December 23, 2003

SOS—New Proposition 187 Petition Drive Now Underway In California!

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more . . .”

The original Southern California authors of the historic Proposition 187 have launched another signature-gathering campaign for the “Save Our State” (SOS) initiative—a hopefully tamper-proof amendment to the California state constitution to deny public benefits and services to illegal aliens once and for all.

The SOS initiative is the brainchild of activist Ron Prince and an organizing committee based in Buena Park, California. The new campaign is affectionately called “Son of Proposition 187” by the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR). It was this core group of volunteers at CCIR led by Barbara Coe, who, along with Prince, brought the original Proposition 187 all the way from kitchen table discussions to an overwhelming victory at the ballot box nine years ago.

Proposition 187 was approved by sixty percent of California voters on the November 8, 1994, ballot.

The key point to remember about the original Proposition 187—and why “Son of Prop. 187” is now a necessity—is this:

PROP. 187 WAS KILLED BY CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR GRAY DAVIS—NOT THE FEDERAL COURTS.

Proposition 187 never got its final day in court because of a litigation “settlement” i.e. stab-in-the back surrender by Davis—who has now been disgraced and recalled.

VDARE.COM columnist Joe Guzzardi, himself a symbolic candidate in the California recall election, made sure to drive home this point to anyone who would listen.

The Southern California activists at CCIR and Glenn Spencer’s invaluable American Patrol know the real history of Proposition 187 all too well.

They know that the will of California voters was thwarted by a back-room deal by the Treason Lobby, Governor Davis and Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo—who reportedly announced on Mexican television that "I have a commitment from the governor that he will do whatever he can so that these catastrophic effects which were foreseen with Proposition 187 several years ago will not come to pass."

Los Angeles’ own home-grown pit bull on illegal immigration, Terry Anderson, gave the following blessing to SOS on his Sunday night radio show this week:

“All you folks out there worried about the driver’s license for illegal aliens, this will fix it. All of you worried about Matricula Consular Cards, this will fix it. This thing will fix a multitude of sins in the state of California. And trust me folks, it can stand a look from the Supreme Court. This thing will work this time, absolutely!”

Getting an initiative on the ballot in California is a daunting task. But the Davis Recall and Save Our License campaigns met overwhelming grass-roots success. (It was fear of the Save Our License initiative that inspired California’s solidly-Democratic legislature to repeal Davis’ grant of drivers’ licenses to illegals.)

And, essentially new since the heroic but Herculean effort put Prop. 187 on the ballot ten years ago, the internet has come to the rescue of patriots. California residents who are registered voters can even download and sign petitions. (VDARE.COM can’t link for legal reasons, but you can search on “Save187” [not “Save 187”].)

For California, and for the rest of the several states, the SOS initiative is an idea whose time is overdue.

Juan Mann [send him email] is a lawyer and the proprietor of DeportAliens.com.