Unanimous Support for Immigrant Funds

In a rare display of unity, all 45 members of the California congressional delegation issued a letter Friday urging the House to approve $1.1 billion in funds this year to assist legalized immigrants.

The letter was sent to Rep. William Natcher (D-Ky.), chairman of the health appropriations subcommittee, who was instrumental last year in blocking the delegation’s efforts to secure money for immigrant health and education programs.

“Shortchanging funding (for legalized immigrants) impacts particularly hard on California, which has by far the greatest influx of immigrants in the nation,” said Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside), who spearheaded the effort to gather support from each of the state’s House members. “This year it is critical that we restore the program to its promised level or our communities will be unable to provide essential services to people in need.”

In 1986, Congress authorized $4 billion in expenditures over four years to pay for programs such as medical services and bilingual education to assist newly legalized immigrants under the Immigration Reform and Control Act. However, President Bush and Congress deferred the funds during each of the past three years to pay for other programs.

The letter, Natcher said, carries “considerable” impact. “It means to me that it is important to the state of California by virtue of the fact that members on both sides of the aisle are in complete agreement on this,” he said.

Natcher said he will call several members of the California delegation to testify before his subcommittee on the importance of the funding. He said that President Bush’s budget proposal to spend only $300 million on immigrant programs for fiscal year 1993 is unacceptable.

The California delegation is known on Capitol Hill for its inability to coalesce on issues of critical importance to the state, in large part because of its size and the ideological split between Democrats and Republicans.

In the past, all 45 members have signed letters on non-controversial items such as emergency aid for earthquake victims. But Friday’s letter is believed to be the first time in recent years that every California member was in agreement on a policy issue, said Pamela A. Barry, executive director of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation.

“It’s a new era,” Barry said. “The California delegation is working together to solve the problems of the state.”

Packard said, “We don’t get together and do things for the good of the state as often as we should. Hopefully we can change that.”