Exploring the Recent History of U.S. Immigration Backlashes | Full Report | Retro Report on PBS
Summary
TLDRThe video script explores the contentious history of immigration in the United States, highlighting the parallels between the Trump era's policies and the anti-immigration sentiment of the 1990s, exemplified by California's Proposition 187. It discusses the economic and demographic shifts that fueled public anger, leading to policies aimed at curbing immigration. Despite its failure in courts, Proposition 187 influenced national immigration policy and catalyzed a surge in Latino political engagement, ultimately contributing to California's transformation into a liberal, immigrant-friendly state.
Takeaways
- 🏛️ The Trump era's immigration policies, such as building a border wall and separating migrant children from their parents, echo the anti-immigration sentiment of the 1990s.
- 🌊 The 1990s backlash started in California with concerns over undocumented immigrants crossing the border, leading to the term 'Banzai Dash'.
- 📉 California's recession during the 1990s led to a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, as immigrants were blamed for job losses.
- 📜 Proposition 187 was a ballot initiative aimed at denying government benefits to undocumented immigrants, reflecting public anger.
- 🏥 The initiative was criticized as immoral and racist, with opponents arguing it unfairly targeted innocent children and essential workers.
- 🗳️ Proposition 187's passage led to a surge in Latino citizenship applications and voter registrations, impacting California's political landscape.
- 🌐 The proposition's influence extended beyond California, contributing to a nationwide crackdown on immigration in the mid-90s.
- 🚔 Calls for stricter immigration enforcement, including border barriers and expedited deportations, grew during this period.
- 🏢 The Clinton administration responded to Proposition 187 by increasing immigration enforcement efforts.
- 🔄 The demographic shift in California, with a decrease in white working-class voters and an increase in immigrant voters, turned the state increasingly blue.
- 🔄 The current harsher approach to immigration by the Trump administration has parallels to the sentiments of Proposition 187.
Q & A
What were the key issues that highlighted divisions during the Trump era regarding immigration?
-The key issues included the fight over building a border wall, policies that separated migrant children from their parents, and the harsh rhetoric from the President.
How does the anti-immigration rhetoric from the Trump era relate to the backlash from 25 years ago?
-The anti-immigration rhetoric from the Trump era contains echoes of another anti-immigration backlash from the 1990s, which was marked by similar sentiments and proposals, such as building a security fence and deporting illegal aliens.
What was the 'Banzai Dash' and how did it contribute to the immigration debate in California?
-The 'Banzai Dash' referred to the phenomenon where large groups of undocumented immigrants would rush across the border at night, overwhelming border guards. This contributed to the immigration debate by highlighting the perceived lack of control over the border.
Why were immigrants blamed for California's economic downturn in the 1990s?
-Immigrants were blamed for the economic downturn primarily because they were seen as taking jobs and using social services during a period when there was a loss of manufacturing jobs and high unemployment.
What was Proposition 187, and what was its intended purpose?
-Proposition 187 was a ballot initiative aimed at denying government benefits to undocumented immigrants. Its purpose was to make California an unfriendly place for illegal immigrants, hoping to deter more from coming and encourage those already there to leave.
How did Proposition 187 influence the political landscape in California?
-Proposition 187 led to a surge in citizenship applications and new registered Latino voters, which eventually contributed to a shift in the political landscape, making California more liberal and immigrant-friendly.
What was the outcome of Proposition 187 in terms of its implementation?
-Proposition 187 was passed by a landslide but was never implemented because courts ruled that only the federal government can regulate immigration.
How did the implementation of Proposition 187 influence national immigration policy?
-Even though Proposition 187 never went into effect, it fueled a nationwide crackdown on immigration, leading to increased calls for border barriers, expedited deportations, and local police enforcement of immigration law.
What role did the Clinton Administration play in the immigration policy changes following Proposition 187?
-The Clinton Administration responded to the sentiment expressed by Proposition 187 by increasing immigration enforcement efforts, including hiring more border guards and deporting more criminal aliens.
How has the demographic shift in California contributed to its political leaning?
-The demographic shift in California, characterized by a mass exodus of white working-class voters and an influx of younger, poorer immigrant voters, has contributed to the state becoming one of the bluest in the Union.
What are the parallels between the immigration debates of the 1990s and those of the Trump era?
-The parallels include the economic insecurity, demographic changes, and the use of immigration as a political issue. Both periods saw harsh rhetoric, proposals for stricter immigration controls, and a focus on border security.
Outlines
🚨 Immigration and the Rise of Anti-Immigrant Sentiment
This paragraph discusses the contentious issue of immigration during the Trump era, highlighting the building of a border wall, policies that separated migrant children from their parents, and the President's harsh rhetoric. It draws a parallel to a similar anti-immigration backlash from the 1990s, starting in California. The script describes the 'Banzai Dash', where large groups of undocumented immigrants would rush across the border at night. The economic recession in California led to a misplaced blame on immigrants for job losses. The situation led to the creation of Proposition 187, a ballot initiative aimed at denying government benefits to undocumented immigrants, which was supported by then-Governor Pete Wilson. The paragraph also touches on the personal impact of these policies on citizens like Kevin de Leon, whose mother was an immigrant, and the broader societal effects, including the rise of anti-Proposition 187 marches.
