HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 09271994 - S.1 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
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FROM: Supervisor Tom Powers Costa
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DATE: September 13, 1994 ��.. _ County.,
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SUBJECT: Opposition to Proposition 187 �os
SPECIFIC REOUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)8 BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
Recommendation:
I. That the Board of Supervisors goes on record in opposition to
Proposition 187, the so called "Save Our State" initiative, as a
costly and unreasonable mandate on local government.
2. That the'Board of Supervisors passes the attached resolution.
3. That the Newcomers' Task Force hold a workshop regarding the
ramifications to the county as outlined in the attached resolution.
Background:
Proposition 187 appears to set up a system of restricting immigrants from
state and local health and social services, but in reality, it sets up a costly and
bureaucratic system to restrict many individuals from such care and great
expense and exposure for loss of billions of dollars annually in federal funding.
Even the California Legislative Analyst and council to the State Senate have
given opinions that Proposition 187 puts at risk billions of dollars in local and
state funding for health care.
Moreover, Prop. 187 requires a new bureaucratic system which would be
a new state mandated unfunded program.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE (S):
ACTION OF BOARD ON pt APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER %
'The Board heard public testimony (see addendimm A); and CONTIl MI to October 4, 1994 considertion
of adoption of a position in opposition to Proposition 187, the so called "Save Our State"
initiative, as a costly and unreasonable mandate on local govPnment.
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
UNANIMOUS(ABSENT I ) AND CORRECT-COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
CC: Supervisor Powers ATTESTED_'
TTESTEDZa-^^ pJ L^ 2-7��
CAO PHIL®A CHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
fA382 (10/88) BY ° D' - ,DEPUTY
IN THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
In the Matter Recommending )
Opposition to Proposition 187 )
Resolution No. 94/
WHEREAS, Proposition 187 will cost cities and counties money and increase
burdensome bureaucratic procedures while creating an additional unreimbursed
state mandate on local governments; educators, health care workers, social
workers, and local law enforcement officials will be mandated-to report to the
federal Immigration and Naturalization Service suspected undocumented
individuals, further adding to administrative duties without compensation to
county government; and
WHEREAS, Proposition 187 weakens our criminal justice system by making it
harder to fight crime. Victims and witnesses of crimes will not report dangerous
criminals to police because they will fear deportation. Many law enforcement
officials oppose Proposition 187; and
WHEREAS, Proposition 187 endangers all Californians by threatening public
health. Children will not be immunized against communicable diseases and
people in need of health care will not receive treatment. The costs of providing
emergency treatment will be far greater than any perceived savings; and
WHEREAS, Proposition 187 discriminates by burdening citizens and legal
immigrants who appear or sound "foreign"to prove their legal status and by
forcing students, educators, health and human service providers to report people
"suspected" of being undocumented. individuals will be denied services unless
they can provide documentation stipulated by the initiative. Students would be
expelled, patients refused treatment, and social service clients turned away; and
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WHEREAS Proposition 987 will not stop illegal immigration to California from the
many nations from which unauthorized immigrants originate and federal funding
for regional economic development, infrastructure and human services would be
jeopardized:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED. that the Board of Supervisors, County
of Contra Costa, California, opposes Proposition 187; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa
County denounces the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment and calls on community
leaders and elected officials to publicly reject the scapegoating of immigrants as
a way of avoiding attention to the state's serious economic and social problems
Introduced by Supervisor Tom Powers,
Chairman and First District Supervisor
Passed and adopted by unanimous votes of those Supervisors present on
hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action
taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors.
PHIL BATHCHELOR, Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and
County Administrator. .
By:
Deputy Clerk
ADDENDUM A
DID NOT SPEAK
Jane Marie Davis, 283 Sudan Loop, Pacheco
SPOKE
Willard C. Ridley 712 Bancroft, Ste. 317, Walnut Creek
Rudy Rodriguez, 1894 Cannon Dr., Walnut Creek 94596
Abraham Q. Amador, 11 Amador Ave., Oakley 94561
Henry L. Clake, P.O. Box 222, Martinez 94553
Paul Katz, P.O.- Box 222, Martinez 94553
Richard Lujan, WCSSO, Martinez 94553
Harry C. Sweet, Jr., 1417 Whitecliff Wap, Walnut Creek
Harry Sweet spoke for Lynne Leach, 119 Ready Rd., Walnut Creek
► Dta-_ W) LTi--r �.
