Aid Gap for Immigrants

Sometimes the federal government shirks responsibilities. There was a time when a sick 4-year-old could count on Californians to pick up the ball and help him. But now the state has a budget bled dry by energy bills, and a little boy named John needs a hand from California’s congressional delegation.

John suffers from a bone disease that causes excessive bleeding. His parents are legal immigrants--his father a butcher for 10 years in Montebello. The family can’t afford the medical care that the child needs.

Two years ago, John spent his days in a wheelchair and his nights sleeping on the floor wearing a helmet to protect his head, which is exceptionally vulnerable. Then he began getting money through California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants, which was established in 1998 and expanded in 1999 to assist seniors and people with disabilities who are not eligible for Supplemental Security Income benefits. With that money John got medicine and other help. His health has improved dramatically. He can now walk and play with his Power Rangers, but he still needs treatment.

Here’s the problem for John and many other poor and disabled legal immigrants: The state program that made his life better was always seen as stopgap. In 1996, when the federal welfare reform law passed, some important programs got cut--including those that helped legal immigrants.

Moved by the urgency of the problem and not willing to wait for the feds to act, California pitched in with two programs. Cash Assistance was one. The other was the California Food Assistance Program, which provided food stamps to working families who had lost them with welfare reform.

In failing to include these two programs in the state’s current budget, Gov. Gray Davis argues that immigration issues are a federal responsibility. He’s right. The California delegation in Congress needs to remind Washington.