County Bill for Immigrants

In his article (Editorial Pages, Dec. 30) concerning the cost of services for undocumented aliens, Peter F. Schabarum, chairman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, is guilty of either gross incompetence or of a deliberate misrepresentation of the facts. The public has a right to expect accuracy and credibility from a supervisor. Unfortunately, that is not the case in this instance.

The impression is deliberately created that the county taxpayers will have to pay the total bill for the health and welfare services received by illegal aliens. This is patently misleading. As a general rule, the county budget for health and welfare services is financed approximately 50% by the federal government, 35% by the state and 15% by the county. This basic fact is conveniently overlooked by Schabarum.

Schabarum also obviously failed to read the recent report by the Rand Corp., or chose to ignore available data. The report found that only 5% of the illegal aliens apply for public assistance. Their contributions to the well-being of our society far exceeds the services they receive in return. No mention of this fact was made by the supervisor!

Supervisor Schabarum attempts to establish some degree of empathy by relating that his German grandfather emigrated to Mexico, married a Mexican woman and then emigrated to the United States. He emphasizes that they worked hard to pay for their needs because there were no welfare programs. Big deal, so did every other immigrant who came to the United States during that same period, and 95% of them still do.

Furthermore, in referring to attaining the American dream, Schabarum fails to take into consideration one very important difference between his family and others who emigrated from Mexico. Does the honorable supervisor really believe he would be holding such a prestigious position if his last name were Lopez, Martinez or Rodriguez?

If the supervisor is unable to understand or grasp such simple facts, one can only wonder about the validity of the rest of his facts and figures.

RAYMOND RODRIGUEZ

Long Beach