Illegal Immigration's Impact on Our State's Minority
Groups
Norman Matloff
QN.S. Matloff, 1994
Ethnic political organizations campaigning against Proposition 187 are doing
an injustice to the minority groups they claim to represent. Polls have shown
repeatedly that most members of minority groups wish to see reductions in
immigration, both regal and illegal.
When asked why most Latino Americans wish to see reduced immigration, An-
tonia Hernandez, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educa-
tional Fund (MALDEF), explained that "Migration, legal and undocumented,
does have an impact on our economy...[particularly in] competition within the
Latino community...There is an issue of wage depression, as in the garment in-
dustry, which is predominantly immigrant, of keeping wages down because of
the flow of traffic of people."
Presumably motivated by similar concerns, United Farm Workers co-founder
Dolores Huerta testified to a state Assembly committee that "With 1.5 mil-
lion legalized immigrants living in California, and only approximately 250,000
agricultural jobs in the state, there is no need for additional farm workers."
A Chinatown waitress said recently that she makes $800 per month, for 60 hours
of work per week. Lora Jo Foo of the Asian Law Caucus has called for vigorous
enforcement of labor laws, "so that longtime legal residents do not see their
wages and working conditions eroded by undocumented workers or new [legal]
immigrants."
When asked about illegals from China, Chinese Newcomers Service Center di-
rector Po Wong protested that the community could not even handle the influx
of legal immigrants.
A 1988 study of the Los Angeles hotel industry by the General Accounting
Office found that jobs formerly held by African-Americans were now performed
mainly by immigrants. Studies have shown a similar displacement of blackt, in
the restaurant industry.
According to Jack Miles of the Los Angeles Times, even black social workers are
being displaced. He also found that black welfare mothers are getting lesser
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access to day-care service, with some illegals being given priority (due to having
even lower incomes).
The ethnic political organizations assert that 187's exclusion of undocumented
children from public schools would result in the kids roaming the streets. This
claim is an egregious insult to the parents.
Studies have shown that (for example) undocumented Mexican parents do care
deeply about education for their children. They would find ways to deal with
187, such as putting the kids in Catholic schools, or sending the kids back to
Mexico to live with relatives and get their education there.
The ethnic political activists are weakening the precious bonds between teachers
and minority students, by telling minority kids that 187 would turn teachers into
snitches, reporting to the INS any student suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.
This is clearly false. The school administrators would do the residence checks,
not the teachers. Once a student has been certified as a legal resident by the
school's administration, no further checking or. "suspicion" would be needed on
the teacher's part.
The average undocumented couple has an income of around $10,000 per year.
They will pay little or no income tax at this income level, and yet each of their
kids will cost the state $4,400 per year for schooling (more if the kids are not
proficient in English).
Even without factoring in AFDC, Medi-Cal and so on, it is clear that the net
fiscal contribution from such a family will be negative. Even the Clinton Admin-
istration concedes that illegal immigration is draining billions from our state's
coffers.
It is estimated that there are 300,000 illegal immigrant students in California's
schools. Yet the West Contra Costa Unified School District recently closed
its doors to enrolling new students. As the district contains many black and
Asian-American students, we see again, that minorities comprise a major class
of victims of the illegal immigration problem.
Further light is shed on the matter by Proposition 186, the single-payer health
plan. Its proponents say 186 is especially helpful to minority groups. It is
thus significant that one of those proponents, Dr. Floyd Huen, recently stated
that the measure excludes undocumented people, because "otherwise the cost
would be tremendous, and we wouldn't be able to provide benefits for the legal
residents."
Critics of 187 note that the Legislative Analyst has stated that 187's INS re-
porting requirements might place at risk some federal funding. But the critics
omit the fact that the Legislative Analyst stated that in such a case, most likely
the state and federal governments would work together to iron things out.
Actually, almost any piece of legislation has flaws which must be amended later
by subsequent legislation. 187 would be no exception, with fine-tuning needed
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in various aspects.
The problems of illegal immigration are severe, and now is the time to take
action.
Dr. Norman Matloff, a resident of Walnut Creek, teaches at the University of
California at Davis. He has long been pro-active in organized efforts in sup-
port of minorities. For example, he was formerly Chair of the UC Davis Af-
firmative Action Committee, and was a member of the statewide University
of California Affirmative Action Committee as well. Professor Matloff' writes
about immigration-related matters, and recently presented invited testimony to
Congress on immigrant use of welfare.
Professor Matloff' has particularly close ties to the Chinese immigrant commu-
nity. He is a former volunteer worker in San Francisco's Chinatown, and is
married to an immigrant from Hong Kong. He speaks Chinese, and he and his
wife are raising their daughter to be fully bilingual.
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