Backer of House bill gets death threats

Alicia Robinson

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher and his staff received death threats and dozens

of abusive phone calls Tuesday after a New York radio station

discussed a piece of his proposed legislation limiting health care

for illegal immigrants.

“I’m not going to be intimidated and back down from my

legislation, but I am going to take it seriously and take

precautions,” Rohrabacher said.

Rohrabacher introduced the legislation Jan. 21. Under the bill,

hospitals that receive federal funding for treating illegal

immigrants would have to ask if patients are citizens of the U.S. and

enter information about those who aren’t into a database that could

then be used by the Department of Homeland Security and other

agencies.

The bill would also hold employers responsible for the healthcare

bills of any illegal immigrants they employ.

“We shouldn’t be spending millions of dollars on people who come

here illegally when it takes away from the health care of our own

citizens,” Rohrabacher said.

The congressman’s district office received about 60 calls about

the legislation, district director Kathleen Hollingsworth said.

Rohrabacher was not in the office at the time.

“I’d say upwards of 90 percent of them were really abusive,” she

said.

One caller told a staff member, “You work for a racist. You

deserve to die.” Another caller recorded on the office voicemail

referred to Rohrabacher with an expletive and said he was going to

kill him; and in another recorded call, someone repeated, “Heil

Hitler” several times.

Huntington Beach police took a report for telephone harassment at

Rohrabacher’s district office and will be investigating the threat,

said Lt. Janet Perez, police spokeswoman.

A radio program discussing Rohrabacher’s bill apparently gave out

his Huntington Beach office’s phone number, she said.

U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman Jessica Gissubel said the agency

investigates any threat against a member of Congress but does not

comment on investigations.

Rohrabacher said someone with a genuine health emergency should be

treated, but taxpayers shouldn’t have to fund long-term care for

people who are in the country illegally.

The Spanish-language media has presented only one side of the

story and blurred the distinction between legal and illegal

immigrants, he said.

This is the first time someone has threatened his life, he added.

“This indicates just how out of control illegal immigration is,”

Rohrabacher said

“What we want is a steady flow of legal immigration that’s

controlled so that it won’t affect our society in a bad way,” he

said.

Legislators often get complaints from constituents that are

sometimes aggressive, 68th District Assemblyman Ken Maddox said.

Maddox’s vote to repeal the law granting California driver’s licenses

to illegal immigrants made him the target of a protest at his Costa

Mesa office in December.

“Somebody sent me a threat smeared with feces once,” Maddox said,

though he added that he no longer remembers the issue that prompted

such a commentary.

Because of their job, legislators are open to public comments both

good and bad, he said. Immigration is a front-burner issue both

nationally and in California, and people can get quite riled up about

it, he said.

“We all get nasty notes, which walk a thin line between a threat

and a criticism,” he said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

[email protected].