I heard it reported that Sen. Allen Christensen wants to kick legal immigrant children off Medicaid rolls in order to cut the Utah budget. He wants to know how people in Utah feel. This person would like to make some points.

1. Medicaid is a federal program. It does not come out of the Utah budget, therefore helping the Utah budget is a moot point.

2. These children live in stressful situations, their parents are in stressful situations. Since escaping poverty is not one of the criteria for immigration, this means that in some way many of these legal immigrant children’s lives were at risk in their native country. Why would you further stress them by threatening to take away a benefit? It’s just mean.

3. Finally, it is lucky that another child, born approximately 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem whose family had to flee because his life was in danger, was able to go to a humane site, rather than to Sen. Christensen’s Utah.

The solution is not taking away from legal immigrant children in need, but rather to expand programs to meet the needs of all Utah children whose families are living on the edge.