[ Publications | Department | Projects | CIIJ   
  Way New News | Internet   | SF State | Server ]

Immigration bill opposed

Groups fighting two bills in Congress

by Sienna Dalton
Lowell High School, San Francisco

That was the statement made at a recent press conference organized by the Northern California Coalition for Immigrant Rights. At the Wu Yee Generations Playground in Chinatown, the Coalition is one of many groups fighting two laws in Congress which would deny many services to immigrants.

Many San Franciscans voiced their opposition against the Immigration Reform Bill (H.R. 2202). Speakers included Steve Phillips, president of the San Francisco Board of Education, and children who would be affected by this legislation.

The bill would allow states to deny services such as education, preventive care (such as immunization), and food stamps to undocumented immigrants. The bill would also require hospitals to verify their patients' immigration status if the hospitals want to be reimbursed for emergency room treatment. Immigrants would even be denied access to social services such as Head Start, child care, job training, and English classes.

"Every time that the economy is not doing well, people look for scapegoats," Concha Saucedo, director of the Instituto Familiar de la Raza, said. "In the 20s it was the Exclusion Acts and in the 40s the government put Japanese in internment camps. Now this bill is just another attempt to find a scapegoat."

Many children who spoke also expressed their outrage against the bill, including Adreana Ortiz, 12.

"We need to respect human rights and this bill does not do that," Ortiz said.

Karissa Yee, sixth-grader at Hoover Middle School thought the bill was unfair and said she would "tell Clinton to veto the bill."

Currently, the bill is in committee because the House and Senate passed different versions of the bill. The main difference is the Gallegly Amendment, written by Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif). This amendment would bar illegal children from public schools.

Phillips, who wants all students, whether legal or illegal, to go to school, said, "It is un-American to close borders and we are determined to educate all children."

This bill not only affects education, but also health care. Immigrants would be not only be denied preventive care, but also primary care (regular checkups) and Medicaid/Medi-Cal. Brian Linde, a physician, said that cases of tuberculosis, measles and other diseases will increase because of this legislation.

"This bill will turn doctors into INS (Immigration and Naturalization Services) agents," Linde said. "That's laughable, absurd, and we won't do it."

Everyone at the conference -- educators, students, parents, and health care workers -- appeared determined to defeat this bill.

"San Francisco was of the first two districts in California who was seeking an injunction against Prop 187 the day after it was passed," Phillips said. "And we are determined to continue the fight.