No easy solution to Westside problems

Re: “Council complete, but still divided,” Daily Pilot, Sunday.

Contrary to what you implied in your editorial, no reasonable

person says that illegal aliens are the only ones who drop trash on

the streets or cause all our problems. What you’ve done is couple a

hasty generalization with a straw man in order to absolve illegal

aliens of the problems that they do cause.

The truth is that the Westside isn’t as bad as it is because of

trash, or graffiti or other easily fixed problems. These things are

just symptoms of a larger problem, and that larger problem mostly

involves having a growing underclass of people in this city who can’t

afford to live here. Most in this underclass are illegal aliens.

So, if they can’t afford to live here, why are they flocking to

our city instead of, say, Newport Beach?

The answer is easy. A well-oiled slum machine that needs “poor

people” to continue to operate has developed in Costa Mesa. Because

of a variety of factors, the poor people are mostly illegal aliens.

Here are some of the major cogs in the slum machine and how they fit

together:

1. Industrial businesses, mostly on our bluffs, need cheap labor,

so the owners of these businesses, who often live in Newport Beach

and other nice cities, can make more money so they can continue to

live in those cities. In order to keep the labor costs down, these

businesses often pay in cash and offer no medical or other benefits.

2. Illegal aliens supply that cheap labor.

3. The charities then supply the benefits packages to the illegal

aliens in the form of free medical and dental care, free bags of

groceries, help with paying the rent and utilities and much more.

Because the charities need poor clients to grow, they encourage more

poor people to move here. Illegal aliens are happy to accommodate

them. One charity in Costa Mesa just announced that it is expanding

its services by 30% this year. One charity boss makes more than

$100,000 a year. Another just gave herself a raise to around $75,000.

From this, you may surmise that “charity” is not the same as

“charities.” The first is an admirable activity, the second is a

business. We are chock full of charity businesses. Most of the owners

of these charity businesses live in Mesa Verde or in nicer cities.

Few actually live near their charity businesses. They’re not nuts,

just avaricious.

4. Certain local politicians look to the charity bosses to support

them when they run for election. Once in office they keep the city

charity-friendly.

Those are the major cogs. Then there are many minor cogs:

1. Orange Coast College Swap Meet. An almost completely

underground economy. Cash is boss. Cash register tapes and paper

trails are never seen.

2. Thrift stores.

3. Pawn shops and similar businesses.

More could be written, but I suspect the Pilot won’t run this

letter, so I won’t waste any more of my time.

M.H. MILLARD

Costa Mesa

I respectfully disagree with your editorial statement that

meaningful discussions about Costa Mesa’s future, as well as support

from Mayor Gary Monahan and Councilwoman Libby Cowan, depends on

excluding any discussion of illegal aliens.

A March 2003 Roper poll showed 85% of Americans feel that illegal

immigration is a “serious” problem. Illegal immigrants absolutely

trash our wilderness areas during their assault on our sovereignty.

They make up large parts of Los Angeles gangs. Our trauma centers

have had to close because of illegal aliens, our emergency rooms are

swamped because of them. Our schools are bursting at the seams

because of them.

The threats our country now faces will not come from some army

with ships and planes, but those who illegally enter this country.

Article 4, Section 4 of the Constitution calls for the protection of

the states from invasion. The millions of illegals inside our country

attest to the fact that our government has not protected us. A

country without borders is not a country anymore. While I admit that

most illegals are here for a better life and are probably great

people, I feel that the United States has a duty to its own citizens

to screen and control the number of those who come here. We just

cannot absorb the millions that want to come here. It will be an

environmental and financial disaster.

For the Daily Pilot to advocate keeping discussions of illegal

aliens out of the mix is wrong. Once the illegal alien has arrived in

the interior of our country we cannot count on the federal

government. We must rely on our local elected officials to help

address the problem, not hide their heads in the sand and pretend it

is not there. The Pilot advocates a “more inclusive discussion” to

help Costa Mesa become a better place to work and live. Therefore,

discussion of the illegal alien problem should not be excluded. The

“insistent attacks on a whole group of people” occur because the

problem keeps getting worse. It needs to be addressed, not censored.

JAMES FISLER

Costa Mesa