Prop. 187 Backer Changes Stand on Banning Students

A leading architect of California’s Proposition 187, which called for the removal of illegal immigrants from public schools, told lawmakers Monday that he now opposes including similar restrictions in a national immigration bill now before Congress.

Ronald S. Prince, a Tustin accountant who was co-chairman of the Proposition 187 campaign, telephoned Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and other congressional offices to explain that he had changed his mind on the public schooling issue.

As part of a wider immigration reform bill, the House of Representatives in March approved a provision allowing states to deny public education to illegal immigrants. But the issue has sharply divided Republicans in the Senate and was not included in the Senate’s immigration bill.

Fearing that the fight over the public schooling issue may jeopardize the entire immigration reform package, Prince has told congressional aides that he favors backing off for now, according to staffers. Prince himself said he will not comment on his change of strategy until today.

The shift has already created a fissure, however, between Prince and other Proposition 187 drafters and infuriated Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), the chief congressional sponsor of the measure. He accused Prince of undermining the immigration bill and siding with those who are soft on illegal immigration.

“If he wants to undermine the bill, let him undermine the bill,” Gallegly said. “The last time I looked, Ron Prince does not have a vote in Congress. I respect his right to express his opinion, but we have a lot to do. Ron Prince can say what he wants.”

Despite Prince’s change, other authors of the 1994 ballot measure said they still believe that Congress ought to take a strong stand against the estimated 350,000 illegal immigrants in California’s public schools.

“I was surprised when Ron told me. I said, ‘You’re kidding,’ ” said Barbara Coe, another Proposition 187 advocate who disagrees with Prince’s new stand. “He’s just really fearful that we’re going to lose all the momentum we created with Proposition 187. Ron wants some bill rather than no bill. I think we have to stand firm.”

Harold Ezell, another Proposition 187 co-sponsor who was once the western commissioner for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, condemned Prince for his flip-flop.

“I don’t think Prince has any credibility on the immigration issue,” Ezell said. “I don’t think anyone pays attention to him. I don’t think he has any following but his own.”

Prince, who leads the group known as Save Our State, suffered a setback earlier this year when he failed to raise the required signatures for a follow-up to Proposition 187. The so-called “Save Our State 2” would have called on the California Legislature to back a constitutional amendment denying citizenship to the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants.

Prince, however, is still viewed as a spokesman for immigration hard-liners. Earlier this spring, he appeared on “Nightline” defending the public schooling restrictions. And on the evening that the House passed the measure by a vote of 257 to 163, Prince told the Times that he was very pleased by the congressional action.

“The demise in the quality of public education in California, particularly Southern California, is largely attributed to illegal aliens in our public schools,” he said from the Save Our State headquarters in Orange. “It has caused an increase in class size, resulted in less teacher time per student and less money for texts and equipment and programs because of the amount of money that is needed for bilingual education.”

Prince’s decision to oppose the measure comes at a crucial time on Capitol Hill. Because the Senate did not include the public schooling measure in its immigration package, lawmakers from both chambers are meeting behind the scenes to decide whether it ought to be in the final bill that goes to the president.

Despite concerns from many Republicans, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole and California Gov. Pete Wilson have all endorsed the measure. They see it as an opportunity to distinguish the GOP from President Clinton, who has indicated that he might veto the immigration bill if the schooling restrictions is included.

Opponents of the public schooling measure saw Prince’s announcement as a sign that the proposal’s support was weakening.

“It is so obvious that the Dole campaign and the House leadership are playing politics with this issue that even the architect of Proposition 187 is opposed to it,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum.