Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri (R) earlier this month proposed to eliminate 3,000 undocumented immigrant children from RIte Care, the state's Medicaid program, the Providence Journal reports. According to the Journal, Carcieri said the elimination would save $4 million this fiscal year. "I want to take care of Rhode Islanders. We can't take care of the rest of the world's problems, in terms of health care," Carcieri said earlier this month. Jeff Neal, a spokesperson for Carcieri, said that since the program began including undocumented immigrant children seven years ago, Medicaid spending has increased at a rate of 9% or 10% annually. According to the Journal, Carcieri "declined a request for an interview to discuss" his proposal. Critics of the move say it is "short-sighted," "mean-spirited" and "inhumane" and has the potential for fatal consequences, the Journal reports. "When proposals target undocumented residents, the effect is felt much more broadly," Tanya Broder, a public benefits lawyer for the National Immigration Law Center, said, adding, "Any attempt to protect public health is going to be thwarted if a segment of the population is cut off by those efforts. Preventive care is generally cost-effective." Broder said that more than 80 similar bills were introduced state legislatures in 2005 and that almost all were "either stalled in legislative committees or were defeated" (Lee Ziner, Providence Journal, 2/19).