In 1994, Pete Wilson, then a very unpopular governor trying for a second term, endorsed Proposition 187, an anti-immigrant ballot proposition, and this propelled him to victory. The proposition was eventually declared unconstitutional by a Federal Judge, and is on appeal.
The proponents of Proposition 187 admitted that their real agenda was to send a message to Washington D.C. that they wanted state and federal benefits to immigrants (just illegal, or legal immigrants too? - here, the line gets a little blurry.) cut, and Border Patrols increased, yadayadayada.
Congress and the President heard the message loud and clear, and the result was the now infamous welfare reform act and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA) which doubled the Border Patrol and stripped many immigrants of due process of law.
A few weeks after the IIRAIRA was enacted, we predicted that "the current wave of anti-immigrant sentiment (has) crested and (would) soon subside."
And not to say, "We told you so...", but in 1997 and 1998, Congress restored much of the federal benefits which had been cut in 1996. In November 1997, the Republican majority in Congress, worried about being branded as the anti-immigrant party in the 1998 elections, passed a law ("NACARA" - See topic #6 above.) granting amnesty to Cubans and Nicaraguans, and special benefits to persons from former Soviet Bloc countries. The Democrats countered by obtaining the same special benefits for certain natives of El Salvador and Guatemala. Haitians may be the next group added to the list.
As the 1998 election approaches, both Republicans and Democrats are cozying up to Latinos and other immigrant groups. Nowhere has the pendulum swung back to the pre-Pete Wilson "We Are The World" years than in California.
What is of particular interest is the pro-immigrant attitude displayed by the four major candidates, three Democrats and one Republican, in the race to succeed Pete Wilson as the Governor.
On May 23, all four candidates appeared at a Latino-sponsored forum entitled California Hacia El Futuro (California Into the Future). All four candidates opposed the popular Proposition 227 (Post-election comment: The voters approved this proposition by a wide margin.), an initiative to end bilingual education in California's schools.
When a reporter asked whether California's huge influx of immigrants had driven down workers' wages or hurt the ability of native-born residents to find jobs, all four candidates responded in the negative. Their responses are instructive:
Candidate #1: "It's not our people that are the problem. The problem is our leadership...(People) don't see a partnering role between the government and the private sector."
Candidate #2: "I fought efforts to lump legal and illegal immigrants together and to treat legal immigrants different from citizens. Legal immigrants should become citizens, and I have proposed efforts to facilitate (this)."
Candidate #3: "It's very important to reward people for waiting their turn, and coming here legally...As governor I would make the good offices of state agencies available to accelerate the opportunity for people to become citizens."
Candidate #4: "When I hear people say what you've suggested in your question, normally I look at them and I ask what your last name is. Very rarely is it Running Bear or Sitting Bull. Normally, they come from somewhere else, as did my ancestors. And my idea is just because I got over the bridge doesn't mean it's time to put the drawbridge up."
Candidate #4 also offered the following observation: "Some people say, 'My lord, look at what the state's going to look like. It's going to be far more Hispanic. And I say that's wonderful."
From their responses, each of the candidates seems to be so pro- immigrant, it is impossible guess which one is Republican Dan Lundgren, California's Attorney General, a supporter of Proposition 187 whose lawyers are appealing the decision of the Federal Judge and who is endorsed by Pete Wilson. The message: The demographics of the voters have changed, and anti-immigrant rhetoric is no longer acceptable in California statewide elections. This is the new message that California voters are sending to Washington D.C. in 1998. (For those who are curious, Mr. Lundgren is Candidate #4.)
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