Call it the return of Prop 187.California’ economy has hit rock bottom with the state government has resorted to giving IOUs to thousands of creditors while politicos continue to negotiate over how to close a whopping $26 billion budget deficit. It is this environment of economic uncertainty that anti-immigrant factions are hoping to take advantage of.
An organization called Taxpayer Revolution (TR) has sponsored a ballot imitative that would halt public benefits for illegal immigrants and even aims at their U.S.-born children. "Are we going to continue asking taxpayers to pay for these services when the state is completely out of money?" asked Ted Hilton- a local political activist who recently introduced the initiative. TR and its backers face the uphill task of raising millions of dollars to promote the initiative and collect 488,000 signatures to place it on a June 2010 ballot.
TR claims to have received the backing of several anti-immigrant groups like NumbersUSA and the California Coalition for Immigration Reform as well as politicos like Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. It’s no coincidence that supporters of the plan also include activists that backed 1994’s controversial Proposition 187. The new plan is a slightly streamlined version of Prop 187 which (assuming it gets on the ballot in the first place) has been designed to be more difficult to challenge in court:
Backers say...that they have carefully crafted the measure to avoid the legal pitfalls that doomed Proposition 187, which would have barred illegal immigrants from receiving any public social services, education and nonemergency medical care. Voters approved it, 59% to 41%, but a federal judge ruled that the measure unconstitutionally usurped federal jurisdiction over immigration.Image- The Daily Californian Online (“Protesting students march down Bancroft Way in a rally against Proposition 187, which sought to crack down on illegal immigration.”)
This time, backers worked with attorneys who have helped craft successful efforts to curtail benefits in other states...
The initiative would require all applicants for public benefits to verify their legal status. And unlike Proposition 187, it would not attempt to curtail access to education…
The measure's most controversial provisions would take aim at the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants. It would end state welfare to an estimated 48,000 households and 100,000 children, aid that now costs the state $640 million a year.
Online Sources- Los Angeles Times, examiner.com, Reuters, Bloomberg, Wikipedia
3 comments:
Why are illegal immigrants 'entitled' to these public service benefits? They should have NO say so in their right to free public services. Note...the key word...illegal. There are many legal immigrants here that are following the law. Those breaking the law should not be rewarded for doing so.
Some seem to think this is about race, this is not! I am of hispanic origin, a legal citizen, a taxpayer. I support Prop 187 for a State that has been well taken advantage of by "ILLEGAL" immigrants. I absolutely have a vote on whether I want my taxes to pay for healthcare, welfare, and education of those who are criminals. Of course it's unfortunate that the children may pay a price, but we must look to the furture of our our deeply indebted state. This will send a message that we will not be taken advantage of, and it is not THEIR constitutional right to have public benefits, it's US citizens constitutional right. It's the US Constitution not the Foreign Constiution for Mexico or ANY other country.
THIS COUNTRY THAT WAS RAPED AND ROBBED FROM THE INDIANS and then CREATED BY FAMILies OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS THIS COUNTRY IS FOUNDED BY THAT THEN HAD CHILDREN THAT BECAME CITIZENS BECAUSE THEY WERE BORN HERE!!! this isnt the answer for california and PEOPLE WHO DO WANT THIS HAVE NO SOUL BUT JUST A PRICE TAG OF TAXATION AND GREED
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