European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 7, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday october 7, 1994 commentary the stars and stripes Page 13 reason Davids. Broder immigration is an Issue you can hardly mention without having steam coming out of Peoples ears. Advocates for nationalities that Are arriving in Large numbers argue that any proposal to close the Borders or discourage hiring of undocumented workers is discriminatory. On the other flank politicians like californians Republican gov. Pete Wilson pander to Public opinion by pro a a a a a posing constitutional amendments to restrict citizenship. In the midst of this caterwauling it was no Small achievement for Barbara Jordan the former congresswoman and now a professor at the University of Texas to deliver a unanimous report from a bipartisan and diverse commission on immigration Reform created by Congress to examine the myriad controversies embedded in that subject. Its most controversial recommendation a for a Pilot program to test the feasibility of a computerized National registry of workers social Security numbers so employers could find out readily if they were about to hire an illegal a was treated by the Clinton administration As if it were a grenade. Roberto Suro who covers this area for the Washington Post was told by the usual a senior administration officials that it was certainly not an idea Clinton was ready to embrace. But when i read the report and went to see Jordan and commission executive director Susan Martin i Learned some things that were not obvious from the political reaction. First Jordan and her colleagues have been careful not to claim any Quick fix for the problem of illegal immigration. Rather the report is a Road map through the Maze of issues embedded in that problem. The strategy they recommend is a carefully balanced mix of measures that would strengthen the . Capacity to voice in prevent illegals from entering the Couch try make it harder for them to find work and define sensible National principles for deciding which welfare benefits and social services immigrants can receive. I do not know that they have solved everything. Some of these questions would test the Wisdom of Solomon. Illegal alien parents May and often do have children born in the United states who Are citizens. If the parents cannot work legally the children Are eligible for welfare. But programs aimed at moving families off welfare do not include illegals. Take another Case. An undocumented woman who comes to the Hospital five months pregnant for a prenatal checkup is not eligible for assistance. Four months later if she has a difficult birth or a defective infant emergency assistance must be provided. Jordan who was named commission chairman just a year ago professes no glib answers for such paradoxes. But she is going to continue working on theirl for the three years the commission will remain in business. And that is Good news because there is no one in Public life who has More of the Calm deliberation and steadfast adherence to principle that this contentious Issue needs. When i asked Jordan to place this question in the broader context of the struggles for Justice she has been engaged in All her life she knew exactly what she wanted to say. Those of you who remember her from the Nixon impeachment hearings or her two democratic convention keynote speeches must imagine her sitting in her wheelchair Chin up each word precise and the slow rhythm of her passionate deep voice gaining More Power with each syllable. A a it is not a cliche to say we Are a nation of immigrants. Immigrants have been welcomed into this country Over the centuries. We hold the statue of Liberty and the words of Emma Lazarus out there to the world. A now when economic conditions become a Little stringent we look around for someone to blame. Right now the in m05 to let i.s9 a i i a Var shout immigrant workers mop 13.90 >590# migrant is the one getting the blame for whatever the social ill is. It is immigrant bashing and it is in my opinion an outrage for the kind of nation we arc a nation with a proud history a to see this being used in a callous political Way that is so divisive. Quot the legitimate problem that must be addressed is that we Are not Only a nation of immigrants we also believe in the Rule of Law. If we believe in the Rule of Taw then people should not be Able to get into this country if they violate the Law. Illegal aliens people who arc unauthorized to come Here break the Law to get in. And any nation Worth its Salt must control its Borders. A now if we arc what we claim to be in our mottos then Why done to we reinforce our identity As an accepting and caring people and try to Deal reasonably and rationally with real issues. In this disparate commission we tried to Cut through the rhetoric about immigration and tried to look at the problems in a very factual non emotional Way. I think it is time for reason and logic to prevail. What we arc dealing with Here is nothing less than the definition of  i can imagine no better arbiter and Moderator of the needed National debate on immigration than Barbara Jordan. C Washington Post Cleveland May find All that glitters is not Gold Cleveland a about fifteen years ago a this was after the Cuya hoga River caught fire a this City defaulted on some Bonds the City Council president and a handful of other members were indicted in connection with a Kickback scheme the president of the school Board was arrested for a a mooning on his Way Home from a Rock concert and the mayor in a snit of some sort withdrew his personal checking account from the Cleveland Trust the Day his brother was arrested for robbing a Branch of that Bank. Today things Are going Well up to a Point. The reason they Are and the Point at which they Are not Are topics about which mayor Michael White has volcanic opinions. A 5-foot-7-Inch cauldron of Energy he seems to Pace even when sitting. He became mayor in 1990 at age 38 and was re elected last year with 85 percent of the vote an achievement that glitters like arid is a Reward for Cleveland a revived downtown the symbols and perhaps the catalysts of the revival Are two new venues for professional sports a Jacobs Field the indians new Ballpark and Gateway Arena where the Cavaliers soon will play basketball. The economic justification for Public investment in sports emporiums is easier to believe than to Demon Strate. The calculation is Complex because it is unclear How much of the Money spent in connection with the sporting events would otherwise be spent locally anyway. In any Case new sports facilities Are a trickle Down approach to building up cities the viability of downtown facilities depends on the rental of luxury a sky boxes or suites to corporate clients from nearby office towers. A that said this Tot must be the sense of pulsing viability that new sports facilities and recurring crowds impart to a downtown has a Cash value albeit one difficult to calculate. And it has other values As Well. Crowded streets Are Safe streets. With 11 new restaurants having opened near the Ballpark and a new Ritz Carlton a few blocks away and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame soon to open Wake an african american from the inner City says happily a the suburbs Are beginning to be played  people Are moving Back into the City he says a for the same reason a 55-year-old buys a Stingray after driving around in an Olds 88 for 10  rhetorically he does not crawl along in second gear. He is a paradigmatic Urban politician a materialist Optimist a take care of economic problems and two thirds of social problems go  hence his recipe for recovery in the rest of the City the part away from the line drives and jump shots is jobs. Jobs he says will cure Quot addiction to the Mailbox a monthly welfare checks. How then does he explain the fact that the explosion of social pathologies since the 1960s a welfare dependency drug addiction and especially family disintegration and illegitimacy a has coincided with Prosperity he says the Prosperity passed by the inner cities where there has been a a a depression Fojt years. But there have been severe protracted economic George f. \ will hardships before that did not result in anything remotely like the revolution in values represented by the 80 percent rates of illegitimate births in Many inner cities. The numbers denote the starkest tragedy in contemporary America. However regarding inc possibility of reversing the collapse of the stigma hitherto associated with illegitimacy White says with finality Quot we Are no More going to go Back to the stigma against having sex at 13 than we Are going to Start wearing chastity Bells  a Well. Here is the great Divide in american politics in the 10th decade of the 20th Century. On one Side there Are those who ass Chi the Primacy of material factors such As the availability of jobs. On the other Side Are those who believe in the sovereignly of moral values in determining the destinies of communities. White argues correctly that an emphasis on jobs has a moral dimension. Work is indeed Central to the culture of Freedom because work requires and hence teaches responsibility discipline and such useful habits. As punctuality and grooming. R also the availability of jobs which nourishes the Hopes that sustain secondary education is a prerequisite for a successful society. However so too Are Well parented children. Neither the children who have children nor the children Are a promising work Force for today or tomorrow. Glistening sports facilities and a commercial towers however numerous Are insufficient to sustain cities in which there is fatalism about 13-year-Olds having sex and inevitably babies. C Washington Post