Although the states and local governments that deal heavily with illegal immigrants have a huge economic burden, it could be alleviated without the use of a proposition such as this one. This burden is on the states and local governments because of federal policies. The federal government could take some responsibility for this national problem and grant more funding to the states. The states have felt so neglected in this matter that Florida went so far as to file suit against Washington demanding compensation for this billion dollar expense (DeGeorge34). Secondly, an alternate program for controlling illegal immigrants has already been put into effect and shows positive results. Efforts to try and seal off the border between Mexico and the United States from illegal crossings have already started. Attorney General Janet Reno began this operation in El Paso, Texas and San Diego, California. In El Paso it is called Operation Hold the Line and in San Diego it is Operation Gatekeeper and due to the initial success of the programs, $236 million has been allocated to these border areas. In Operation Gatekeeper the efforts have brought a 30 percent drop in the number of arrests (Gwynne35). Operation Hold the Line has cut the number of daily illegal crossings from 8,000 to less than 1,000 and the number of arrests in El Paso have dropped 72 percent. This type of control is considered far more humane than Proposition 187 because it stops illegal immigrants before they get in. Therefore, this type of control has won the support of El Paso residents by 85 percent (Miller34).

Having seen the lack of need for an action such as Proposition 187, let us consider the potential harm it can create. The first harm is the effect the lack of medical benefits has on the public. Proposition 187 cuts off education and all health care, except for emergency services, and requires teachers and doctors to turn in illegal immigrants (Impoco42). What this means is that illegal immigrants are not going to seek any kind of medical attention out of fear of being denied or turned in by the doctors. It sounds good at first because that would mean no more health care costs, right? Wrong. First of all, it means that sick children are not going to get any medical attention until it may be too late. One twelve-year-old boy has already died because his parents, who are illegal immigrants, were afraid to take him to the hospital and delayed it for two weeks. Also, Dr. David Wood of Los Angeles' Clinica para las Americas has estimated that 10 percent of the 150 children with asthma he treats will "suffer life-threatening attacks if they couldn't stop in for checkups or medication." Secondly, it means that illegals will not get any prenatal care which will mean a rise in maternal and infant deaths. Most importantly, it means that illegal immigrants will not get any vaccinations. According to surveys of California immigrants, as many as 70 percent arrive carrying the germ that causes Tuberculosis. The Community Health Foundation of East Los Angeles which used to immunize about 400 children every two weeks, only had 83 in the two weeks following the passing of Proposition 187. This and other untreated diseases pose a large threat to the general public (Cowley31).

The next harm to consider is the effect of denying education benefits. Denying public education to the children of illegal immigrants was already established as unconstitutional twenty years ago. Back then, Texas tried to exclude children of illegal immigrants from public schools but the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional in the Plyler decision (Rosen42). This decision should not be contradicted by the passing of control efforts such as Proposition 187. The children of illegal immigrants have no control over where they are taken by their families. Therefore, they should not be punished by being denied an education. This aspect of the initiative makes no sense since it only punishes innocent children.

Finally, a very serious consequence of an action such as Proposition 187 is the discrimination it induces. Since the passing of Proposition 187 in November, hot lines have been set up in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fresno, and Sacramento to receive the thousands of calls reporting discrimination from citizens and legal residents. People are being suspected of being illegal just because of looks and language. The proposition has led many businesses to discriminatory and unfair treatment of their Hispanic customers. Many legal Latino and Mexican-American citizens of this country are being treated with discrimination while their rights are being violated. There were thousands of instances of this within the first two weeks of the passing. For example, a complaint was recently filed by a Mexican American mother against the Kaiser Foundation Hospital. She and her sick two-year-old son had to wait five hours and were then turned away after poorly conducted examinations two days in a row. On the third day the child was finally admitted because he was dehydrated and near death. The mystery as to why she had been treated so poorly was solved when they asked her for her immigration papers as she was sitting by her son's bed. However, the incident that bothered me the most took place at an auto shop. The complaint came from a man who was told by an employee of the shop that they were not allowed to speak Spanish since the passing of Proposition 187 (Hornblower36). This bothers me because it reminds me of the stories my mother told me about how she would be punished at her elementary school for speaking Spanish at any time to anyone. That was forty years ago. I had hoped that the country had grown past that kind of treatment towards individuals.

Therefore, it is clear that although illegal immigration is a problem in this country, initiatives such as Proposition 187 are not the answer. The illegal immigrants should not be denied the benefits Proposition 187 does because it does more harm than good. There are other solutions that do not threaten the public health, punish children, or spur discrimination.