The Attempt to Bar the Schoolhouse Door-Principle or Politics?

Contrary to some reports, the “architect of Proposition 187” has not changed his position regarding public education for illegal aliens. I still believe that the decline of our public school system is largely due to the expense of providing for illegals. But there is now a larger issue of throwing out the entire illegal immigration bill for just one of its parts.

The bills passed by the House and Senate and awaiting approval by a conference committee stand a good chance of dying because of an otherwise well-intentioned amendment offered by Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley). It would offer the states an opportunity to exclude illegal aliens from public schools. Unfortunately, unlike Proposition 187, it does not actually exclude anyone or even require schools to report illegals to the government. But it says enough that President Clinton has promised to veto the entire bill if the amendment is included.

This creates a dilemma for the supporters of Proposition 187. Education was a major part of our initiative. It was included after considerable arguments that the subject was too sensitive and would engender too much opposition. But a majority of us felt that the problem was so severe, that the declining quality of education was so self-evident, that we had to address it or the effort of an initiative wouldn’t be worth it.

But 187 was more than just a state law, it was a message from the people of California to Congress to deal with the illegal immigration problem at the federal level where state law doesn’t apply. We need more help at the border to stem the flow, we need more INS agents at ports of entry to deter terrorists, we need speedier deportations of criminal aliens and many of the other provisions that are included in the bills passed by the House and Senate.

Is it worth losing everything just for the Gallegly amendment? Yes--if the amendment were truly a federal version of 187, but it isn’t. It does nothing more than attempt to overturn the Supreme Court decisions on education that Proposition 187 has already challenged,. Once that case is decided, the Gallegly amendment becomes moot.

The most important question doesn’t really involve Gallegly at all. It involves Newt Gingrich.

As a Republican, I’ve always admired the 11th Commandment, admonishing us not to speak ill of other Republicans. But if what they’re doing is wrong, we have an obligation to speak up.

Some Republicans in Congress are hoping that the bill will be killed because it gives them the rare opportunity to please both sides at the same time. The voters want the legislation, but the lobbyists ?????

do not. If the bill becomes law, the voters are happy. If its vetoed, the lobbyists are thrilled. The net result for us is that we won’t see any legislation dealing with this problem.

Although we were promised action on this issue shortly after the ’94 congressional elections, we still haven’t seen legislation from the Congress. As of Tuesday, the Speaker had not even named the House representatives the conference committee while he scrambles to find Republicans who will commit to the Gallegly amendment. The time has come to stop playing political games and give the country a tough immigration law. The only way to do this is to drop the contested amendment.

During the campaign for Proposition 187, we warned that extending services to illegals was draining the education system; the quality of education was suffering. We were right! Now, two years later, while 187 is held up in court challenges, the National Report Card ranks California’s schools dead-last in the nation.

It’s not difficult to understand why. A child enrolling in kindergarten today will cost the state of California more than $100,000 by the time he graduates from high school. With roughly half a million school-age illegals, the costs are bad enough now, but will be prohibitive as the number of illegals increases.

It’s time to put political differences aside and deal with a serious national problem that threatens us all. If we don’t, then we will see the fulfillment of the warning given in George Washington’s farewell address, that by putting partisan interests above national interests, we have destroyed our country.