Local Elections : 9 Religious Leaders Call Prop. 187 ‘Immoral’

Nine religious leaders from Oxnard and Ventura on Thursday joined the chorus of criticism over Proposition 187, calling it an “unjust and immoral” ballot measure that would likely lead to violence if passed.

“If this proposition is passed--and I hope and pray that sad day does not come--I believe we will see a day of mourning,” said the Rev. Anthony Guillen, pastor of All Saints Episcopal Church in Oxnard.

“There will be people in the streets and people in the churches shedding tears. I anticipate we will see violence. So we must find creative and constructive ways to deal with the aftermath of this,” he added.

The speeches by Guillen and four other church leaders were the latest in a series of organized protests against the controversial proposition that would deny health care, education and other services to illegal immigrants.

Today, students at Channel Islands High School will hold an anti-187 rally with community leaders in the school’s football stadium. Classes will be shortened to allow time for the event at 1:15 p.m.

And on Saturday, as many as 300 Fillmore High School students are expected to join a protest march that will wind through town, ending with a rally in Central Park.

“This proposition has really sent the red flags up in the Latino community,” said Joe Torres, adviser to the Fillmore High chapter of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan.

Thursday’s ceremony drew about 20 people to Oxnard’s Plaza Park, where a cool wind blew as the nine church leaders, representing five denominations, signed a statement opposing Prop. 187.

Drafted by the California Interfaith Coalition, the statement denounces the proposition as a “social sin” that “affirms racism and prejudice and deepens divisions.”

Read aloud by Guillen, the statement also warns that the ballot measure will create a permanent underclass, endanger public health and place suspicion on all immigrants.

Joy Hamlat, an adult school teacher and member of College United Methodist Church in Ventura, said she came because she sees Prop. 187 as a threat to civil rights.

“When one group of people becomes a little less human than another group, I think it’s very frightening,” she said.

Guillen said he was disappointed that so few church leaders attended the ceremony in Oxnard’s downtown park, where 2,000 students had gathered in protest the week before.

Forty-four religious leaders from Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Ventura had been invited, he said. Three who could not make it signed the statement before the ceremony.

Guillen said it can be difficult for pastors to make public statements on an issue as divisive as Prop. 187. Some feel it is inappropriate for them to make political statements. Times correspondent Maia Davis contributed to this report.