Students tackle tough issues

UC IRVINE ? For many local students ? just as it is with their parents ? questions about immigration have no simple answers.

Some Estancia High School students think Costa Mesa’s plan to train police for immigration enforcement makes sense. Others worry it would harm the community’s relationship with the police and punish people who just came here to work.

They aired some of their opinions and concerns Friday at UC Irvine, when they questioned experts during a daylong symposium on immigrants in America today.

About 260 students from four Newport-Mesa schools ? TeWinkle Middle School as well as Estancia, Costa Mesa and Newport Harbor high schools ? attended the forum. The university visit was part of a program that brings college students and professors into Newport-Mesa schools to discuss global issues.

After hearing presentations by two UCI professors, students asked a panel of three professors questions about immigration.

A few ninth-graders from Estancia ? Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor’s alma mater ? shared their mixed feelings about the city’s immigration enforcement plan. Mansoor spearheaded the immigration plan and has been the city’s public face to the media.

Several students said illegal immigration isn’t always a bad thing, because immigrants often fill undesirable jobs.

“I don’t think it’s a problem because they actually help out, because they do a lot of the jobs that other people don’t want to do,” Angelica Correa said.

That’s fine, some said, unless people break the law ? then they should be deported.

“I think everyone has their own right to make a living, but if they do something bad, they should go back,” Javier Arriola said.

He and several fellow students said they think Costa Mesa’s immigration enforcement plan is a good idea because it targets people who have committed crimes. As Javier put it, “we want a safer city.”

But others said local enforcement of immigration laws will come down hard on people who just want to earn a better life.

Also, Jennifer Martinez said, “if they’re illegal people and they see a crime, they’ll be afraid to go to the police.”

At Estancia, teacher Bob Sterling said, the student population is about two-thirds Latino and one-third white ? the opposite of the city as a whole. Some students are hearing concerns about the city’s proposed enforcement from their parents, while at school they get a more measured explanation.

“I’ve heard my kids say, ‘Well, my mom hasn’t wanted to leave the house and sends us to do grocery shopping,’” he said.

But that fear will evaporate when people understand the city’s plan isn’t aimed at everyone police come across, such as people who get speeding tickets, Sterling said.

“The people who have the most fear are getting the microphone right now at the City Council meetings,” he said.dpt.13-uci-1-BPhotoInfoEI1OS5JD20060313ivzvk2knDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)Tewinkle student Janelle Ramirez asks a question during the UCI panel discussion about immigration issues.