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1 1 (Updated September 15, 1999)

handle is hein.crs/crsaakh0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 97-543 A Updated September 15, 1999 California's Proposition 187: A Brief Overview Larry M. Eig Legislative Attorney American Law Division Summary On September 13, 1999, a U.S. district judge approved an agreement to end litigation challenging California's Proposition 187, a 1994 ballot initiative to deny illegal aliens state benefits and to require reporting of illegal alien applicants for benefits to federal immigration officials. This agreement effectively continues earlier court-imposed restraints on implementing Prop 187. Meanwhile, federal law enacted in 1996 denies illegal aliens most state-provided benefits funded in part by the federal government and authorizes California to deny illegal aliens many other benefits that would have been denied had Prop 187 been implemented. In a reversal of policy, however, California has now restored state-financed prenatal care for illegal aliens and is also considering easing other restrictions that it had imposed after the 1996 law. In November 1994, California voters approved Proposition 187 by a 59%-41% margin. This initiative broadly denied illegal aliens state-funded services, including public education and non-emergency health care. It also required state authorities to facilitate the identification and removal of illegal aliens by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The State of California's Legislative Analyst had estimated that Prop 187 would reduce net state outlays about $100-200 million per year. A federal district court temporarily halted Prop 187's restrictions on benefits in December 1994, and this freeze was continued under a November 1995 preliminary injunction. This 1995 decision, LULAC v. Wilson, also overturned most of Prop 187's enforcement procedures. The court-ordered halt of Prop 187 finally became ripe for appeal in March 1998 when the presiding judge issued a permanent injunction. However, new California Governor Gray Davis decided to seek a mediated end to the suit rather than to pursue an appeal. Subsequently, the parties to the suit (including the state) agreed to maintain the effects of the injunction, the presiding judge approved the agreement on September 13, 1999, and some proponents of Prop 187 have stated that they will now try to appeal the injunction on their own. While litigation on Prop 187 was pending, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWOA) became federal law (P.L. 104-193) on August 22, 1996. This Congressional Research Service oe The Library of Congress CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web

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