Ballot initiatives and the national debate on immigration

Abstract

Proposition 187 voted by Californians in 1994 was the first in a long series of ballot initiatives proposed by other states limiting access to welfare programs and education to illegal immigrants. Local initiatives and referendums on sensitive political issues, such as illegal immigration, their economic consequences in states and on the disengagement of the federal government have influenced the shaping of future federal legislation and policy formulation. As of 1996 new laws related to immigration and access to welfare benefits followed the main guidelines of Proposition 187; since the 9-11 attacks national security has become the main axis of immigration laws. Recent ballot initiatives have reinforced the perception of the immigrant as a national and cultural danger as Arizona’s Proposition 103 and the English Only Movement did in 2006.