Twenty-five years ago, California weathered a civil war at the ballot box that eventually changed the state forever.
Proposition 187 sought to drive away immigrants without documentation by denying them public healthcare, social services and education, among other punitive measures. In 1994, the initiative easily won, 59% to 41%, but it created a generation of Latinos whose influence on California can be felt from Hollywood to Sacramento, from universities to high school classrooms. Prop. 187 also helped pave the way for Donald Trump to be elected president.
Over the next couple of weeks, Los Angeles Times reporter Gustavo Arellano will publish stories about 187’s legacy — political, cultural, historical and personal. Arellano will also host a new miniseries from the Los Angeles Times and Futuro Studios. Told in three parts, “The Battle of 187” traces the proposition from its birth in Orange County to its peak on election day and its ultimate failure. “The Battle of 187” is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher.
Advertisement
More on Prop. 187
-
Former California Gov. Pete Wilson is the face of Proposition 187, making him public enemy No. 1 for Latinos who suffered the consequences. -
Proposition 187 was overturned, but the battle over the initiative taught anti-immigration groups how to better fight for their restrictionist cause.
-
Prop. 187 fueled the basest fears of voters. But it also ignited an involved Latino electorate.
-
When the Los Angeles Times decided to endorse Pete Wilson in 1994, the newsroom rebelled.
-
It’s worth remembering that an overwhelming majority voted for the infamous ballot measure 25 years ago this week.
-
More politicians are Latino, a reality made possible by the backlash to anti-immigrant Proposition 187. But in other ways, Latinos are worse off today.
-
The student marches were the culmination of a month of anti-Proposition 187 teach-ins, debates, letter-writing campaigns and some of the largest protests California had seen since the Vietnam War.
-
A look back at the events surrounding the 1994 proposition.
From the archives
-
-
For a time, no California politician was more formidable than Republican Pete Wilson.
-
In a disavowal of the hard line Californians once took against illegal immigration, Gov.
-
Two decades after California voters took a hard line on illegal immigration, affirmative action and bilingual education, an ascendant class of Latino lawmakers is seeking to rewrite the books and discard the polarizing laws.
-
In 1994, California voters approved Proposition 187, a controversial ballot measure to deny public services, such as public education and healthcare, to people in the country illegally.
-
A rift over illegal immigration threatens to unravel gains made in wooing the Latino vote.
-
Democrats can’t count on the fear tactic forever.
-
Litigation: Governor’s deal with civil rights groups effectively kills 1994 anti-illegal immigrant measure. Accord is likely to ignite further controversy.
-
Courts: A permanent injunction is levied on the ’94 measure targeting illegal immigrants’ use of public benefits.
-
Law: Decision means anti-illegal immigration measure won’t be implemented, barring appeal. But initiative’s supporters condemn outcome, plan plea to higher court.
-
A year after California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 187, a federal district judge in Los Angeles ruled Monday that major portions of the landmark immigration initiative are invalid because they clash with superseding federal laws.
-
The Proposition 187 activists had gathered on the Glendale courthouse steps to publicize a familiar goal: denying public education to illegal immigrants.
-
Thomas Garcia of East Los Angeles saw no point in voting on Election Day, even though he bitterly opposed Proposition 187.
-
Saying that portions of Proposition 187 may conflict with federal statutes and the U.S.
-
The battle over Proposition 187 shifted quickly from the ballot box to courtrooms, to government chambers and the streets Wednesday as Californians, in a resounding Election Day mandate, ushered in a new era of stern restrictions against illegal immigrants.
-
California voters approved the most sweeping and controversial attack on illegal immigration in the nation Tuesday by passing Proposition 187, a measure that spawned passionate demonstrations, became the dominant issue of the election and promises to continue polarizing the state.
-
With emotions over Proposition 187 surging toward an Election Day peak, foes of the measure continued to mount protest rallies around Southern California on Monday and stepped up their media advertising with the help of a last-ditch $1-million infusion.
-
The student walkouts that have disrupted schools in Los Angeles in recent weeks have their roots in a televised speech by Gov.
-
Pete Wilson is mad as hell about illegal immigration. Sound familiar?
-
Election: The governor offended every Latino when he tied his reelection campaign to the ugly, bigoted Prop. 187.
-
In deciding to endorse in a California gubernatorial election for the first time since 1970, this newspaper realized that any evaluation of Pete Wilson has to be tempered by a fair respect for the turbulent and depressing economic environment in which he has had to govern.
-
With two weeks left before Election Day, the battle over Proposition 187 continued to heat up Tuesday with controversy erupting over a planned last-minute pro-187 radio ad campaign by a national immigration reform organization.
-
Protesters condemn Wilson for backing initiative that they say promotes ‘racism, scapegoating.’
-
With California voters increasingly convinced that illegal immigration is one of the major problems facing the state, Proposition 187, the emotionally divisive anti-illegal immigration initiative, continues to hold a strong lead in the Los Angeles Times Poll.
-
Opponents of Proposition 187 launched their radio advertising campaign Tuesday, airing a tough 60-second spot charging that the anti-illegal immigration ballot measure would lead to increased crime and is being backed by white supremacists.
-
There wasn’t any tolerance the other night at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance.
-
Like other political neophytes who banded together last autumn for an all-out war against illegal immigration, Ronald Stephen Prince had a story to tell.
-
An initiative that would deny public education and social and health programs to illegal immigrants in California has qualified for the Nov. 8 statewide ballot.
-
Commercial describes his efforts to get U.S. to pay for state services to foreigners. But critics say it could inflame ethnic tensions.
-
What do you do when so many people are saying bad things about illegal immigrants?
-
Like tectonic plates, two relentless forces are colliding to produce the political earthquake over immigration that is shaking California.
-
Proposals would cut their health care and public schooling. Schabarum and former INS chief Ezell are key backers.
-
Residents increasingly see illegal influx as a source of California’s woes. Pressure for action grows.
