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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1995)
■ OPINION Illegal immigration costly problem, requires solution When stilt** Ri'p Bill Markham. R-Riddle, fill'd a measure in th«* House last week to cut off bene ftts to undocumented immigrants (illegal aliens). Latino leaders, officials and prominent legisla tors immediately decried the pro pose I as racist and discriminato ry Similar to California's Propo sition 1H7. Markham's bill would prohibit public lv funded agencies such as medical facili ties and public schools from providing services to most ille gal immigrants These agencies would be required to report vio lators to the Immigration and Naturalization Service The pro posal also requires polu e to t heck the immigration status of arrested suspects Denounced ns a racist. Markham said the measure was not racially motivated and instead aimed at saving Oregon the cost of providing benefits to illegal immigrants But Markham was unable to provide any authoritative figures on exactly how much Oregon spends on educating and caring for illegal immigrants. However. Markham's detrnc Jot. H\RW(H)D tor*, promiscuously fling th>> racism slur instead of At know! edging there is n problem with illegal immigration While Markham's idea has merit in the narrowest sense, its implementation would turn social service providers into enforcement offn ials. cost the state untold amounts of money for that enforcement and lead to harassment of legal immigrants Such legislation would over burden the already strained six tal service agencies Forcing police to check on a suspect's immigration status would unnecessarily eat up resot) rt es of under-funded departments Without a doubt. Latinos — especially Mexicans — will bear tiie brunt of this policy if it somehow manages to sneak out of committee First, second and ■ LETTERS Troubled I have several concerns about an article (ODE. Feb. 15), in which Patrick Minford quoted from my letter to the editor {ODE. Feb. 17). I uin not familiar with journal istic practices, but it seems unusual an article should be based in purt on a letter that wasn't even published, especial ly when the reporter inferred a quote when he said the "Tai wanese Students Association ... resents the idea of lumping peo ple from Taiwan and mainland China together." I am troubled by the reporter's use of the word "resent" since 1 do not feel the attitude in mv let ter was filled with indignation Unfortunately, the readers of Mm ford's article had to rely upon his judgment since they had no letter to which to refer Another unfortunate use of words was when the reporter referred to the Chinese Student Association as the “Taiwanese organization.” The Taiwanese organization rep resents only Taiwanese students O p^KKjcfkO' p»«/#■>!/ More Fun Than SWUNG /1 • * • n 0 v«* 11 march C'€' C1 O #00 p rr A I ( N « T M I A t « I The Chinese association's mem hership include* a wider repre sentation. Hut most troubling is the nog alive spawned by articles, such as Ins, which highlight dissen sion. The primary goal of the TSO has very little to do with "polit ical and cultural division.” if any thing, it is trying to heal "rifts" by educating those who hove an interest in Taiwanese culture I cannot help but believe the students of the University would have been better served with .in article, such ns one about the dance troupe from Taiwan who had performed at Robinson The ater the weekend before Min ford's piece was published. Perhaps tile lies! way to get to know who we are and what we are trying to do is to join us at a meeting or an event Please feel welcome to do so at any time After reading Minford's article a number of times, I still cannot determine the primary purpose for writing it. Shing-Jye Chen President, Taiwanese Students Association "...Biting Satin*!" "-.Stinging Parody!" Start Your I >ay Off Right , with KDBS Superstation 840am! Weekdays 6- 10am KDBS, am f84©J third generation Latinos who entered the country legally would be subjei t to unfair tor ment from multiple fronts, and that is not an eptable Sound in principle, the me a sure seek* to penalize only those who do not belong in the United States All illegal immigrants, have, bv definition, broken the lavs And many in the liberal camp believe illegals should be reward ed for their miscondut t in the form of fret- education and mod icat benefits In truth. America has no duty to house and educate illegal aliens. But a t'W*: U S SupremeOmri de< ision requires states to give illegals the same edui atton and non emergent v health care as they give to tax-paying citizens One study, n* ently conducted by the University of Pennsylva nia s Wharton School, reveals that illegal immigration costs this country $« 4 billion annually. The humanitarian paradigm sug gests we should turn a blind eye to these costs This is es|>** tally true when sneaking of edui atton, where children are the primary beneficiaries Besides. Oregon doesn't have thr> illegal immigrant population even cum|>anthle with that of („d ifoniia To push such a propos iti would take immigration nnfdrt ement out of federal hands and place the responsibility with the state, at significant cost Markham's proposal, along with Proposition 187, speaks to the larger issue of failed immi gration polu ies on the federal lev el A tOHti hits offered all illegal aliens m the country amnesty and the opportunity to legalize their status, no questions asked Hut mans chose to ignore the amnesty deal, fearing a trap The trade-off for anti-immi gration hii turns sva i promise by federal offii nils to stauni h the waves of illegals by penalizing employers who hire undocu mented workers, yet the budget for immigration enforcement received only a minimal in< rease A desire to regulate immigrn tlon is not xenophobic or rat ist For years, immigration in A merit a, both legal ami illegal, has not been politically correct to discuss in any venue as if it were "somehow reprehensible for Americans to think of controlling the destiny of their country and the integrity o( their borders,” writes Mortimer Zu< kortnan in I' S S'ct* > and World Hrport. The time is long overdue to revise immigration policies and the penalties for abrogating immi gration law Heavy and i ostlv punishment for those who hire umiot umented workers would have an immediate effes t on tile gal immigration If employers will not hire illegals those illegals w ill eventually stop their norther ly migration Proposition 1M7 and Markham’s proposal an* indt< a list* of an electorate tired of foot ing the medical! and mm ml son u »t hills for individuals nut con tributing to the tax base Again, in principle. Markham is coma t m pushing reform of immigration enforcement policies But the consequences of his proposal far outweigh any per ceived hone ft I Potential harass ment of Hispanic residents and the costs of enfon etnenl from the myriad of agencies affected should doom this proposal Indore legislators have the opportunity to v ote on it Joe Harwood is a columnist for the Emerald for your We'll pay you 60% of the new, student price for books we need for spring term! M;ir 8-18 ItcHul.ir Store Hours Mar i;*-!(> & Mar it I ri K:.5<>-4 And... You can win $20 Cash! if you're selling lxx>k5 rings, you'll win • Free Jolly Rancher Candy! where the alarm clock •Calculators must have original manual & cable (it applioubte) Calculator Buyback* ■ TCxas _Instkxjmkkts Models ti-hi . ri-82 a n-8r> ONLY! Calculator Buy! jack Is Upstairs with the Book Buyback.
