Safety Net for Immigrants
Kudos to Michael Fix and Philip Martin for “Restore Benefits to Legal Immigrants or Face a Poverty Dead-End” (Commentary, Oct. 15). I only wish that the lawmakers and President Clinton had listened to these arguments when made by opponents of the 1996 welfare reform legislation, which curtailed public benefits to legal immigrants.
Proponents of that legislation must now face the consequences of the old saying, “Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it,” as the measure begins to go into effect and thousands of taxpaying, hard-working residents of this country transition into poverty status because of legislatively endorsed xenophobia.
SAMUEL R. CACAS
San Francisco
* Fix and Martin contend that we must extend welfare benefits to immigrants because they are living in poverty. Whatever their living conditions are, they must be better than they were in their own country or they wouldn’t stay here. Contrary to the statement of Fix and Martin that these people are “trapped,” they are at total liberty to return home whenever conditions here are not to their liking. Their situation is of their own choosing. I fail to see why we should be going out of our way to make it desirable for even more unwanted illegals to come here.
C.D. “BUCK” CUSTER
Huntington Beach
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