarily interested in confrontation.

On March 1, the owner of Rhode Island Refrigeration was helping two men who had come into his store, when he heard them speaking to each other in Spanish. Upon hearing this, the owner allegedly demanded to see a Social Security card for one of the men, threatening to call Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE). In protest of the treatment of the two men, one of whom was apparently a state employee, The National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders (CONLAMIC) and the Hispanic Pastors Association of Rhode Island staged a press event outside the store on Wednesday.
Ramon Martinez, President of the Latino advocacy group Progresso Latino, participated in the press conference held by CONLAMIC and the Hispanic Pastors Association of Rhode Island, the latest of numerous events affecting Latinos in which he has participated. Terry Gorman, a Lincoln resident, is the executive director of Rhode Islanders for Immigration Law Enforcement (RIILE), an organization that has been vocal in calling for tougher enforcement of immigration law, and which counts David C. Richardson — the owner of Rhode Island Refrigeration — among its members.
Each man had a differing perspective on the incident at Richardson’s store — and the larger issue of immigration. Both, however, were quick to denounce Richardson’s alleged conduct in the incident, citing concerns about citizens taking immigration law into their own hands.
“I don’t think we’re going to take a public stance on it,” Gorman said. “I don’t condone the fact that Mr. Richardson asked for his Social Security card. People are becoming so (involved) in this issue that without our approval, they’ve taken them into their own hands.”
Gorman said he had not known Richardson personally outside of the group, and had no prior knowledge that he would do something like the incident at his store. Martinez, however, said he wasn’t convinced that Gorman didn’t condone Richardson’s actions, adding that regardless of this, incidents such as this could have dangerous repercussions for society.
“What are the implications of something like this?,” Martinez asked. “The implication is that other people will take it into their own hands and ask for social security numbers based on racial profiling. It becomes a vigilante movement.”
Gorman pointed out that his organization had nothing against immigrants in general, only against those who entered the United States illegally. He said their concern was in regards to services utilized by illegal immigrants, which he said led to an increased burden on public services, particularly health and education. As an example of this, he cited figures that he said indicated per-pupil costs for public schools were $8,507 in Central Falls, compared with $5,504 in Cumberland.
“It’s my contention that the cost in Central Falls is because of the population,” he said, citing a high number of students for whom English is a second language. “And that’s what’s driving up the costs.”
Martinez disputed claims such as this, pointing in particular to healthcare, saying that figures used by RIILE did not necessarily support their claims, and could be interpreted other ways as well. He also took issue with the idea that illegal immigrants taking advantage of services were to blame for the state’s current budget crisis. As a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, he said he had learned much about business-style management, and suggested that use of such skills would benefit Rhode Island financially far more than a crackdown of immigrants.
“It’s something that’s been going on for awhile,” he said. “In some instances, you have a redundancy of services. That’s part of the problem. In some instances, it’s also a matter of graft.”
Martinez said he believed rising tensions on the issue of immigration were prompted by a larger issue: resilience of communities. He said he had begun advocating for the building of “resilient communities,” saying that the current structure of communities did not allow them to stand up to new factors that created difficulty for them. He said that this explained the state’s current fiscal woes as well as any toll that an influx of immigrants- legal or otherwise- might have on society. He also stressed the importance of education, particularly with regard to language, citing difficulties the state has experienced in this regard- and not just among immigrants.
“English language proficiency is a Rhode Island state problem. It’s not (just) Latinos who can’t speak and write it well. The majority of Rhode Island students can’t speak it very well. We have to become an educated society.”