The federal legal services program is a major reason why California
must spend billions of dollars caring for 2 million illegal immigrants.
Currently, legal services groups are leading the effort to stop the implementation
of Proposition 187 which bans government assistance for illegal immigrants.
Legal Services Leading Charge Against Prop 187
True to their word, several of California’s LSC grantees have initiated
lawsuits to overturn Proposition 187’s ban on most government services
for illegal aliens. In an opening round, California Rural Legal Assistance
persuaded a state court to bar the enforcement of a ban on public higher
education for undocumented immigrants. Currently, there are 14,000 illegal
immigrants enrolled in the state’s community colleges in addition to 500
enrolled at California State University campuses and 125 at the University
of California. CRLA is also involved in a federal suit seeking to overturn
the provision denying Medicaid and welfare to illegal immigrants. Joining
CRLA in this suit is the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo, the National Immigration
Law Center and the San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation.
See Hannah Nordhaus, “No Quiet Fronts in This War,” The Recorder,
November 10, 1994, pg.2; “Prop. 187 Ban on Higher Education
Barred,” Los Angeles Times, February 9, 1995, A3
Schools Can’t Request Documents
California Rural Legal Assistance forced a San Diego-area school district to stop requesting immigration forms to determine if students are legal residents of the district. While federal law prohibits schools from inquiring about citizenship status, state law mandates that districts verify that students are legal residents of the district. San Diego-area districts are especially concerned about students illegally attending their schools after it was discovered last year that Mexican nationals residing in Mexico crossed the border to attend US schools. Officials of the Escondido Union High School District said they requested the immigration forms only as a way to verify that the students were in fact residing in their districts. CRLA said such requests for documentation would scare away children of immigrants.
See Lisa Petrillo, “Escondido Schools to Stop Using INS
Forms,” The San Diego Union-Tribune, September 30, 1995, pg. B1
Questions Computer Screening of Applicants For Work Eligibility
The National Immigration Law Center criticized an innovative computer
system that employers can use to instantly verify the citizenship status
of job applicants. GT Bicycles of Santa Ana, one of 231 businesses participating
in a pilot program, used the Verification Information System to identify
185 ineligible workers from 1000 applicants over a two month period. The
VIS appears to counter the easy ability of illegal immigrants to use fake
documents to get jobs. However, the National Immigration Law Center says
it is concerned that it will be used to discriminate against applicants
who look foreign.
See Leslie Earnest, “They’re On-Line With INS,” Los Angeles
Times, December 4, 1995, pg. D1
Supports Automatic Citizenship for Children of Illegal Aliens
The National Immigration Law Center is attacking a proposed constitutional
amendment to end automatic citizenship for the offspring of illegal immigrants.
Under current citizenship laws, children born to illegal aliens in the
U.S. are automatic citizens and entitled to costly federal assistance such
as Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Medicaid. In 1992, 96,000
babies born to undocumented women in California were covered by the state’s
Medicaid program at a cost of more than $230 million. The National Immigration
Law Center said the proposed amendment violates illegal aliens’ 14th amendment
rights.
See Marc Lacey, “Move to Limit Citizenship Gains Support,” Los
Angeles Times, June 11, 1995, pg. A1
Attacks Effort to Crack Down on Illegal Aliens Living in Public Housing
In 1992, California Rural Legal Assistance attacked a proposed congressional law to prohibit illegal aliens from living in public housing. California Congressman Elton Gallegly’s bill called for public housing agencies to annually inspect all federally-funded units to determine if illegal immigrants were living in them. Gallegly felt his bill was necessary because federal housing officials were not adequately enforcing the prohibition. CRLA said it was just an attempt “to whip up anti-immigrant fear.”
See Carlos v. Lozano, “Gallegly Proposal Prompts Charges
of Racial Politicking,” Los Angeles Times, September 19, 1992, pg. B1
Chaos At the Border
In 1991, California Rural Legal Assistance criticized the California
State Department of Transportation for building a fence in the median of
interstate 5 south of San Diego to prevent hundreds of illegal aliens from
running across the freeway to avoid an INS checkpoint. Between 1985 and
1991, 112 illegal aliens had been killed running back and forth across
the interstate to avoid the checkpoint. It seems they would jump out of
smugglers’ vehicles, dart across eight lanes of freeway, walk north past
the checkpoint and then run back across the eight-lane road to be picked
up by the waiting smugglers. CRLA did not want a fence in the median, claiming
that would not solve the problem. INS officials had tried other alternatives
including prayer cards distributed throughout Mexico warning potential
illegal entrants to stay off the highways. CRLA preferred that a highway
safety video be shown in the Tijuana, Mexico bus station where many illegal
aliens congregate before heading for the border.
See Seth Mydans, “One Last Deadly Crossing for Illegal Aliens,”
The New York Times, January 7, 1991, pg. A1