Educating the "other" children - education of illegal immigrants may be necessary

American Demographics, Oct, 1997 by Berna Miller

At least some anti-immigrant sentiment appears to be related to Americans' financial security. Those with more education and money are less likely to believe that immigrants are a burden on America. And as economic conditions have improved over the past three years, the Pew Research Center has measured an 11 percent decline in the number of Americans who believe immigrants are a burden on this country, and a 7 percent increase in those who believe immigrants are an asset.

Regardless of the reasons behind the anti-immigrant trend, it remains a very real concern to California voters. As an intended solution, they enacted the "Save Our State" ballot, known as Proposition 187, on November 8, 1994. The three major purposes of Proposition 187 are to deter illegal immigration, to improve California's economy, and to send a wake-up call to the U.S. government.

Proposition 187 prohibits the use of public social services and programs by those who cannot establish their status as a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or person legally "admitted for a temporary period of time." Proposition 187 also requires police, school administrators, social service agencies, and public or private healthcare workers to report to the Immigration and Naturalization Service anyone they reasonably suspect of being an illegal immigrant.

California voters hoped the passage of Proposition 187 would stem the tide and costs of illegal immigration. They don't yet know if it will because the law has been restrained pending several lawsuits regarding its constitutionality. In the meantime, there have been reports that illegal immigrants are pulling their children out of schools anyway. However, Roy McPhale, demographer for facilities planning of the San Diego County Unified School District, says that there has been no evidence of a drop in enrollment due to fear of Proposition 187. "We grew over 3,000 students last year and now have the highest enrollment ever. There have been no drops in enrollment where you might expect Proposition 187 to be an issue," says McPhale.

"It is fair for states to complain to the federal government and recoup some costs. State governments have not failed to police the border; the federal government has," says Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies. In an effort to address the inequity, the federal government gave California $252 million last December to help pay for imprisonment of illegal immigrants. New York received the next largest award, at $63 million.

All other states also received some money to help support illegal immigrant inmates, but the amounts were much smaller. In itself, this reveals the decidedly lopsided nature of the issue. Attempts to bring Proposition 187 to a national level have failed, largely because places without lots of illegal immigrants don't perceive a problem. For example, the Gallegly Amendment to the Immigration Control and Financial Responsibility Act of 1996 would have given states the right to pass laws that exclude undocumented children from public schools or admit them on a tuition basis. This amendment was removed from the bill for fear it would jeopardize passage of the entire act.