When first hearing about proposition 187 I believed that it was a good idea. I thought that since immigrants were here illegally, that they did not deserve any of the benefits that a legal US citizen is awarded. But after taking a closer look at the bill, I have found that my opinion has changed. There are many reasons why I have changed my mind about prop 187. Not only is the bill unconstitutional, but it is also is ineffective in helping the state of California, as a matter of fact, in many ways it will do damage to the state.
First off, lets go over the basic point of proposition 187. Proposition 187 was made in order to take away the rights of individuals who are suspected of being illegal citizens. The bill does this by denying public social services, publicly funded health care, and public education to those who's legal citizenship in question. The bill will try to establish who is legal and who is not by interviewing, interrogating, and demanding documents from those who are believed to be illegal.
The proposition was already found to be unconstitutional which is why it is not already a law. The bill states that California schools require all students to have proof that their parents are both legal citizens of the US before enrolling them. Any children whose parents are unable to provide documents of their citizenship will be denied the right to attend school their even if they were born in the US. This clearly go against the United States Constitution which states in the fourteenth amendment that any one born in the US is a citizen of the US and that no country may make a law that abridges or denies that citizens rights. If the bill was passed and became a law, all of the schools who conformed to these procedures would not only be violating the fourteenth amendment, but also the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act costing the schools an estimated 3 billion dollars. Apart from the schools, California as a state would be ineligible to receive federal funds.
