Cypress : Council Embraces Prop. 187 Concept

A statewide initiative that would cut education and health services to illegal immigrants has received warm praise from several members of the City Council, and the entire council is likely to endorse the measure before the Nov. 8 election.

The council at its meeting this week said it was not immediately prepared to endorse Proposition 187 because members did not have the complete text of the initiative. But council members said they like the goals of the measure. They said that as soon as copies of the initiative are available, the council will schedule a vote on whether to endorse it.

The matter came before the City Council on Monday night when a Cypress resident, Doris Shyken, summarized the goals of Proposition 187 and urged the council to endorse it.

Shyken submitted a proposed resolution to the council. Part of the resolution said: “Many of the hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens who enter California every year come to Cypress, where their use of public funded services reduces the availability of such services for the citizens and legal residents.”

Councilman Walter K. Bowman said he agreed with the goals of Proposition 187. He said that coincidentally national attention has been focused on Cubans who are trying to enter Florida illegally. Bowman said the number of illegal immigrants moving across the Mexican border into California far outnumbers the Cuban exodus to Florida.

Councilwoman Gail H. Kerry also spoke warmly in favor of Proposition 187. She said people who enter the United States illegally “have no right to be here.” Kerry added that she thinks the council should support the citizen movement that put Proposition 187 on the ballot.

Councilwoman Joyce C. Nicholson said illegal immigration is a serious problem and “the state of California is drowning in it.”