Angry Latino Leaders Decry Gallegly Proposal : Politics: They say the plan to deny U.S. citizenship to babies of illegal immigrants is mean-spirited and racist. Congressman denies that he is just trying to woo voters.

An angry group of Ventura County Latino leaders blasted Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) Friday for his proposed constitutional amendment that would denS. citizenship to children born in this country to illegal immigrants.

While dismissing the proposal as nothing more than a political ploy to attract white conservative voters in Gallegly’s district, the speakers called it insulting, racist, mean-spirited and ill-conceived.

Several speakers at a news conference linked Gallegly’s bill to the thinking of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and Nazis such as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels.

“Like Hitler and Goebbels, Gallegly exploits the rigidity of people threatened by pluralism. . . . He panders to the insecure instincts of voters, much like David Duke,” said Dr. Margaret Cortese, the board president of El Concilio, an Oxnard-based Latino rights group.

In a statement released during the meeting, Assemblyman Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles) called Gallegly’s proposal “mean-spirited and inhumane” and said it “smacks of racism.”

Carmen Ramirez, director of Channel Counties Legal Services, said the proposal “was an insult to Latinos and all citizens of immigrant stock, and that includes everybody except Native Americans.”

Gallegly said he drafted the amendment to protect the rights of U.S. residents overwhelmed by the demand illegal immigrants place on the country’s social services.

He said that anybody who calls him a racist doesn’t really know him.

“I’m convinced that if we had an opportunity to discuss the issue, the people at El Concilio would view me differently,” he said.

Moreover, he said, his critics don’t realize that in proposing his amendment he is looking after the interests of the Latino population that resides legally in the United States.

“It is the Hispanic population that is most affected by illegal immigration because they tend to settle in Hispanic neighborhoods and compete for jobs,” Gallegly said.

Gallegly said his proposed amendment would save taxpayers millions of dollars in welfare payments. He estimated that illegal immigrants receive $5.4 billion a year in social services nationwide, and cited Los Angeles County statistics that two-thirds of the babies born in county hospitals are children of illegal immigrants.

He also said his support of the U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement is evidence that he is not biased.

At the news conference, Latino leaders said undocumented immigrants pay taxes and contribute to the economy.

They said those responsible for the savings-and-loan debacle, excessive military spending and bloated bureaucracies caused the recession--not the babies of hard-working immigrants.

Gallegly denied he is trying to make undocumented immigrants the scapegoats for the recession, and said he has taken a firm stance against corruption and wasteful spending in government.

He also denied that he drafted his amendment to increase his popularity among voters, although both Gallegly and his critics agree that the amendment has virtually no chance of being adopted.

“Any political pollster will tell you that politicians should not take controversial positions, that we should play it safe,” Gallegly said.

“But what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong. I have to take a stand.”