Prop. 187 Backers Seek to Join Battle Over Measure’s Legality

Frustrated authors and sponsors of Proposition 187, passed by voters in 1994 yet mostly blocked since then by a federal judge, tried to intervene Tuesday in the 2-year-old legal battle between Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren and a coalition of immigrant rights advocates.

A pair of Republican state senators representing the ballot initative’s backers angrily charged that delays by U.S. District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer in Los Angeles represent a political effort to block Proposition 187’s call for an end to public benefits for illegal immigrants.

Pfaelzer was unavailable for comment Tuesday, but she scheduled a pair of hearings in March to consider Lungren’s request to reconsider her 1995 ruling against several elements of the measure.

“This case has languished in the court for two years now,” state Sen. Richard Mountjoy (R-Arcadia) said at a Capitol news conference. “This court has been basically making law by delaying law. As you know, justice delayed is justice denied.”

The motion to intervene filed by the Americans for Responsible Immigration comes as state authorities are predicting an end to the case as soon as April or May.

Lungren’s motion argued that the case has changed because last year’s federal welfare reform bill--like Proposition 187--bars social services and nonemergency health care to illegal immigrants.

State authorities said they hope that the hearings will lead to a resolution of the case. But plaintiffs’ attorneys said they will challenge the motion.

Thomas Saenz, Los Angeles regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said the plaintiffs also will argue against adding another party to the suit.

“Gov. Pete Wilson and Dan Lungren were among the most prominent supporters of Proposition 187,” Saenz said. “So they are, in that respect, no different than these proposed intervenors.”

The proposition backers were welcomed to the case by aides to Wilson and Lungren. “There is certainly a frustration on Atty. Gen. Lungren’s part about the time it has taken to sort this out and the fact that we are not yet beyond the trial court level,” said Steve Telliano, a Lungren spokesman.

Mountjoy said his group’s decision to join the Proposition 187 lawsuit is not a reflection of unhappiness with Lungren. Instead, he said the case would benefit from the group’s expertise and resources. Also, the group hoped to be better informed about proceedings.

Lungren, however, has begun to feel some political pressure.

In December, Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform in Washington, complained about Lungren’s “low-key, go-slow defense strategy.” He suggested that the issue could damage Lungren’s hope of winning the governor’s race next year.

Telliano declined to respond to Stein’s complaint.