Posted on 08/04/2010 5:29:52 PM PDT by NoLibZone
California’s special October 7 election on whether to recall Democratic Gov. Gray Davis ought to resurrect an issue that fainthearted Republicans have too long avoided: Should taxpayers be forced to fund education, non-emergency health care and welfare benefits for foreign nationals living illegally in the United States?
In 1994, California voters answered this question with a thundering "No Way."
By 59% to 41%, they approved Proposition 187, terminating non-emergency state services for immigration lawbreakers.
Eight days later, Federal District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer, a self-professed "liberal" appointed by President Jimmy Carter, issued an injunction suspending enforcement of the law.
In a series of decisions between 1995 and 1998, she ruled that Prop 187 was unconstitutional. It usurped, she said, the federal government’s authority to regulate immigration.
In effect, Pfaelzer told taxpayers in the nation’s largest state that no matter what laws they enact for themselves, the federal Constitution imposes on them a duty to surrender their hard-earned dollars to subsidize welfare payments, medical services and tuition for people from other countries who flout U.S. immigration law. Preposterous and Unjust Were Pfaelzer right it would mean the Constitution mandates a form of taxation without representation—the very issue that inspired the American Revolution.
If a federal judge can order Californians to pay for the non-emergency health care of, say, Frenchmen living illegally in California, why can’t a federal judge order Californians to pay for the non-emergency health care of Frenchmen living in France?
The proposals would be equally preposterous and unjust. Former California Gov. Pete Wilson, a moderate Republican who had angered conservatives by raising taxes and who won reelection in 1994 primarily because he supported Prop 187, fought Pfaelzer’s ruling.
Wilson did so in the face of malicious assaults by Democratic Party leaders falsely portraying him, and Prop 187 supporters in general, as racists.
The Democrats’ race-baiting strategy was based on their assumption that the immigration lawbreakers who would benefit most from free public services in California were not from France, but from Latin America.
Thus, the Democrats’ basic argument: If you do not believe Californians should be forced to pay for public services for illegal aliens, you are anti-Latino. In fact, the truth is the opposite. Opponents of Prop 187 are forcing hardworking Mexican-Americans and other Latino Americans (as well as Americans of all other ethnic backgrounds) to pay additional taxes to provide services to immigration lawbreakers of whatever national origin. Before a federal appeals court could rule on Prop 187, however, Gray Davis, who opposed the proposition, was elected governor. Davis "negotiated" a deal with other Prop 187 opponents to simply drop the appeal in the federal courts.
Davis killed Prop 187—and this is now a key item in the bill of indictment for his recall. With the removal of Davis, Prop 187 should be resurrected. The proposition is not only right, it is also indispensable to saving California from financial ruin.
In April, for example, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS) determined that its un-reimbursed cost for providing non-emergency health care to illegal aliens is now running $340 million per year.
That means it will account for more than the aggregate $993 million deficit the DHS is expected to run over the next three years.
In 1999, the Rand Corporation calculated that native-born California taxpayers pay an additional $1,200 in state and local taxes each year to subsidize services for immigrants.
As a bonus, Prop 187 is still popular.
Despite the demagogic race-baiting campaign to thwart it, evidence suggests that support for Prop 187 has grown. In June 1999, the Los Angeles Times conducted a massive poll of 1,179 registered California voters.
Sixty percent said they supported Prop 187, only 35% said they opposed it. Prop 187 is probably more popular in California now than any politician.
That may be why Arnold Schwarzenegger let it be known last week that he had voted for Prop 187. This inspired the Los Angeles Times to publish a front-page story headlined: "Schwarzenegger’s Prop 187 Support Could Hinder Him."
The story said Democrats were moving "to capitalize on his support for the initiative and his close ties to one of its key backers," former Gov. Wilson, who is co-chairing Schwarzenegger’s campaign. When challenged on the issue, Schwarzenegger’s campaign did not back down. But it did not sound a trumpet call either. "No one understands the dreams and motivations of immigrants who come to this country more than Arnold Schwarzenegger," spokesman Sean Walsh told the Times.
"He arrived in this country with just a few dollars in his pocket, and like millions of other immigrants, was unable to speak the English language.
He has great empathy for those who come here under similar circumstances. That said, he believes we are a nation governed by laws and that when our immigration laws are violated, too often undocumented immigrants are exploited." Schwarzenegger needs to go further if he wants make a real difference for California taxpayers.
He should pledge to resurrect and fully enforce Proposition 187.
This was just one of many acts of sabotage by the federal judiciary.
Arizona tried, too:
November 2004, the state’s voters approved Proposition 200, “Protect Arizona Now,” the law that sought to deny undocumented immigrants’ access to “public benefits,” required proof of citizenship before voting, and mandated that government workers turn over suspected undocumented immigrants to authorities or face jail terms and fines. The constitutionality of Proposition 200 is now pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
I wasn’t aware the AZ had tried as well.
Thank you for the info.
The Dhiminicrats compel us to pay for their vote buys.
“This was just one of many acts of sabotage by the federal judiciary.”
It’s sabotage by Schwarzenegger as well, and his pro-illegal GOP advisors.
What few people realize is that Schwarzenegger has the power to cancel the agreement that Gray Davis arranged with (the corrupt) Judge Pfaelzer, sending her politically motivated decision up to the appeals court where her decision would be overturned. Killing Prop 187 has required the complicity of both the Democrats and the treason wing of the GOP.
It no longer matters what the folks think... it is up to the judges to finalize the matter. We no longer matter. When we wake up to that realization, we just might gain freedom...
I’m afraid you’re right. In earlier times Americans would put up with arbitrary rule for only a time before teaching tyrants they were unwelcome. We are certainly long past the time when judicial tyrants have worn out their welcome. I’m wondering if there’s enough of revolutionary blood left in the American gene pool to fight back.
I wonder also...and am very worried about that. Seems that the American spirit is going by the wayside...
Well only about half of us have family that go back as far as the Revolution. We have been importing millions whose traditions are alien and their influence is likely to keep increasing. President Obama is only the first sign of their influence.
That is very true and very well may be the downfall of America as it was founded. If we continue with this essentially Open Border policy, we can expect that the America that we knew and studied will be gone.
It is NOT about denying citizenship to those that want it, it is about denying citizenship to those that should NOT have it... Seems that America has forgotten the difference...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.