State Doing Nothing About Illegal Immigration

Monday, May 17, 2004

Page 7

IN MY OPINION (Column)

State Doing Nothing About Illegal Immigration

By Ray Haynes

(The writer represents the 66th Assembly District which includes portions of western Riverside County and northern San Diego County.)

It’s pretty much official: We are not going to do anything about illegal immigration this year in California.

As a representative of the state government, there is really very little we can do on an issue that is by policy and by jurisdiction primarily the responsibility of the federal government. That said, there are things we could do as a state that are apparently not going to happen. This inaction is unfortunate-mostly.

The largest reform effort was the campaign to qualify a new illegal immigration initiative for the November general election ballot. Promoted as a successor to Proposition 187, which was killed by the courts and Attorney General Bill Lockyer six years ago, it was carefully crafted to avoid some of the constitutional concerns as well as some of the more emotional issues (schoolchildren) that ultimately doomed Prop 187 both politically and legally.

While it was extremely popular among the grass roots, I was one of only three legislators statewide who was willing to promote the measure, and the donor community stayed away from what is perceived as a “divisive” issue. Last week, it was announced that while the entirely volunteer signature gathering effort had gathered a half million signatures, it would not be sufficient to qualify for the upcoming ballot, so it appears we will do nothing specifically about illegal immigration this November.

There have been other more limited efforts to at least reduce some of the costs of illegal immigration to California’s deficit-ridden budget. Senator Tom McClintock carried SB 1503, an effort to remove the discount illegal immigrants receive to attend colleges and universities in California. Citizens from other states don’t receive this discount. Even the dependents of military personnel currently stationed in California only get a single year of resident tuition before being charged the higher rate.

Given these restrictions, why should somebody who isn’t qualified to be here at all qualify for taxpayer-subsidized tuition rates? You will have to ask the Senate Education Committee, which voted 10-1 to do nothing about the $50 million or so that illegal immigrants cost our higher education system each year.

I myself carried a bill to deal with the impact of illegal immigration on the public welfare system. I don’t happen to believe illegal immigrants should receive welfare benefits at all. I understand that most are here looking for a better life and to avoid poverty. I understand that many are hard-working members of our economy. But when they reach the point that they are unemployed here and seeking money from California’s taxpayers to remain here, is there really any question that it ought to be time to get back home?

Existing law sets a minimum amount of time a person must live in the state before they can apply for welfare benefits. The current interpretation of this law starts the eligibility clock as soon as they set foot in California.

My bill, supported by Governor Schwarzenegger’s office, would have started the eligibility clock as soon as the immigrant qualifies as a legal resident. Reasonable? Yes. Radical? No. But I was the only member of the Assembly Human Services Committee willing to vote in favor of AB 2667, which virtually guarantees that we will do nothing about illegal alien welfare costs this year.

The positive side about the state legislature’s inaction on illegal immigration issues is that it probably won’t get any worse. The Governor’s comments about “looking for a solution” notwithstanding, I would be shocked if we get another illegal alien drivers’ license bill this year. I don’t believe he will sign such a bill without some Republican support, and right now there isn’t a single Republican legislator who has publicly supported SB 1160. The Democrats would like to pass the bill with a 2/3 margin to prevent voters from blocking the law with a referendum, but I’m virtually certain they won’t get the Republican votes necessary to do that.

There is much that could be done about illegal immigration at the federal level, and that is where most of your letters and phone calls should go. But it is very clear that the current leadership in the state legislature is not interested in solving the problem this year. It is equally clear that unless that legislative leadership is changed by the elections in November, nothing will happen next year, either. It is usually easier to change legislators than it is to change legislators’ minds. The ball is in your court, voters!