Illegal Immigrants

* I was disappointed, but not surprised, by The Times’ strong condemnation (editorial, July 4) of the Congressional Task Force on Immigration Reform’s final report--a document which, at its core, says that illegal immigration should not be condoned and that illegal immigrants should not benefit from their illegal acts.

While those at The Times kibitz over coffee and declare illegal immigration “one of the most complex social phenomena” that will never be solved, we are left to try and come up with that solution.

I believe that we have done this, and that--if followed--the recommendations contained in the Task Force’s 200-page report will effectively end illegal immigration as we know it and spawn the largest voluntary deportation in the history of the world. Our goals as we began this work were to seal the border and remove the illegal immigrants already here. The 54 members of this task force, both Democrats and Republicans, have charted a course that accomplishes both.

When two-thirds of all of the births in Los Angeles County public hospitals are to illegal immigrants, when both jails and classrooms are grossly overcrowded, when County-USC Medical Center is collapsing under the burden of providing health care to those with no legal right to be here--it is time for action.

REP. ELTON GALLEGLY

R-Simi Valley