State Scrambling to Retain U.S. Funding of Amnesty Program

WASHINGTON —  Members of Congress and California officials launched a battle Wednesday against proposed federal budget cuts that could slash $348 million from state programs offering health care and English language skills to persons seeking amnesty under the new immigration law.

Los Angeles would be the biggest loser of any city in the nation under the cutbacks, which state officials said could overwhelm an already strained local health-care system and prevent large numbers of illegal aliens from gaining the skills needed for permanent residency.

‘Unconscionable Proposal’

“This is an unconscionable proposal. . . . It would be a major breach of faith by the federal government,” Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) said of the Bush Administration move to rescind $600 million in funds that have already been appropriated. “We in the California delegation will be fighting very hard to hold onto that money.”

More than 58% of the threatened immigration funds had been earmarked for California, and state lobbyists spent a hectic day trying to persuade officials at the Department of Health and Human Services that the proposed cuts would take too heavy a toll.

But the battle does not end there. Advocates also expressed concern about legislation introduced Wednesday by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) that would take an additional $200 million from the same pool of immigration funds and use it to provide emergency assistance for 25,000 Soviet Jews and other refugees awaiting entry to this country.

If approved, the Kennedy proposal could cost California $115 million more in immigration funds, according to Mark S. Helmar, assistant secretary for the state’s Health and Welfare Agency. Most of the state cuts would fall on Los Angeles County, which has an estimated 25% of the nation’s population of eligible aliens seeking amnesty.

‘Robbing Peter to Pay Paul’

“That’s like robbing Peter to pay Paul,” said a House aide familiar with immigration issues. “There’s no reason why the interests of Latinos in California and Soviet Jews have to collide. There should be some way to deal with both issues and not hurt anybody.”

The issue surfaced earlier this year when President Reagan’s final budget recommended removing $600 million from the state legalization impact assistance grants program. Under the $4-billion, four-year program, which was created as part of the nation’s immigration reform law, aliens seeking amnesty are guaranteed indigent health care and free instruction in special English language training classes.

Administration budget officials determined this year, however, that states were not spending their share of the funds quickly and that large sums were piling up as surplus. They recommended that it be used to reduce the federal deficit or for other purposes.

But Helmar and other advocates assert that California has not spent its full share of the immigration funds because federal officials have been slow to issue guidelines for the program. More important, they contend that the program was always expected to start slowly in its first two years and then gain speed in later years as the number of people qualifying for amnesty increased.

That was the case in Los Angeles County where 266,957 persons had filed applications for amnesty as of October, 1987. As of December, 1988, the total had grown to more than 730,000, according to Mark Tajima, a county management analyst and immigration specialist.

“We always knew this program would become more intensive in its later years, and that’s what is happening here,” he said. “If these cutbacks go through, they could have a devastating impact on Los Angeles, particularly in increased health-care costs that would normally have been paid for with federal funds.”

Urgency to Be Stressed

Helmar said he and other state officials will be meeting this week with members of the state’s congressional delegation to stress the urgency of the issue. They will also be voicing concerns about the potential impact of the Kennedy bill.

Under Kennedy’s proposal, the government would raise the ceiling for Soviet emigres receiving refugee status from 25,000 to 50,000 this year. Kennedy said there is a “refugee emergency” developing for Soviet Jews because the U.S. government has been swamped with new applicants for entry and will run out of funds to process additional cases next month.

Berman agreed that the government should provide new aid for Soviet emigres but not at the expense of amnesty programs that are crucial to Southern California.

“I can only believe that Sen. Kennedy is not aware of why that (immigrant assistance) money has accumulated and how unfortunate it would be if that were suddenly depleted,” he said. “We should find a way to accomplish both tasks, keeping both programs on track.”