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Proyecto Visión 21

Some programs and laws create opposite results to what we expected

Last week I was writing a story on my computer, using the same word processor I am using now, when the program suddenly stopped working, forcing me to turn the computer off and then restart the machine.

I then discovered the well-known word processor I was using includes a subprogram whose function is to keep the main program running. However, to fulfill that function, the subprogram is constantly monitoring the use of the word processor, using resources that eventually lead to the “freezing” of the program.

In other words, the subprogram causes precisely the program it wanted to avoid, in spite of the good intentions of its creators and in spite of what I am sure it was a long and thoughtful process of creation and development.

In this case, the problem disappears after turning the computer off and on or after deactivating the subprogram causing the unwanted results. But in other cases, where real people are involved in real drama, the solution is neither simple nor easy.

Last week I met a Mexican woman who came legally to this country more than a decade ago. She is the mother of five young children, all of them American citizens. This woman is still waiting for her permanent residence card.

She and her husband, both of them in their early 30s, worked at different places since they moved first to Texas and then to Colorado. They wanted to provide for their family, but they also wanted to avoid any government program, because they didn’t want any future problems in connection with their application for a permanent status.

Everything changed for them in 2006, after the Colorado legislature approved a local immigration reform package for the purpose of deterring people without legal presence in the country from using public programs or accessing public benefits.

Those laws, their implementation, and the current economic crisis caused the Mexican immigrant I met to lose her job. In her despair to provide for her family, she has been forced now to use precisely those programs she didnt want and didnt need to use before 2006 laws.

The subprogram in my computer was created to make easier the use of the word processor, but the result is the opposite. The 2006 Colorado laws were enacted with one purpose, and now those same laws are forcing families to access government programs they didnt know existed or needed before the laws were approved.

However, unlike what is happening in my computer, real life problems are not solved deactivating a subprogram or pressing the restart button, because, among other things, it is impossible to anticipate what other unexpected effects new laws may have in trying to solve the problems created by the previous laws.

Meanwhile, this couple, who until recently were productive members of our society, rely now on public assistance to feed, educate, and provide a roof for their five American children. And they are only one of the more than 10,000 families in Colorado facing the same situation.

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