Illegal Immigration : ‘It Affects My Day, Everyday’

Most Southern Californians tend to think of Latinos when it comes to illegal immigration. But illegal immigrants come from all over the world: from the European tourist traveling on a visa who decides to stay to the boat people traveling across the Atlantic to the Bangladeshi who marries an American citizen as away of gaining permanent residency to the Russian filing a false asylum claim.

The huge numbers of illegal immigrants are sending shock waves through Southern California, which for decades has been the destination of millions from other lands.

Now, however, polls show that many legal residents are fed up. Not focusing on the positive contributions of illegals, they complain about soaring education costs, about jobs being taken from Americans, about drug trafficking, changing neighborhoods and different values and customs. And politicians are inundating the Legislature and Congress with bills aimed at curbing both legal and illegal immigration.

In a series on illegal immigration last month, The Times chronicled how these newcomers are changing Southern California. Today, Voices presents some of the responses from legal residents who called our TimesLink telephone lines and from others Voices sought out.

ROCHELLE McADAM

Health clinic outreach coordinator, Santa Monica

I got involved with the immigrants that had come from Central America with the sanctuary movement in the ‘80s through my church. It has changed my life; I am now working with these people in a clinic in Pico Union and I have found it to be a wonderful experience. I find that they are very warm, gentle people, if I can characterize them, and they need my skills. I feel that they are making wonderful contributions to our society. They are, without exception, law abiding. They want to make a life for themselves and their families, to work hard and to achieve and to find a more hopeful future for their children.

JAMES FISLER

Interior landscaper, Costa Mesa

“Just reading about illegal immigrants affects my day, everyday. It starts me out with this anger, listening to their comments that they’ve done nothing wrong and that I’m a racist because I can see that they’ve done something wrong when they’ve crossed the border illegally. They have to see there’s a difference between legal and illegal. I now have less respect for the law. If we’re not going to enforce them, I don’t need to follow certain laws that I don’t like. I cannot go to my library a couple of days a week because there’s no money for it, but there is money for illegal immigrants. We need to deport them from our schools, we need to seal our borders, we need to have a moratorium on this immigration.

CLINT McMORRIS

Commercial real estate broker,

Palos Verdes Estates

I feel the cheap labor issue is something we all benefit from, my clients, myself and my customers. But I think this issue has to be controlled. It seems like the advocates for these immigrants seem to (believe immigrants) have an inalienable right to come across the border. Although a Roman Catholic myself, the Catholic church seems to have the same attitude, which I strongly disagree with. The attitude of the church is that we should take in all the poor. (But) where do you draw the line with these Third World people? I would askthe Catholic church: If we should let everyone into our home country, then shouldn’t we let everyone into our homes? Shouldn’t everyone take a homeless person in? Our first obligation is to our immediate families, to support and protect them. On a larger scale, our obligations are to our greater family, which is our state and country.

LEE PHAM

Restaurant co-owner, Garden Grove

I can’t speak bad about anybody who chooses to immigrate to this country. My mother was desperate. She had to get out of Vietnam. We knew that the United States was the only place where people like us could make it. We have shown that we, as a people, can become productive citizens. Now we are experiencing a new wave of immigration. I cannot condemn these people for coming here to make a better life. As an immigrant, I must welcome them to my country with open arms. And like me, I’m sure they too will become productive citizens.

SIDDHARTH SRIRAM

Bus boy, Long Beach

Immigration to America has been very important. I would not want to live anywhere else. I just immigrated from India and hope that Americans are willing to give me a chance and not judge me based on what a few immigrants are like. In that respect, those who illegally immigrate are making life harder for me, because people will put me in that same crowd. I am here legally. I am not a law breaker.

ALFRED HANSEN

Tour guide, Torrance

I think it all boils down to our Legislature allowing the problem to become so great by being so lax at the beginning that they just have no control over it at all. My son is a contractor up in the mountains and he’s being put out of business because of the competition hiring illegal immigrants, paying less money, not paying taxes on them and the whole thing. I was also hit at an intersection by an illegal immigrant who had no driver’s license, no registration. The police were right across the street and they would do nothing about it. If I had no driver’s license, no registration, I would have been booked.

