California Proposition 187 (also known as the Save Our State (SOS) initiative) was a 1994 ballot initiative to establish a state-run citizenship screening system and prohibit illegal aliens from using health care, public education, and other social services in the U.S. State of California. Voters passed the proposed law as a referendum in November 1994; it was the first time that a state had passed legislation related to immigration, customarily an issue for federal policies and programs.[1] The law was challenged in a legal suit and found unconstitutional by a federal court. In 1999, Governor Gray Davis halted state appeals against the ruling.
Passage of Proposition 187 reflected state residents' concerns about illegal immigration into the United States and the large Hispanic population in California. Opponents believed the law was discriminatory against immigrants of Hispanic origin; supporters generally insisted that their concerns were economic: that the state could not afford to provide social services for so many illegal residents.[2][3]
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In 1994, California had an estimated 1.3 million illegal aliens, which included approximately 308,000 illegal alien children. Legal residents were increasingly concerned about the costs of providing services to the families of illegal aliens.[4]
The Republican assemblyman Dick Mountjoy of Monrovia introduced Proposition 187 to the state legislature as the "Save Our State" (SOS) initiative. It gained enough signatures to be placed on the ballot as a referendum vote during the general election on November 8, 1994. Originally one of several immigration reform bills placed before the California legislature in the early 1990s, polls surveying community responses showed that Proposition 187 began with widespread support - a 37-point lead in July 1994, and 62-29 percent lead among likely voters by September 1994.[5] Proponents of the bill estimated that California spent $3 billion per year on services for illegal aliens, about half of which provided education to children of illegal aliens.[6]
Governor Pete Wilson, a Republican, was a prominent supporter of Proposition 187, which ultimately became a key issue during his 1994 re-election campaign against Democratic opponent Kathleen Brown. After facing record low approval ratings during his first term, Wilson trailed Brown in opinion polls by more than 20% early during the gubernatorial campaign. Commentators considered his aggressive support of the Proposition 187 as crucial to his re-election.[7]
In the days leading up to the election, Wilson said that he would require all state and local government employees to report suspected illegal aliens to the Attorney General's Office if Proposition 187 passed. State Attorney General Dan Lungren, also running for re-election, agreed to enforce emergency regulations to implement the law immediately after the election.
During the United States Senate election in California, 1994 campaign, the incumbent Senator Diane Feinstein and Republican challenger Michael Huffington both adopted tough policies against illegal immigration. The candidates each revealed that they had previously hired illegal aliens for housekeeping and childcare. Unlike Feinstein, Huffington had hired an illegal housekeeper after the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which made it illegal to knowingly hire illegal aliens. Feinstein was narrowly re-elected.[8]
President Bill Clinton urged Californians to reject Proposition 187 as an impediment to federal policy on immigration. After admitting that "it is not wrong for you [Californians] to want to reduce illegal immigration," Clinton asked voters to allow the federal government to "keep working on what we're doing."[8]
In the days leading up to the referendum vote, Latino students organized large protests of Proposition 187 across the state, including a mass boycott of high schools. Their protests often included waving the Mexican flag, a controversial symbol that was described by opponents as counterproductive.[8]
On November 8, 1994, California voters approved the proposition by a wide margin: 59 percent to 41 percent.[9] According to the Los Angeles Times exit polls, 63 percent of ethnic European voters and 23 percent of Latino voters voted for Proposition 187; African-American and ethnic Asian voters split their voting equally for and against the law. Although ethnic Europeans comprised 57% of California's population at the time, they comprised 81% of voters in the 1994 general election. Latinos totaled 8% of voters, although they comprised 26% of the state's population.
While 78 percent of Republicans and 62 percent of Independents voted for the initiative, Democratic voters opposed the measure by 64 percent.[10]
Section 1 of Proposition 187 provides this introduction:
The People of California find and declare as follows: That they have suffered and are suffering economic hardship caused by the presence of illegal immigrants in this state. That they have suffered and are suffering personal injury and damage caused by the criminal conduct of illegal immigrants in this state. That they have a right to the protection of their government from any person or persons entering this country unlawfully.
| Proposition 187 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Choice | Votes | Percentage |
| Yes | 5,063,537 | 58.93% |
| No | 3,529,432 | 41.07% |
| Valid votes | 8,592,969 | 96.54% |
| Invalid or blank votes | 307,667 | 3.46% |
| Total votes | 8,900,636 | 100.00% |
| Voter turnout | 60.45% | |
| Electorate | 14,723,784 | |
| Source: 1994 Statement of Vote | ||
Proposition 187 included the following key elements[5]:
After the bill's passage, activists on campuses, churches, and ethnic communities across California and across the country to express opposition to Proposition 187. Critics argued that the bill was xenophobic and discriminated against ethnic minorities, especially those of Latino origin. Others were fearful that the costs of a state-run citizenship screening system and the potential loss of federal funds would off-set any savings of denying public benefits to illegal aliens.[11] The day after the law was approved, an alliance of Latino and civil rights groups, including Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and American Civil Liberties Union, filed lawsuits against the measure in state court.[12] Multiple local governments outside California, including the city of Denver, Colorado, threatened to boycott the state altogether. Latino organizations announced that they would not hold conventions in California and urged a boycott by their members and supporters of Disneyland. a major tourist attraction.[13]
Proposition 187 was widely supported by conservatives. Some prominent conservatives, including the unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron Unz, opposed the initiative.[14] Former White House Secretaries Jack Kemp and William Bennett publicly disapproved of Proposition 187.[15]
Due to Proposition 187's statutes requiring children and their parents or legal guardians to prove their legal status, the California State Parent-Teacher Association joined in opposing the bill.[16] The Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Gray Davis, who succeeded Wilson, campaigned against Proposition 187. On October 16, 1994, three weeks before Proposition 187 was passed, more than 70,000 people marched in downtown Los Angeles against the measure.[17]
The Mexican president, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, decried the law as xenophobic and harmful to the human rights of migrant laborers. One week after the bill was approved, Salinas proposed cross-border discussions to develop a "guestworker" program that would permit non-resident Mexicans to work legally in the United States.[18] Such a program had been in place during World War II.
The constitutionality of Proposition 187 was challenged by several lawsuits. On November 11, 1994, three days after the bill's passage, Federal Judge Matthew Byrne issued a temporary restraining order against institution of the measure, which was filed by State Attorney General Dan Lungren.[19] After Judge Mariana Pfaelzer issued a permanent injunction of Proposition 187 in December 1994, blocking all provisions except those dealing with higher education and false documents, multiple cases were consolidated and brought before the federal court. In November 1997, Pfaelzer found the law to be unconstitutional on the basis that it infringed on the federal government's exclusive jurisdiction over matters relating to immigration.[20] Pfaelzer also explained that Proposition 187's effect on the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the Congressional overhaul of the American welfare system, proved that the bill was a "scheme" to regulate immigration:
"California is powerless to enact its own legislative scheme to regulate immigration. It is likewise powerless to enact its own legislative scheme to regulate alien access to public benefits."
Governor Wilson appealed the ruling, which brought the case to the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. But in 1999, the newly elected Democratic Governor Gray Davis had the case brought before mediation.[21] His administration withdrew the appeal before the courts in July 1999, effectively killing the law.[22]
Noting a rapid increase in the Latino participation in California elections, some analysts cite Governor Wilson's and the Republican Party's embrace of Proposition 187 as a cause of the failure of the party to win statewide elections.[23] Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is the only Republican to win a California gubernatorial, senatorial, or presidential election since 1994.
Since 1995 the following states have had similar ballot initiatives or laws passed: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma and Texas.[24]