The Cupertino Courier
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Honda backs immigration reform and support for war vets
By Cody Kraatz
Rep. Mike Honda, D-Campbell, dropped plans to speak about fiscal responsibility at a Cupertino Rotary meeting May 30, instead answering questions about immigration and post traumatic stress disorder among Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.
"If you have not visited a hospital, it is heartbreaking to see that. It's an obligation that we have to take care of them," said Honda.
In an interview with the Courier, he added that he would like veterans to have the services they need, which include physical therapy and counseling, closer to home. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals have consolidated over time into regional hospitals, a sign the government is not funding the VA properly, he said.
"You can't require people to drive four hours to get to a hospital for appointments," he said.
Cupertino veteran Jason Poole said he used to take three buses, routes 23, 22 and 88, to get to his morning appointments three days a week at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System site. It used to take two or three hours. Now he takes express route 101 and saves a lot of time, but still leaves home early in the morning.
Honda said veterans such as Poole are lucky compared to people who live in Fresno, much farther from services. He said the need for medical care for veterans should have been anticipated when the government made the decision to get into Iraq.
Honda also explained his stance on U.S. immigration policy, which is expected to come before the House after the U.S. Senate approves it in a vote expected this month.
"I support comprehensive immigration reform. I don't think fences and walls will work because they didn't work in China. You don't need to build walls," said Honda, referring to the Great Wall of China. He believes detection technology is more cost effective and practical and added that international trade agreements create economic crises in other countries and contribute to immigration.
He said allowing illegal immigrants to earn their citizenship over time is not amnesty and that they would have to wait their turn. However, he also said that families seeking reunification, many of them Latino and Asian, should not have to wait as long as they do with the backlog of applications now.
The going will be tough for an immigration bill in the House of Representatives. Honda said immigration policy has been taken to extremes, citing as an example the idea that employers who hire illegal immigrants should be charged with a felony.
"It will be a wrestling match. It will be a match of wills as well as of ideas."
He also discussed how the diversity of his South Bay district, which includes Cupertino, grants it opportunities to address global problems.
"We have the diversity, we have the Diaspora and we have the languages here to address global problems."
Rep. Mike Honda's website is at honda.house.gov.
