Flynn Opposed to Immigrants Measure

Supervisor John K. Flynn is urging the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to take a stand against a ballot initiative aimed at denying education and services to illegal immigrants.

“The proposal has the potential of condemning a whole ethnic group because of their skin color,” Flynn wrote in a letter to his fellow supervisors. “It could subject them to suspicion and searches, make them prey to criminal activities and could create an entire underclass.”

The so-called “Save Our State” initiative purports to save $300 million in state and local revenue by withholding medical care and social services to undocumented residents.

School districts, on the other hand, could spend as much as $10 million annually trying to verify whether students and their parents are legal residents.

“It is an inappropriate, emotional reaction to the state’s ongoing inability to effectively manage the fiscal problems of the state of California,” wrote Flynn, who serves a large Latino population in his Oxnard area district. “It is a thinly veiled attempt to make immigrants the brunt of a much deeper, systemic and structural problem facing California.”

The supervisors will consider Flynn’s proposal at Tuesday’s meeting.