Prop. 187 Is Denounced at Prayer Service

Holding candles and singing songs that called for unity, more than 500 people attended an interfaith prayer service and protest against Proposition 187 Tuesday night that ended with a brief march to Children’s Hospital of Orange County.

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The service began at the Chapel of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange and drew Catholics, Jews, Protestants, Muslims and others.

The Rev. Lynne Austin of Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Tustin told the audience that Proposition 187, which would deny most social services, including education and health care to illegal immigrants, is antithetical to Christianity.

“We see the face of God in those who are the most vulnerable,” Austin said. “And, when you welcome the ones who are vulnerable and helpless, you are welcoming God. Those most vulnerable are the immigrants in our society.”

Rabbi Bernard King, from the Irvine Temple Shir Ha Ma’Alot, said that Orange County residents should be sensitive to California’s new immigrants.

“The way we treat them is a measure of our society,” King said.

Earlier on Tuesday, about a dozen youths, their parents and representatives of several human rights and ethnic organizations gathered on the steps of the old courthouse in Santa Ana and denounced the proposition.

John Maldonado, a parent whose family would be affected if Proposition 187 passes, added, “It’s inhumane and racist. It will cause the separation of many families.”

Robert J. Miranda, president of the Children’s Alliance, a committee recently formed by prominent business and community leaders to fight Proposition 187, said: “Schools must remain an environment of learning and understanding of our rich cultural heritage. Proposition 187 will institutionalize a second class of citizens in our schools where children of color will be questioned and suspected of being undocumented.”

He added that his 12-year-old son recently was “extremely distressed” when he was required to take an English competency exam at his school “only because his name is Miranda, not Jones. This is wrong. I was born in the United States and so was my son. As Americans, our ethnic heritage should not be a basis for compromising our freedoms.”