Extra credit #2 - News Opinion Piece

Suzzette Medina
MCom 100W- Tu/ Th 10:30 a.m.
Extra Credit- Newspaper Opinion Piece
Word Count: 426

“Growth is California’s No. 1 problem,” Dianne Feinstein said a few years ago in response to the outrageous numbers of immigrants pouring into this state every year.
She could not have said it better.
California is a wonderful state, only because we have the means to preserve it and keep our own economy afloat. If anyone has been paying attention to the budget deficit plaguing this state, we clearly do not even have the substantial amount of money currently to keep even our California state school system growing and flourishing. Cuts are being made everywhere and many jobs are on the chopping block.
In the article, “Infinite Ingress,” it was estimated that the growth of California can reach 60 million people in the next 36 years.
That is an unacceptable answer.
Will the residents here be forced to live like animals, in tall apartment complexes, hundreds of people compacted into small square-footed buildings? And with the threat of earthquakes here, that is a dangerous idea.
The positives that come out of having illegal immigrants here do not outweigh the overall costs to the rest of the citizens here. The costs these immigrants provide on our state’s social welfare benefits and the overall poverty they add to the state levels greatly affect everyone in a negative way.
Barack Obama believes the government should issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrant. I don’t know if that is a good idea. Being able to drive legally is a privilege here in the United States, and I can see it offending many citizens to see the government so freely give out state licenses. On the other hand, if the immigrants are here to work, they will probably buy a car anyway and drive around illegally regardless of the law. That is a tricky situation and definitely is frustrating as well.
Obama also supports the building of a giant fence to separate Mexico from the U.S. That idea won’t fly very well I think, as it looks like we are clearly trying to separate ourselves from them and do not want anyone else attempting to cross the border. Exclusivity I feel like never settles well among countries.
Either way, something must be done with the extreme influx of illegal immigrants here in California. They use our resources the tax payers are funding, and it is really making the citizens angry. Hopefully this issue can be resolved and the state can be united in our future immigration policy.