Prop. 187 Found Unconstitutional by Federal Judge

Soon, Proposition 187 had galvanized voters statewide and had gained more notoriety outside the state than any California ballot initiative since the tax-cutting Proposition 13. Backers framed the movement as a kind of salvation from rampant illegal immigration, while critics denounced it as a racist effort to scapegoat immigrants, especially Latinos. Three weeks before the election, more than 70,000 opponents, mostly Latinos, marched through downtown Los Angeles in one of the largest protests in city history.

On Nov. 8, 1994, California voters approved the ballot measure by 59% to 41%, with substantial support from virtually all groups except for Latinos and Jews. Federal judges soon blocked its implementation. Subsequent efforts to launch copycat measures in Florida, Arizona and Washington state never got off the ground, but the message of Proposition 187 reverberated in 1996 in Congress, where lawmakers passed several laws cracking down on illegal immigrants and their access to public benefits.

Times staff writer Dave Lesher in Sacramento contributed to this story.