State Appeals U.S. Order Blocking Prop. 187

The California attorney general’s office Monday appealed a federal injunction that has barred officials from implementing most provisions of Proposition 187, the sweeping immigration initiative approved by state voters last year.

In papers filed before the U.S. Court of Appeals, state lawyers expanded on Gov. Pete Wilson’s argument that Proposition 187 should first be interpreted in the state courts, not in the federal arena.

The appeal follows Wilson’s suit filed in Superior Court in San Francisco last week seeking a state court ruling on Proposition 187’s validity.

Later this week, state attorneys are expected to formally request that U.S. Dist. Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer in Los Angeles suspend proceedings in four federal lawsuits challenging Proposition 187 pending resolution of the question in state courts.

The attorney general’s office is also expected to ask that Pfaelzer--who last month ordered an injunction barring implementation of most aspects of Proposition 187--dismiss federal challenges to the measure’s educational provisions. Proposition 187 would bar illegal immigrants from attending public schools and force educators to turn in suspected illegal immigrants. The educational questions, state attorneys argued, should properly be litigated in state court, where several challenges are pending.

In its appeal, the attorney general’s office will argue that a state court ruling barring Proposition 187’s educational provisions from taking effect removes the need for a federal injunction. The appeal also challenged other sections of the injunction, including those dealing with health and social services and law enforcement.

Attorneys behind the federal lawsuits against Proposition 187 argue that the ballot measure violates constitutional protections and therefore should be decided in federal court. Peter A. Schey, among the co-counsels handling the federal legal challenge, called the state’s appeal “more obfuscation.”