A federal judge in Los Angeles has issued a final order forbidding implementation of the core provisions of Proposition 187, declaring that those parts of the controversial 1994 ballot initiative targeting illegal immigrants' use of public benefits are unconstitutional.
The widely anticipated action slapping a permanent injunction on the measure comes almost 3 1/2 years after California voters overwhelmingly approved it following a campaign that galvanized national attention on the issue of illegal immigrants' use of health care, schools and social services. Most of the law never took effect because court rulings temporarily blocked enactment.
The stage is now set for a round of appeals that many believe will reach the U.S. Supreme Court, possibly as soon as next year.
Gov. Pete Wilson and other Proposition 187 proponents have accused U.S. District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer of dragging her feet on issuing the final ruling, thus delaying their appeals and determination of the measure's ultimate fate. But opponents of Proposition 187 said the lengthy review was understandable given the complexity of the case and the state's shifting strategies and sometimes contradictory arguments.
In her decision, made public Wednesday, Pfaelzer based much of her rationale on Congress' sweeping overhaul of welfare laws in 1996, including broad new restrictions on benefits for noncitizens--changes in part inspired by Proposition 187. The congressional action, the judge ruled, served to reinforce her conclusion that the Constitution gives the federal government exclusive domain in the immigration arena.
"California is powerless to enact its own legislative scheme to regulate immigration," Pfaelzer said in her 32-page decision. "It is likewise powerless to enact its own legislative scheme to regulate alien access to public benefits."
The judge ordered copies of her decision to be sent to health care providers, school administrators, social service agencies, law enforcement offices and other affected government departments statewide.
In November, the judge issued a detailed decision outlining her belief that the central thrust of the initiative would not pass constitutional muster.
Pfaelzer did let stand two relatively minor parts of Proposition 187, strengthening penalties for the manufacture, distribution, sale or use of false documents for immigration purposes. Those provisions were never blocked from enactment into law.
