Immigrants and Nativism

In response to “Assimilation Is Not a Dirty Word,” Column Right, July 29:

Washington columnist George Will presumes to chide immigrants’ advocates and academics who use the term “nativism” to describe the welling tide of hatred now being expressed against immigrants in California.

Not two minutes after I’d finished reading Will’s column, a colleague came into my office to describe a hate-filed harangue she’d just taken by phone from a Times reader furious after reading that the organization I work for is defending immigrants’ statutory rights in what’s come to be known as “the green card case” (July 29). Other immigrants’ advocates around the state with whom I am in contact--individuals, organizations, even legislators--are reporting unprecedented incidents of the same or worse: obscene calls, hate mail, break-ins, vandalism and assaults.

The hate is nurtured and spread by the increasingly bold anti-immigrant lobby, whose direct mail fund-raising propaganda is filled with distortions and exaggerations aimed at the recipient’s basest xenophobic reflexes. When I bemoan nativism, Mr. Will, this is what I’m referring to. The onus is on you to do a little investigative digging into the sordid subculture to which you’ve so naively given aid and comfort.

RICHARD A. IRWIN

Los Angeles

* This is nothing but an economic problem and not a racial issue. Why should California taxpayers fork over $3 billion a year toward public services for illegal aliens? More importantly, it is deteriorating the quality of life for us legal citizens and draining funds from our government.

Three months ago, President Clinton at the San Diego Town Hall meeting stated that “we do not have the means of controlling the borders.” The so-called means would have control of the border within 24 hours. When we already pay for our armed services at local bases, it would be a minimum cost to provide additional patrol along the border by relocating a temporary base office at the Tijuana border.

PATRICK McDONAGH

Costa Mesa

* Your editorial, “The Smart Way to Get a Handle on the Immigration Issue” (July 25), made a number of sensible points about an extremely heated topic. One matter, however, perhaps deserves more treatment. You state that “no one knows” whether illegal immigrants give back to society as much as they take in social services. While it is true that an exact dollar figure would be hard to come upon, an analysis of several factors suggests that indeed a significant contribution is made by undocumented immigrants.

The informal economy provides a good starting point for measuring their value to society. Economists estimate that the informal economy represents up to 15% of the GNP. A large portion of it reflects the activity of immigrant workers in construction, agriculture and small-scale manufacturing. They are the workers that take the often unrecorded and undesirable jobs that no one else wants, yet which are crucial to the efficient functioning of our society. At the same time, the undocumented use only a minute percentage of social services because often they would rather remain sick than go to a hospital due to fears of discovery and deportation.

Then there is another category of worker who has acquired false papers and is hired by established firms. These immigrants pay Social Security and other taxes yet never see the refunds or benefits. The economic contributions of these illegal immigrants are significant, as they historically always have been, and a hasty condemnation of their role in America would not only be unfair but would distort the highly useful role they have played.

SUSAN ADLER, Research Associate

Council on Hemispheric Affairs

Washington

* Rice University released a study last month called “The Costs of Immigration.” This report noted that the country’s estimated 4.8 million illegal immigrants have displaced 900,000 Americans from the workplace, and, after accounting for tax revenues paid to all levels of government by undocumented persons, are costing taxpayers $7.751 billion annually. Further, assuming no changes to our immigration laws or enforcement procedures, by 2002 there will be 7.8 million permanent illegal immigrants in this country who, by then, will have displaced 1.4 million American workers. By 2002, illegal immigration will be costing us $13 billion annually, and the cumulative 1993-2002 costs to this society will have been $105 billion. Considering that 52% of all illegal immigrants are assumed to reside in California, one can only applaud Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) gutsy stand on this issue.

Illegal immigration has run afoul of the law, the facts and the people, not because of xenophobic or mean-spirited citizens, but because it is an affront to the concept of earned, lawful citizenship, and because of the horrendous consequences of continuing to ignore the problem.

MICHAEL A. SCOTT

Glendora