http://www.milforddailynews.com/localRe ... leid=90721

Parente says she’d rather help legal residents than illegals
By Andrew Lightman / Daily News Staff
Friday, April 28, 2006 - Updated: 02:27 AM EST

MILFORD -- State Rep. Marie Parente, D-Milford, said she’s tired of saying no to American citizens while the state caters to its undocumented residents.

So Parente filed three illegal immigration-related amendments this week to the state budget proposal, which the House is currently debating, to block illegal immigrants from tapping into state programs.

"There’s a limited amount of resources," she said. "If you had a limited amount of money, would you spend it on your family...or on some illegal family on your street?"

Earlier this year, Parente fought against a bill to grant tuition breaks at state colleges for illegal immigrants.

But Parente said illegal immigrants currently have the right to state-funded health care in the emergency room, and are welcomed to apply for food stamps and other aid programs for their children by the Department of Transitional Assistance.

As Congress is debating what to do about the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants currently living in the United States, Parente said the issue has been crippling locally, because it is impossible for the state, and for towns, to plan for the influx of uncounted, undocumented residents.

"It’s like somebody coming to dinner and you don’t know if 200 are coming or two are coming," she said. "There’s no other country in the world that allows people to enter illegally. If you want to maintain a healthy community, a vibrant community, that isn’t the way to do it."

John Fernandes, her opponent in the upcoming Democratic state primary election, said illegal immigration clearly affects towns like Milford, which is dealing with residential overcrowding, unlicensed drivers, and a drain on resources in the school, with an influx of students who need special help because they cannot speak English.

But Fernandes said he doubts anything will be solved if their access to state programs is cut.

"This is not a population that is here to mooch," he said. "They are a population that is here to work and to send money home."

The solution, Fernandes said, is to step up federal enforcement of labor laws, which require companies to only hire people who can prove they are in the United States legally. If that effort falls short, he said, town officials could call individual employers and ask them not to hire illegal immigrants.

"If the work dries up, they are going to move on to someplace where there is work," he said. "These problems go away if these people don’t have a reason to be here."

But Parente said cutting off their state aid will at least make things fairer for those already paying taxes, like veterans who currently don’t qualify for benefits, and the elderly who currently earn too much to qualify for housing assistance.

"These are Americans who are playing by the rules, who live in our community," Parente said. "And don’t think it doesn’t wear on your soul that there are people who come here (illegally) with false promises, and they are being exploited."

But America should not be expected to help anyone that walks across the border, Parente said.

"We can’t have a double system. A system that exempts people from the law. The illegal immigrant is exempt from the law and the rest of us are not."

Andrew Lightman can be reached at 508-634-7583 or andrew.lightman@cnc.com.