Straddling the Line on Illegal Immigration

There was a refreshingly candid moment in the state Capitol on Wednesday: A politician stood before reporters and admitted to straddling both sides of an issue.

And with this rare display of honesty, newly elected Assemblyman Cruz Bustamante of Fresno implied publicly what many of his fellow Latino and Democratic legislators undoubtedly have been thinking privately about the fiery issue of illegal immigration: that it is so complex there probably is no total solution--and perhaps shouldn’t be.

But voters are demanding a solution. Three of four Californians in a recent Field Poll said illegal immigration is a “very serious” problem, and a like number asserted that the illegal immigrants are having an “unfavorable” effect on the state.

“Right now, this issue is equal to Proposition 13 in terms of its volatility among voters,” Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) noted from the platform with Bustamante, referring to the 1978 property tax-cutting initiative.

A lot of politicians--including Republican Gov. Pete Wilson and Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who both face reelection next year--have been responding to voters by promoting their own solutions. And that was what inspired Wednesday’s event: a news conference by the Legislature’s Latino Caucus (joined by Brown) to unveil its position on illegal immigration and to suggest some solutions.

Most Latino lawmakers I’ve talked to feel caught in the middle. It is politically untenable for them to support illegal immigration. But as progeny of relatively recent immigrants themselves, they also empathize with the newcomers, as do many of their constituents. And what they fear most is the issue exploding out of control, fanning bigotry against all people of brown skin.

So they gathered in the Capitol’s news conference room to offer “tough, yet humane” measures and to help try to defuse the issue.

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Among the Latino legislators’ suggestions: Enforce laws against hiring illegal immigrants, increase penalties for immigrant smugglers, deport illegal immigrants who have been convicted of felonies rather than imprisoning them here, tighten the criteria for political asylum, merge the Border Patrol with the U.S. Customs Service and raise money through a $1 border toll.

“The Latino caucus believes we need to take a tough stance on illegal immigration,” began Assemblyman Richard G. Polanco (D-Los Angeles), the group’s chairman. “We cannot have people breaking immigration laws. We do not believe in open borders.”

No politician has been advocating open borders. That is, not until Assemblyman Bustamante stepped to the microphone and said what many politicians of both parties may think but don’t mention in public.

“In the area I represent, the Central Valley, we could not conduct (farm) business without the immigrants,” he said. Legal or illegal? he was asked. “I would prefer legal.” But are illegal immigrants acceptable? “My district requires it. . . . Those (farm workers) do not come from the welfare rolls, as some people think they should. They do not come from our colleges. And they normally don’t come from the cities.”

But wasn’t he trying to have it both ways--joining other Latinos in getting tough with illegal immigrants while justifying their presence? “There is a dichotomy,” he conceded. “There is something that is both sweet and sour. . . . I believe we have to make allowances for people to be here in order to maintain the standard of living. . . .

“So am I trying to have it both ways? Yes, absolutely.”

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It was another example of how all politics is local. And it punctuated the lack of consensus on this issue, even among Latinos.

I talked Wednesday with another freshman Latino assemblyman, who also was candid but didn’t side with Bustamante. Democrat Louis Caldera, who represents Downtown Los Angeles, Boyle Heights and some of the Eastside--a district that is 65% Latino--said: “I’m not sure jobs would go begging” if illegal immigrants weren’t available to take them. Employers merely would have to pay more for dishwashers, maids, gardeners and the like, he said.

Latinos living legally in his district, Caldera said, are worried that the current controversy could lead to discrimination and violation of their civil rights. On the other hand, he added: “They say things like, ‘I’m an immigrant myself, but we’ve got to do something. We’re getting overcrowded, the quality of life is deteriorating and there are fewer jobs.’ ”

That sounds like mainstream California thinking right now. But Bustamante also represents an influential view. And politicians must resolve his “dichotomy” before they can solve the problem.