Recent polls, including a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll released Wednesday, have shown a majority of Americans support allowing illegal immigrants to become legal residents if they meet certain requirements. Bever said that doesn't jibe with what people are telling him.
"In my experience, everybody I've talked to is interested in seeing enforcement of the law," he said. "There may be some interest in revision of the immigration program, but certainly the border needs to be secured before any other actions are taken in terms of legalizing or legitimizing certain groups of people."
As to the omitted sentence about a large volume of auto accidents caused by illegal immigrants, police statistics show no such trend.
They measure the number of accidents and the number of drivers with no license or a suspended license, but not whether the drivers are legal residents of the U.S.
A statement Friday from Costa Mesa Police Chief Christopher Shawkey states, "We are not able to draw any correlation between hit-and-run accidents, unlicensed drivers and illegal immigration."
Bever said Friday his information was "based on anecdotal information from a police department source, and during my fact-checking it became clear that the relevant statistics were not kept, so that point was deleted."
He said the letter may be further revised before the council discusses it Tuesday.
Letter to the president
EDITOR'S NOTE: Below is the text of a letter the Costa Mesa City Council will discuss sending to President Bush regarding the city's stance on illegal immigration.
