Poverty Tied to Immigration

In “State’s Poverty Profile Changes” (Aug. 26) you pointed out that, in California, marriage doesn’t have much of an effect on the problem. However, you didn’t compare apples with apples. Nowhere in the article was it mentioned what the education level of the people in poverty was. Nor did it mention to what extent people coming into the U.S. illegally from Mexico may have contributed to the problem.

I suggest that if you take the illegals out of the numbers and if you compare apples with apples with respect to educational levels, you will find the unemployment rate in California is much lower than the number you are showing. I furthermore suggest that if you compare similar education levels for legal citizens you will find that the marrieds with children are doing far better than the unmarrieds with children.

One expert quoted said these people were doing everything right. What he meant, however, was that a lot of them were married.

But the truth is that a lot of them have very low education rates, and a lot of them are people who are here illegally.

Rey Harju

Fullerton

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While it may not change anything as far as our demographics are concerned, the “realities” of what is happening and will continue to happen to our state should at least be acknowledged.

Certain jobs are only worth so much in terms of income. If this state, especially the southern part, continues to absorb hundreds of thousands of poorly trained and poorly educated immigrants every year, the impact on every part of life will be negative to a degree we can only guess.

Most of the figures run on the numbers of immigrants, both legal and illegal, indicate that California is absorbing approximately 40% of the national immigration figure. This, coupled with a very high fertility rate among certain ethnic groups, precludes the ability to create enough jobs no matter what type of work they might be willing to accept.

Considering the reluctance of both political parties to deal with something that can be legally controlled--national immigration quotas--our state is faced with the inevitable. A never-ending income schism between the unskilled and skilled workers, extreme overcrowding and tax demands for more and better schools and medical facilities could erode the “quality of life” to a level of physical concern.

John H. Newby Jr.

Los Angeles

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Your article refers to a National Center for Children in Poverty study and states “most poor youngsters in California are the offspring of at least one immigrant parent, and ... poor immigrant families are more likely to include a breadwinner than are U.S.-born families in poverty.”

Nowhere in this article does it state the average number of children in these families.

It is commendable that poor parents work hard to support their families, but they should also carefully plan the size of their families so that they can properly care for them.

A scientific research team should include the average size of the family in these statistics. It is logical that an unskilled worker’s salary will support fewer children than a skilled worker’s higher earnings.

We need more information to draw conclusions.

Annette Shanks

Santa Monica

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In “On Ethnicity, We’re Rednecks One Day, Trailblazers the Next” (Aug. 23), Steve Lopez speaks the unpopular truth when he states that “we should have an honest conversation on population growth and immigration.”

He goes on to identify some of the many serious problems we endure in this state because of overpopulation.

The issue sits there, big and fat, waiting to be addressed. Where do our elected officials stand on this matter? What are they doing to stem the tide of a growing population so that we will be able to better manage the problems of the future?

I want to see population-related issues discussed from the local level to the state and certainly the federal level.

Paul Scott

Santa Monica