Why family supports reform

By Devona Walker

Published: November 4, 2007

Chip and Kathy Harrison had abandoned all hopes of having a child. Then, Kathy found out she was pregnant.

"At 43, I didn't think I was able to get pregnant,” said Kathy Harrison, now 45. "She was our gift from God.”

But even before her delivery, baby Darcy had serious medical issues. Doctors informed the couple that Darcy would need an emergency surgery immediately after she was born to repair a small hole the infant had at the base of her brain. Darcy also was born with a mosaic chromosome No. 7, which causes severe growth retardation. Now, 14 months old, having endured five surgeries and more than a dozen trips to the emergency room, the little girl weighs only 15 pounds.

It was during these repeated trips to the packed emergency room, which he says were largely filled with non-English speaking Hispanics, that Chip Harrison's feelings about illegal immigration solidified.

"I feel it influenced her care. Because of her neurological issues, I wanted the best doctor and the best care, and our medical facilities are being overburdened by illegal aliens,” Chip Harrison, 52, said. "They come in, they get treated and they leave. And it's always been in the back of my mind, is this going to affect the health care of my child?”

In California, the State Association of Hospitals recently stated the public health system was "on the brink of collapse,” with some patients waiting up to four days for a hospital bed and up to two years before they could have a gall bladder surgery.

"When I came back to Oklahoma, I thought things would be different. And they weren't. They were the same,” Harrison said.

In California, Chip Harrison worked with many Hispanic construction workers. They often came to the area seasonally on temporary work visas, sent every penny back home to their families, and left during the off-season. He said they always attempted to speak English. And he knows many Hispanics contributed to the economy and culture of the U.S.

"The problem that I have is when someone walks across the border illegally and then demand the same rights as a citizen,” said Kathy Harrison. "I've been to Mexico, I went there as a guest. I didn't go there demanding services and rights.”

The Harrisons say they support House Bill 1804 because it attempts to address the issue.

"If there is anyone who is here illegally and they say to me, ‘I am in the process of trying to become legal,' I would be the first person to find them a pen and a desk to sit down,” Chip Harrison said. "But it's people who want to come to America and have all the privileges of being an American and none of the responsibilities, those are the ones I have a problem with.”

"The problem that I have is when someone walks across the border illegally and then demand the same rights as a citizen. I've been to Mexico, I went there as a guest. I didn't go there demanding services and rights.”

Kathy Harrison

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