SAN DIEGO COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Good Job--Keep It Up

It was the old good news-bad news story. The good news was that President Bush is expected to include in his budget $300 million in funds for health and education programs for newly legalized immigrants.

The bad news is that the states were promised $1.1 billion, money that was diverted to other programs in the last two years.

Twenty-seven percent of a promise is, we suppose, better than none at all. And the California congressional delegation and Gov. Pete Wilson are to be congratulated for hanging together on this important issue. That united California front, according to at least one Administration source, kept the President from putting off the state--and immigrants--a third year.

Just a few statistics illustrate the extent of the need.

San Diego County estimates that it has 87,000 residents who qualified for amnesty under the 1986 Immigration Reform Control Act--that’s about 3.8% of the county’s population. These newly legal residents make up 4.5% of the state’s population.

These are legal residents--not the illegal immigrants that are of such concern to many San Diegans.

Not all of the newly legal residents are poor, of course. In fact, research shows that overall, immigrants add more to the economy than they take in services.

But many are at the bottom of the economic ladder, as were immigrants in earlier generations. And if their health and education needs are not met by the federal government, as they should be, the burden falls to the state and local governments. For instance, for the 1991-92 budget year, the impact on San Diego County of the lack of federal funds was about $3 million. That means less care and fewer services for others in need.

And, let’s not kid ourselves, with the rising cost of health care, the $300 million Bush wants to provide to cover health care, education and other services for legalized immigrants will not fill that funding gap.

California’s delegation needs to continue to work together on this issue, which is important not only to the health of immigrants but also to the financial health of state and local government.