VIVIAN SAUER

Director of family services/senior center, West Hollywood

I realize there must be a balance between providing for newcomers and people already in America, yet I feel very positive about the many contributions immigrants can make. Most of those who come to our walk-in center in Plummer Park are Russian immigrants. The Soviet government insisted adults couldn’t leave without their parents, who otherwise might become a drain. It takes newcomers a good couple of years to adjust to our very different culture and get over their many losses--of their cultural roots, of family members left behind, of their work, of status. Many who are highly educated cannot get jobs but are highly motivated and do volunteer work. The feel wonderful when they can give something back. They are very grateful to be here, grateful for all the services they receive.

NANCY KIM-BAXTER

Advertising worker, Sylmar

My mother and father went to great pains to come to this country legally from South Korea. I was born here. I think those who want to legally immigrate should be welcomed with open arms. But those who want to come here illegally, they should be sent back. I work in a hospital. I see how these illegals are causing the health-care system to go bankrupt. Illegal immigrants are taxing the system and are essentially taking away services that rightfully belong to U.S. citizens.

AL PEREZ

Retired school administrator, Walnut

I am sure it would be enlightening to research the effect that these so-called illegal immigrants have on our economy. What would happen, for instance, if by some magic wand we could eliminate them from our work force? What would be the effect on what we pay at car washes, restaurants, for produce, construction work, baby-sitting, etc. I’m convinced that if we suddenly had no more use for this work force, we would want them back in a hurry. They contribute a great deal to lower the prices for everything that we pay for because they work for lesser wages for longer hours.

GEORGE MOULTON

Marketing manager, La Puente

We’re all concerned with illegal immigration--there are a lot of U.S. citizens out walking the streets these days. But as for legal immigration, I think our policies are sound. About 85% of the 280 cab drivers at Beverly Hills Cab Co. are from Iran. Many are highly educated engineers, doctors or attorneys not allowed to practice their professions here. Iranians began coming in large numbers to Southern California in the mid-1970s after the revolution that toppled the Shah. So a lot of their motivation was political, not economic, as with some immigrant groups. They’re very genteel, get along well in their communities and include some very astute business people. They’ve contributed a lot to our country and are a pleasure to work with.

JOE SHEA

Travel guide editor, Hollywood

I am president of the Ivar Hill Community Assn., a group of property merchants, residents and businesses working together primarily against crime in the central Hollywood area. We’ve had an enormous problem with illegal immigrants who are drug dealers. They come in, it seems, on a fairly regular basis, often get caught in drug sweeps by the police and then disappear almost as quickly as they came. But there’s a constant stream of them in our neighborhood and it’s always a problem trying to control drug dealing in our community. It’s profoundly related to illegal immigration as a source of a labor pool for those who deal in drugs.

PENNY FRANZ

Accounting technician, Banning

I am Mexican American, my parents were born in this country. When my grandparents came to this country, they adapted and they learned about the American and Anglo culture. They didn’t get a free ride. I work for the Department of Social Services with Riverside County and the illegal immigrants are using the resources and are not contributing back. When they say that they don’t like this country and want to go home, I wish they would. They even are prejudiced against their own race. My sons can’t hang around with them because they are not Mexicans from Mexico, they are Mexican Americans.

TERRY DUTTON

School principal, Pasadena

During the breakup of the Soviet Union, the most recent wave of Armenian immigrants doubled the number of students at Columbus Elementary School in Glendale from 600 to 1,200 and tripled the number of Armenian-speaking children. The Armenian culture is an old and proud one with many traditions that assist us in our teaching. School, literacy and acquiring a second language are very important. I enjoy knowing and working with them because of their friendliness, camaraderie and fierce loyalties. Immigrants have tremendously enriched our society. But California had a huge influx of immigrants over the past 10 years, while also having a recession. If the influx had been more gradual, it wouldn’t have seemed a problem. Historically, every group of immigrants has faced the same resistance. For example, the Irish were discriminated against 100 years ago but are now part of the mainstream of our society.

YENNY NUN

Journalist for Latin American publications, Pacific Palisades

Illegal immigration has affected our lives profoundly. I’m originally from Chile, South America, therefore I am not against Latins because I’m a Latin myself. But there’s no other country in the world that has an open frontier for immigrants. These desperate people end up coming here and using our school system, our health system and everything else to the detriment of our own people. Now I have to take my own child out of public school and put him into private school, which is very expensive for us, especially now that my husband has been laid off from his job as an aerospace engineer.