Americans Want Illegal Immigrants Out : The cost of tending to them and their children has overwhelmed the state. Why not draw the line at the school door?
As one of the originators of Proposition 187 (the “Save Our State” initiative) and one of the thousands of volunteers working for its passage in November, I’m concerned about the barrage of disinformation coming from many of California’s richest special-interest groups. They seem to be threatened by having existing immigration laws enforced or, apparently, by any change in the status quo of asking taxpayers to continue to fund services for those in this country illegally.
The people of California, 600,000 of them statewide, have put this initiative on the ballot. They have done so because the politicians were afraid to deal with the problem. While Sacramento pointed its finger at Washington, and vice versa, the problem was allowed to grow. It has now grown to the point where it threatens to literally bankrupt this state. And an ineffective government must now hope that the people will save it.
Fortunately, California has an initiative process whereby the people can legislate for themselves when necessary. This necessity was met before with Proposition 13, which was attacked by many of the same special interests that oppose us. They too, were targeted with a campaign of fear, with the same predictions of disaster that we are seeing now. Whether it’s talk of epidemics, or an explosion of crime, or the collapse of the economy, it’s all the same nonsense. A babble of nonsense designed to confuse the issue so that people won’t know what they’re voting on.
But this problem is so pervasive and involves so many Californians that no amount of money spent by the special interests can change people’s minds. By now, most have read or heard the statistics about the costs of illegal aliens, and they have come to their own conclusions about whether a bad system needs to be continued into perpetuity simply because “they’re here.” And that is the essence of the problem: not just to secure the border (where only 40% of illegal entries occur) but to deal with those already here.
Once illegal aliens arrive in California, the burden falls on the state, not the federal government. Proposition 187 would lighten that burden by ending public benefits paid for health, education and welfare for illegal aliens. It would require law-enforcement agencies to cooperate with the Immigration and Naturalization Service and report all those under arrest for other crimes and subsequently suspected of being here illegally. It will also make the use of fraudulent citizenship documents, such as the ever-popular phony “green card,” a felony. Rather than support and harbor illegal aliens, California will report them to the INS. And, more important, a yes vote on Proposition 187 will pressure the federal government to enforce its own laws.
Our opponents boast that they are ready to file suit to challenge Proposition 187 in court. This is a challenge that we welcome. It will force the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit its narrow (5-4) decision of 1982 that required public education for illegals. The Plyler decision was based on circumstances very different from our problem today, where the cost of educating illegal aliens in bilingual programs is much higher than the amount allocated for American citizens. This is discrimination against our own people. In the words of Joseph Stein, president of the State Board of Education, the removal of illegals from public schools will “alleviate an inappropriate drain on scarce resources” and will “move our public school system to the level necessary for successful preparation of children in the 21st Century.”
The deterioration in the quality of our education system threatens our economic competitiveness. But it cannot be reversed as long as more illegal aliens continue to pour into the system, demanding more and more special programs.
Our public health-care system is also burdened with growing costs, largely as a result of immigration. In 1992, the cost of providing free services to illegal aliens was $900 million, an increase of 1,800% over the previous five years, according to the state’s Department of Health Services. While American citizens must prove need (and destitution) before they can qualify for such services, illegals are able to take advantage of them by claiming medical emergency. Once again, the system discriminates against citizens. Because the system is overloaded, the overall quality of care is being reduced to dangerous levels. According to the Los Angeles County Department of Health, for example, there isn’t enough money for TB screening or follow-up care. This is the greater threat to public health--not the deportation of illegals with communicable diseases.
Our welfare system is being abused as well. Although L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina says that no illegal aliens are receiving welfare in her county, she refuses to recognize the common practice of using fraudulent documents to show that the applicant is a legal resident. Once again, the system is being drained of funds that are then unavailable for those in need, those who are rightfully entitled to them. When food stamp allocations are reduced next year, what do we say to Americans who don’t have enough to eat?
Fraudulent documents are also used by illegal aliens to get jobs, although hiring them is prohibited by federal law. But the law doesn’t work, as seen in the recent case against an employer charged with hiring illegal aliens--the first such case in eight years. Moreover, employers are afraid to challenge applicants for fear of discrimination suits. Proposition 187 will require that the illegal aliens share responsibility; it will discourage them from applying for jobs with phony identification.
In spite of all these problems, many special interests want the flow of illegal immigration to continue. Why? Because they are advocacy groups that profit from litigation for “human rights” at the expense of our rights. Because they are multinational corporations that profit from “cheap labor” at the cost of our jobs. Because they are bureaucracies that grow more powerful with ever increasing “caseloads,” while services for the rest of us are cut back.
Proposition 187 deals with the problem of illegal immigration at the state level, where most of the costs are incurred. Its passage will then pressure the federal government to do its part. Its failure would send a message to all levels of government to do nothing. We must pass it.
