Supervisors to Weigh In on Citizenship Bill

The Board of Supervisors will decide today whether to support a controversial bill in Congress that would deny automatic citizenship to children born in the United States to parents who are not citizens.

Supervisors Todd Spitzer and Jim Silva proposed a resolution of support, saying it would make Southern California less of a “magnet” for illegal immigrants and save the county more than $30 million a year in aid payments.

Spitzer said Monday the county spends more than $3 million a month on health and social services to illegal immigrants and provides prenatal care to more than 5,000 illegal immigrants.

“We are showing support for a measure designed to protect counties from the high costs of providing social programs for illegal aliens, and I emphasize illegal aliens,” Spitzer said. “This something we can do stop illegal immigration.”

But some community activists strongly oppose the resolution, saying it unfairly penalizes children and amounts to immigrant-bashing.

“These kids are not illegal. They were born here and they have the right to live here just like everybody else who was born here,” said Jimmy Ramos, a Fullerton Latino activist. “Kids are human beings. They are not animals. You can’t just push them aside like animals.”