One of the most controversial voter-approved ballot measures in California history turns 20 this month. Proposition 187 would have barred undocumented immigrants from access to schools and other public services. A court ultimately ruled against it.
A state lawmaker now wants to erase it from the state's code.
Lawmakers and immigration reform advocates say California has changed a lot over the last two decades and the state code should reflect that. Democratic State Senator Kevin de León has authored the bill that would expunge Proposition 187.
“To read language and to see that any child who has been identified as in the country unlawfully to be removed from the classroom is just eerie," says de León
Immigration reform advocates say by putting a divisive symbol of the past behind it, California could lead the nation in developing effective immigration policy.
Meanwhile, measures in the Senate and the Assembly would put an advisory question on the November ballot asking voters if Congress should pass immediate comprehensive immigration reform.
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