More Reasons Why California’s AB 78 Must Be Defeated

Last week’s CAPS’ legislative alert warned concerned Californians that Assemblymember Tony Mendoza (D-Norwalk) wants to put an advisory referendum on the June 2012 ballot to support amnesty for illegal aliens. Using disingenuous language, AB 78 would ask, “Shall the President and the Congress of the United States of America create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants…?” As the alert points out, Mendoza’s proposed bill neither identified the “undocumented” as illegal aliens nor offered alternative choices for voters like “…or should they be deported…?,” “…or should strict workplace enforcement measures be put in place…?” Also, according to Mendoza, the “path to citizenship” would only be available to those who speak English, paid taxes and have no criminal records. As a retired English as a Second Language teacher with 25 years of experience teaching adults, I can promise you that few either speak English or will learn it. Mendoza’s personal and professional biography speaks volumes about his political agenda. Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Mendoza was one of nine children in a single-parent household. First elected to the State Assembly in 2006, Mendoza’s 54th District mainly serves the cities of  Artesia, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens, Norwalk, Buena Park, Santa Fe Springs, South Whittier and parts of Lakewood and Whittier. According to 2010 Census Bureau data, those nine cities have an average Hispanic population of more than 40 percent. Many families in each of the cities live below the poverty line. Obviously, Mendoza’s constituents would welcome “a pathway to citizenship” that would give them work permits (at a time when the Los Angeles County unemployment rate is 13 percent), easier access to more expansive welfare benefits and voting privileges that could help perpetuate the immigration crisis that has led to so many of California’s social problems. What’s needed, and what Americans overwhelmingly favor, are four other measures that CAPS has recently endorsed: mandatory E-Verify to protect unemployed American workers, support for the CLEAR Act that would help local governments deport criminal illegal aliens as well as end chain migration and anchor baby citizenship, two policies that have devastated California.