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<H1
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cuts would end state assistance for most new legal immigrants</H1>
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governor's budget proposes saving $304 million by eliminating several programs
that provide a safety net for elderly, disabled and low-income immigrants who
don't yet qualify for federal welfare.</H2>
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<P
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Lechadores gets physical therapy at Hess Rehabilitation center in L.A.
He came to the U.S. legally but won't qualify for Medicare until
2012. <SPAN>(<SPAN>Rick Loomis / Los Angeles
Times</SPAN>)</SPAN></P>
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style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.43; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest proposals to close California's budget
shortfall would end public assistance for most new legal immigrants,
eliminating emergency cash, food and medical aid for those who don't yet
qualify for federal welfare.<BR><BR>The proposal would represent an about-face
for the state. In 1996, Congress denied access to welfare for most legal
immigrants who weren't citizens. California and other states established
programs to fill the gap.<BR><BR>Now, officials say the state can't afford the
price tag. Schwarzenegger's plan would save $304 million but leave tens of
thousands of elderly, disabled and impoverished people with no safety net in a
deep recession.<BR><BR>"How are we going to live?" asked 70-year-old Yong Hak
Cho, who emigrated from Korea four years ago and is raising two grandchildren
in Los Angeles. "Immigrants pay taxes like anybody else. So why do they want
to eliminate programs for us? It is unfair and it is
un-American."<BR><BR>State officials say the cuts are painful but necessary,
and there was no attempt to single out any population group in the proposed
budget.<BR><BR>"The fact that we have to close a $20-billion budget gap, on
the heels of a $60-billion gap last year, means that we have had to make the
difficult decision to propose curtailing or eliminating many state-only
programs, and these fall into that category," said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman
for the Finance Department.<BR><BR>When families petition to bring relatives
to the U.S., they are required to sign affidavits agreeing to support them
financially for up to 10 years. But many of these families have fallen on hard
times. Affidavits are not required for people entering the country under
various other programs.<BR><BR>Federal benefits have been restored to some
recent arrivals, but most are not eligible for supplemental security income,
food stamps, transitional assistance for needy families or Medi-Cal until they
have lived legally in the U.S. for five years. Exceptions are made for
refugees and a few other categories.<BR><BR>Only a few other states still
provide cash or food aid to new, legal arrivals. Advocates for stricter
immigration controls say that a waiting period to receive benefits is
appropriate. <BR><BR>"Five years is a legitimate time to ensure that
people who have come here the right way are willing to assimilate and be loyal
tax-paying Americans," said Barbara Coe of the California Coalition for
Immigration Reform.<BR><BR>The proposed cuts include:<BR><BR>* Cash Assistance
Program for Immigrants, serving about 8,500 low-income elderly and disabled
people. The projected savings is $107.3 million.<BR><BR>* California Food
Assistance Program, which provides benefits to about 37,000 low-income
immigrants, for savings of $56.2 million.<BR><BR>* Calworks benefits for about
24,000 new legal immigrants, for savings of $22.5 million. The program
provides cash, job training, child care and other services to help families
transition from welfare to work.<BR><BR>* Full-spectrum Medi-Cal services for
48,570 new legal immigrants and 65,000 undocumented people who tell the state
they are known to immigration officials and their deportation is not being
sought. The projected savings is $118 million. Pregnant women and children
would still be covered.<BR><BR>The Legislature last year rejected proposals to
eliminate some of the same programs, but many recipients have seen their
benefits reduced.<BR><BR>UCLA professor of public health Alex Ortega said
immigrants are frequently targeted in tough economic times because they can't
yet vote, do not speak English well and are often poor.<BR><BR>"They have all
the factors that contribute to being vulnerable," Ortega
said. <BR><BR>Community activists say the budget proposals will leave
many without a lifeline.<BR><BR>"These are elderly, often frail individuals
who rely on this support to buy their medicines, pay rent and eat a basic
diet," Hala Masri, a policy advocate for the Asian Pacific American Legal
Center, said in an e-mail. <BR><BR>Cho is so worried that he has
considered returning to Korea. But he said, "I have no roots there . . . I am
American now." <BR><BR>The $835 in aid the family receives each month
doesn't even cover rent.<BR><BR>After working 21 years at a U.S. military base
in South Korea, Cho went back to school to learn how to repair computers. When
that did not yield a job, he enrolled in English classes and became certified
as a security guard. Then his son-in-law died of cancer. His daughter works
long hours at a Chinese restaurant, so he took in his two grandchildren, 11
and 8.<BR><BR>Cho now works part-time at a community center, advising other
immigrants. His wife works for a program providing in-home care to the frail
and disabled, but that too is slated for cuts.<BR><BR>"I will have to find
some other work," Cho said, staring at his tea cup on a chilly morning in
Koreatown. "What company would hire an old person like me?"<BR><BR>The
California Immigrant Policy Center argues in a new <A
style="COLOR: rgb(34,98,204); FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none"
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="http://www.caimmigrant.org/" target=_blank>report</A> that the
savings from the proposed cuts would be offset by increased homelessness and
costly emergency room use.<BR><BR>"Not only are these cuts not fair, they are
not smart," said Reshma Shamasunder, who runs the advocacy group. "They are
not going to save us money in the long run." <BR><BR>Teddy Lechadores,
70, who emigrated legally from the Philippines in 2007, relies on Medi-Cal to
pay for dialysis. He also sees doctors for his prostate cancer, diabetes and
high blood pressure, and needs eight prescription medicines.<BR><BR>"If I were
in the Philippines I would have been dead now," Lechadores said.<BR><BR>He was
laid off last month from a security guard job. He now makes $160 a week for
doing maintenance and office work<B style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700"></B>at the
Pilipino Workers Center west of downtown. His bank account is overdrawn, he
sleeps at the center and keeps most of his belongings in his 1996 Acura, which
was damaged recently when someone rear-ended him.<BR><BR>"I'm down to
nothing," he said as he looked through his Medi-Cal forms on a recent
afternoon. "Medi-Cal is very, very
important."<BR><BR>alexandra.zavis<BR><BR>@<A
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="http://latimes.com" target=_blank>latimes.com</A><BR><BR><A
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onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
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target=_blank>anna.gorman@latimes.com</A></DIV></DIV></SPAN></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>