Law and Society Presentation

LAW AND SOCIETY ANNUAL MEETING

THANK RACHEL ROSENBLOOM. Thank my co-panelists.

PANEL:  Citizenship and Alienage in the 20th Century American Political Economy

This panel, I think, illustrates how political struggle over time has shaped political and economic rights of noncitizens, as well as U.S. citizens, in the United States.  Law has played a role in that struggle.  Ultimately, the rights of immigrants have been and will be the product of political struggle, secured through activism and political action, not court cases alone (although courts can help).

The example that I will focus on today is the dramatic change in political climate toward immigration in California.  Those changes should give us room for optimism.  Now, California is a self-declared “sanctuary” state, with laws limiting the state’s participation in the federal removal machinery.  It is viewed nationally as ultra-pro-immigrant.  Perhaps it is hard to imagine for some today but California historically has been an anti-immigrant bastion.

Examples include but are not limited to:

• Chinese in the 1800s. Rich and sordid history here.

• alien land laws

• internment of the Japanese during World War II.

       Proposition 187 – In 1994, Proposition 187 set in motion a chain of events that forever transformed California politics.  That history poses an important — and seemingly incongruous — series of questions for the future of U.S. immigration politics:

Will the aggressive immigration measures of the Trump administration have political ramifications for the entire nation similar to those that Proposition 187 had on California?

Might the responses to President Trump’s hyper-aggressive immigration policies lead to a political realignment on a national scale similar to that which occurred in California?

Ironically enough, the actions of President Trump, similar to those of California Governor Pete Wilson who championed Proposition 187, might ultimately have wholly unintended consequences.  The administration’s harsh immigration policies, in fact, may pave the way for a more immigrant-friendly national political climate.  Such political change could even lead to the passage of comprehensive immigration reform, which has been proposed for many years but is yet to be passed by Congress. That change might also spur the passage of other pro-immigrant legislation.

In considering our immigration future, let me tell you briefly what happened with Proposition 187 and California’s immigration politics, and California politics generally.

The passage of Proposition 187 followed a racially-tinged campaign that led to its passage.  Litigation successfully barred most of the measure from going into effect, but that is a whole other story. The initiative would have stripped all public benefits from undocumented immigrants, including a public school education, would have required schools to verify the legal immigration status of all students, and would have required police to check the immigration status.  Later, states in the 21st century (e.g., Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina) adopted stricter immigration enforcement laws. 

Anti-Mexican sentiment dominated the campaign for the anti-immigrant measure:

• They keep coming commercial by Governor Pete Wilson: One of the co-sponsors emphasized that “You are the posse and SOS is the Rope.”

• Crime and immigrants featured prominently in the campaign.

• Supporters claimed that there was an ongoing “invasion of illegal aliens,” code for Mexicans and am imminent Mexican takeover of the state.

• Racially polarized vote and initiative passed in a landslide. 2-1 for by whites; 2-1 against by Latinx voters.

• Follow up: 1996 immigration and welfare reform passed by Congress, some of the toughest reforms in U.S. history

       Proposition 187 forever changed California politics.  It set into motion a chain reaction that, if replicated on the national level, may reverse the contemporary trajectory of immigration law and enforcement.  Nothing less than a political watershed in California.  In response to Proposition 187,

• Naturalization campaign and an increase in new citizens, including Latino citizens.

• After Latinx mobilization, the state experienced an increase in Latinx voting and political activism. More Latinx legislators were elected.

• Changes in the demographics of the California legislature and the state’s political climate.

I see parallels between the campaign for Proposition 187 and Donald Trump’s harsh immigration rhetoric and agenda.  In the end, the Trump administration’s immigration policies might well boomerang, triggering a national political transformation like that seen in California in the wake of Proposition 187.

• Immigration measures spurring naturalization, activism and voting

• Rise in immigrant political activism

• Immigrant activists are pushing the new President.

CONCLUSION – We may see a slow process of immigration change.  If so, it will be one made through political action.  President Trump put immigration at center stage and his policies may shape the changes.