[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 147 (Tuesday, November 29, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    ANALYSIS OF PROPOSITION 187 VOTE

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                           HON. DOUG BEREUTER

                              of nebraska

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994

  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, this Member commends to his colleagues an 
editorial which appeared in the Omaha World-Herald on November 11, 
1994.

     Vote Wasn't Anti-Immigration; Californians Opposed Lawbreakers

       Passage of Proposition 187 in California is being depicted 
     as an expression of anti-immigrant bigotry. The depiction 
     isn't fair. The California measure is not anti-immigration. 
     It aims specifically at discouraging illegal immigration.
       A number of California voters were angry about paying $3 
     billion a year to provide welfare, education and other social 
     services for people who were living in this country 
     illegally.
       Parents were upset about reports that English was being 
     crowded out of the schools by Spanish because of an influx of 
     children of illegal Latin American immigrants. (Children who 
     are born in this country are U.S. citizens even if their 
     parents are here illegally.)
       Senior citizens were outraged that illegal immigrants have 
     taken up nursing home slots.
       So they passed Proposition 187, which would prohibit social 
     services for illegal immigrants, including a public school 
     education. The proposition would require teachers, doctors 
     and police officers to report illegal immigrants to the 
     Immigration and Naturalization Service. The measure has been 
     tied up in lawsuits by its opponents.
       Yes, this is a nation of immigrants. The message on the 
     base of the Statue of Liberty welcomes the tired and the poor 
     of other lands, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. 
     But as Alan Nelson, a Proposition 187 advocate, noted, the 
     Statue of Liberty has never stood for breaking the law. 
     ``It's not a symbol for sneaking into this country illegally 
     in the darkness,'' said Nelson, a former director of the 
     Immigration and Naturalization Service.
       People who defend illegal immigration have cleverly changed 
     the focus of the debate. They make Proposition 187 sound like 
     a punitive action against all immigrants, not just illegals. 
     They talk about white fear of the nation's changing ethnic 
     mix. A Chicago Tribune story seemed to scold the Proposition 
     187 supporters with this statement: ``No ballot measure or 
     new law can turn back the clock to a whiter, simpler America, 
     analysts say.''
       Apparently the people of California should shut up and be 
     happy about the violations of the immigration law that they, 
     with their tax dollars, are being forced to subsidize. 
     However, they didn't do that. In addition to heavy support 
     from white voters, Proposition 187 drew the support of about 
     half the black and Asian voters and about a fourth of the 
     Hispanics who voted.
       In Texas, moreover, a public opinion survey indicated heavy 
     support among Hispanic voters for a similar concept. Surely 
     the Hispanics who expressed that view weren't showing support 
     for an anti-minority, anti-immigrant crusade. More likely, 
     they had the same feelings as the people of California who 
     saw their taxes going to reward lawbreakers and decided to do 
     something about it.

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