Newport / Costa Mesa / Irvine : IRVINE : College Sparked to Action by Prop. 187

The passage of Proposition 187 has sparked a rare burst of political activism at the usually sleepy Irvine Valley College campus. Student groups from colleges throughout Orange County are expected to take part in a Proposition 187 “teach-in” beginning at noon today on campus.

Educators, students and Latino activists will gather at the student services courtyard on campus to learn about and discuss the law, which denies social services and public education to illegal immigrants.

“This is an opportunity for the students on this campus to express themselves,” said Francisco Marmolejo, an Irvine Valley College history professor scheduled to speak at today’s event. “That often doesn’t happen.”

The teach-in was the idea of Irvine Valley College student Catherine Reinke, 25, a Korean American nursing student who works as a pharmacy technician at Western Medical Center-Anaheim.

“We have a large number of Latino workers at the hospital. After Proposition 187 passed, I couldn’t look at their faces, I felt so guilty and so awful,” Reinke said.

Reinke came to the United States at age 12 from Seoul, South Korea. She says she identifies with the plight of illegal immigrants because of the struggles of her parents.

Marmolejo was the first member of his family born in the United States. His parents immigrated to the United States 45 years ago from Mexico. He believes Proposition 187 will be struck down by the courts, but he sees an increase in racial tensions caused by the ballot measure.

“It has created a sort of mean-spiritedness and a hard-heartedness,” Marmolejo said. “People are being hurt on both sides of this issue.”