would do something to get rid of the organizations that offer free food,
and medical and financial assistance to immigrants.
"Things are out of control, but I'm only one vote," Steel said.
Allan Mansoor, who will be a likely candidate for the City Council in
November and someone Steel hopes will vote his way, said Bush's proposed
legislation is not the answer to the city's problems with illegal
immigration.
Mansoor, whose parents are immigrants, says he supports legal
immigration, followed by assimilation. Too many conflicts -- with
language and culture -- are created by people who function in a separate
community and never interact with general society.
"When you have such huge numbers of illegal immigrants, you don't have
people assimilating. They don't learn the language or learn about our
country or want to become American," Mansoor said. "When you have people
coming here illegally, they lose out on all that this country has to
offer, and that hurts them as much as the rest of us."
The immigration bill narrowly passed in the House of Representatives
earlier this month and is up for a vote in the Senate.
A border security bill was added in an effort to gain bipartisan
support but may block the bill's chances in the Democrat-controlled
Senate. The security portion of the combined bill would boost the pay of
border patrol agents and allow the Immigration and Naturalization Service
to hire 200 new investigators and another 200 inspectors.
Bush was hoping for a vote before next week, but the bill has been
blocked in the Senate and the vote delayed.
* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)
574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 lolita.harper@latimes.comf7 .
