Valley Commentary : California Swamped by an Outdated U.S. Immigration System

Comprehensive changes are needed in America’s immigration policies, to assure a basic future for our children and people legally here, and to maintain a generous immigration policy over the long run.

I have nothing against immigrants, nor do most people who are concerned about the current wave swamping California. I respect them for working hard. My father was an immigrant, as is my wife. My mother’s parents fled Europe and ran a grocery store in Brooklyn. We should all be proud of our immigrant heritage.

For 200 years we have made large-scale immigration to this country work through a basic “deal” with each immigrant: Come to this country with all its freedom and opportunity, and in return give something back. Work hard, learn English and assimilate to the mainstream. In short, become an American. From this basic deal we have forged the most successful nation on earth.

That deal is now breaking down under the weight of politically correct diversity and multiculturalism. And while diversity undoubtedly has its attractions, it also has limits--Bosnia is diverse. At some point we have to leave our disparate origins behind us and focus on what unites us.

I studied this issue from 1991 to 1993 as the state director of planning and research. As executive director of the new California Center for Public Policy at Calabasas, I have just issued a comprehensive report detailing the impacts of growth and immigration on California. To make sure these impacts are positive, I favor a three-pronged approach:

1. Stemming illegal immigration

Among other things, I favor:

* Using our armed forces to defend our border, as virtually every other country in the world does.

* A national computerized verification system for a tamper-resistant Social Security card so that employers can check legal status, akin to the systems now used for credit card verifications.

* Repeal of the part of the 14th Amendment that gives automatic citizenship to all children born on U.S. soil. This merely serves as a magnet for illegal immigrants, who now account for more than two-thirds of the births in Los Angeles County public and contract hospitals.

* Congressional action to reverse the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler vs. Doe, requiring the states to pay for public education for illegal immigrants, and otherwise to terminate eligibility of illegal immigrants for government services other than emergency medical care.

* Full-cost reimbursement to states such as California that bear a disproportionate share of the immigration burden.

2. Reforming our immigration laws

Successive liberalizations of our immigration laws in 1965, 1986 and 1990 have left the United States with a radically altered immigration regime and pattern.

We are now admitting large numbers (about 800,000 in the most recent statistical year) of largely very poor people with very little education, much less than in the past and almost entirely on the basis of extended family reunification rather than work skills. California receives two or three times its pro rata share of this flow, with corresponding cost impacts.

Immigrants generally have excellent work and family values, and they do not exceed the welfare rates of long-term residents. But because they are unskilled, they generate relatively little in tax revenue, while consuming an inordinate share of public resources, particularly in the schools, due to large families. The conventional wisdom that overall immigration pays its way is simply wrong, particularly when it is a continuing phenomenon.

Our economy has also changed. America should no longer want to compete on the basis of cheap, unskilled labor, unless it wants to achieve the living standards of Calcutta and Shanghai. Instead, we should be admitting more immigrants with skills, capital and education.

To adapt to this changing economy and still maintain a fair immigration policy, our immigration laws should significantly reduce overall numbers and should put emphasis on education and skills. Family reunification should focus on the immediate family. Our refugee and asylum laws should be sharply revised to admit only those truly in immediate danger.

3. Addressing the social impacts

The nation’s welfare and the goal of a racially and ethnically blind society require a renewed policy of assimilation for all immigrants. Without assimilation, the current mass of immigration, both legal and illegal, will threaten the cohesiveness of the United States as a society and we will become little more than a collection of angry tribes. To begin with, all government documents, including ballots, and perhaps the public airwaves, should be in English only. No taxpayer funds should be expended on bilingual education or indeed bilingual anything. To help them succeed, we must help immigrants learn English, our common language.

We still admit more people annually than the rest of the industrialized West combined. California in particular takes in one-third of all new arrivals, three times its proportionate share. However, as the world grows smaller and its population continues to increase, there are limits to what the United States can and should absorb. It cannot be responsible for every natural or social upheaval. It cannot take everybody. If we recognize this, we can still be both fair and open to a changing world and to ourselves.