■ 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
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/1 • * • n 0 v«* 11
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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*!"
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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
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