187: It’s a Risky Proposition : Hazards of immigration measure dwarf potential benefits

Some of the people who say they are going to vote for Proposition 187 claim that it is a worthy way to stage a protest over illegal immigration, and that it will be an effective way of showing their anger over government inaction.

We’re talking about the so-called “Save Our State” initiative on the November California ballot. This measure proposes to prohibit state and local governments from providing education, non-emergency health care and other social services to illegal immigrants.

Its supporters include the San Fernando Valley’s United Chambers of Commerce. Proponents say that government services entice many people into entering California illegally.

Well, as protest votes go, those cast in support of this measure figure to be costly indeed, in many ways. We reiterate our strong opposition to Proposition 187, and urge a no vote.

Illegal immigrants are drawn here not by hopes of citizenship and certainly not by welfare opportunities, but by jobs. Also, illegal immigrants are not generally eligible for welfare grants, except for some health-care services available to poor people and some child-welfare services or foster care.

Despite that fact, supporters still claim that Proposition 187 will save the state considerable sums of money and will “strike a blow for the taxpayer that will be heard across America.” It may indeed be heard across the nation . . . for reasons that would make Californians sorry they ever supported it.

In all honesty, the fiscal impact of the measure can only be roughly estimated and would be subject to legal interpretations. Consider all of the possibilities, however, and the risks created by Proposition 187’s passage are simply too great.

Savings from denying benefits and services, for example, have been estimated at $200 million annually. OK, for the sake of argument, let’s consider that possibility. But 187 also requires state and local agencies, hospitals, clinics and even the schools to take Draconian steps to ferret out and report suspected illegal aliens.

Those agencies and schools might incur potential first-year costs of more than $100 million to verify citizenship and enforce the measure. As one of the companies in the long-distance telephone wars is fond of saying: There goes your big savings.

More importantly, the state’s nonpartisan legislative analyst says that the measure might place at risk an estimated $15 billion annually in federal funding for education, health and welfare programs due to conflicts with federal requirements. That’s much too much of a risk to take to send a message.

We are referring here, in part, to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler vs. Doe that states it is a violation of the federal Constitution to exclude the children of illegal immigrants from elementary and secondary public schools. And there are other problems with this badly worded measure.

FERPA, or the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, generally prohibits schools that receive federal funds from disclosing information in student records without parental consent. That doesn’t simply protect illegal aliens. It protects all of us, and Proposition 187 is in direct conflict with it.

Much of the state’s medical community opposes the measure on other grounds, particularly for the problem of communicable diseases that might escalate as a result of turning away sick people for illnesses that can be treated at relatively little cost.

And there is the law-enforcement opposition to Proposition 187. “It will deny thousands of kids the right to attend school,” says Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block, “and put them out on the streets, where they will be more vulnerable to turn to crime.”

Are you really willing to take such great risks with the health and fiscal welfare of our state?