🗳️ The Political and Demographic Shifts Post-Proposition 187
The second paragraph delves into the aftermath of Proposition 187's passage and its failure to be implemented due to court rulings. It discusses the surge in citizenship applications and voter registrations among Latinos in California, leading to a significant demographic and political shift. Kevin de Leon's political journey, from being a community organizer against Proposition 187 to becoming the first Latino President of the State Senate, is highlighted. The paragraph also explores how California transformed into one of the most immigrant-friendly states, influenced by the rise of the Latino vote and the departure of white working-class voters. The nationwide impact of Proposition 187 is examined, noting how it spurred a broader crackdown on immigration in the mid-90s, including increased enforcement efforts by the Clinton administration. The narrative concludes with reflections on the current harsher approach to immigration by the Trump administration, drawing connections to the economic insecurity and demographic changes that echo the sentiments of the 1990s.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Immigration
💡Border Wall
💡Undocumented Immigrants
💡Proposition 187
💡Deportation
💡Immigration Enforcement
💡Asylum
💡Demographic Shift
💡Economic Insecurity
💡Rhetoric
💡Humanitarian Crisis
Highlights
Immigration issues have been a significant division during the Trump era, including border wall disputes and policies separating migrant children from their parents.
The anti-immigration rhetoric has historical echoes from a backlash 25 years ago.
In the 1990s, California experienced a surge in anger over immigration, starting with the 'Banzai Dash' where large groups would rush across the border.
During a recession, undocumented immigrants were blamed for job losses in California.
Citizens groups, upset over undocumented immigrants using social services, led to the creation of Proposition 187.
Proposition 187 aimed to deny government benefits to undocumented immigrants, making California unfriendly for illegal residents.
Proposition 187 was deemed extreme and faced criticism for unfairly targeting immigrants.
Despite its popularity, Proposition 187 was never implemented due to court rulings.
The proposition sparked a surge in citizenship applications and new Latino voter registrations in California.
Proposition 187 influenced a nationwide immigration crackdown in the mid-90s.
The Clinton Administration increased immigration enforcement efforts in response to Proposition 187.
Calls for stricter immigration measures, including border barriers and local police enforcement, grew after Proposition 187.
Immigration issues have remained divisive post-2016 election, with echoes of Proposition 187's sentiments.
The Trump Administration has taken a harsher approach to immigration, including family detention policies.
California's experience post-Proposition 187 suggests unpredictability in the outcomes of current immigration policies.
The demographic shift in California, influenced by Proposition 187, has contributed to the state becoming more liberal and immigrant-friendly.
The long-term impact of Proposition 187 includes a rise in the Latino vote and a mass exodus of white working-class voters.
Transcripts
- Perhaps no issue highlights the divisions
of the Trump era more than immigration.
Whether it's the fight over building a border wall,
policies that separate migrant children
from their parents, or the harsh
rhetoric coming from the President.
- But while it might seem new, that rhetoric
contains echos of another anti-immigration
backlash from 25 years ago.
- Our country is out of control.
People are pouring across the southern border.
- Indiscriminate floods of illegals across our borders.
- Day one of my presidency, they're getting out.
- Deport every illegal alien
in the United States immediately.
(crowd chants "build that wall")
- I will build a security fence
and we will seal the border of this country.
- I was badly criticized for using the word invasion.
It's an invasion.
- [Female Host] The 1990s were a time
of building anger over immigration.
And it started in a place that might surprise you.
California.
- [Reporter] Illegal immigration is a
serious problem in California.
- [FH] Undocumented immigrants
coming across the border were concerning
to Peter Nunez, a former federal
prosecutor who lived in San Diego.
- Every night the groups would gather
on the Mexican side waiting for the sun to go down.
And they would gather by the hundreds if not the thousands.
And at a certain point the groups
just charged across the border.
- [Reporter] It's been dubbed the Banzai Dash.
Human waves overwhelm border guards
and race into California.
- The number of border patrol agents was totally inadequate.
So it was totally out of control.
- [FH] California was in the middle of a recession.
And while the downturn was primarily
from the loss of manufacturing jobs,
immigrants quickly got the blame.
- [Reporter] Groups worried and angry about
the impact of rampant immigration are multiplying.
- People are losing their jobs left and right
and they felt this was because of the influx
of illegals coming and taking their jobs.
- [FH] Robert Kiley was a political consultant.
He and his wife started working with grassroots
citizens groups who were angry that
undocumented immigrants were using
taxpayer-funded social services.
- When they went to the hospital, to the emergency,
they were full of people there
that weren't from this country.
They were illegals, they were
getting medical services free.
Schools were being impacted, cities were being impacted.
- [FH] The Kileys helped come up with Proposition 187.
A ballot initiative that would deny
government benefits to undocumented immigrants.
Peter Nunez became an early supporter.
- The ideas was let's make California
an unfriendly place for people who were here illegally.
With hope that no more would come
and that those that were here would leave.
- [Reporter] Their children would be
kicked out of public schools.
Educators and health care workers
would be required to report anyone
they suspect of being illegal.
- [FH] It was considered an extreme idea
by democrats and some republicans who said
it would unfairly target immigrants
for the state's economic trouble.
- The immigrants that were coming here
were doing jobs that nobody wanted to do.
They were farm workers, they were,
people were janitors or maids.
- [Reporter] Opponents labeled
Proposition 187 immoral and racist.
- Taking innocent children and throwing them
out on the streets, that that somehow is gonna solve
our illegal immigration problem, is simply filaceous.
- People thought it wasn't really
gonna have much of a chance.
But it turned out it hit a nerve.
- [Reporter] More than 600,000 Californians
have signed petitions calling for a halt
to services illegal residents receive.
- And then it got picked up by the politicians.
- [FH] Republican Governor Pete Wilson,
who was in a tight race for reelection,
threw his campaign behind Prop 187.
- [Reporter] Governor Pete Wilson asking the state
with the highest unemployment to give him a second term.
Wilson says don't blame him, blame illegal immigrants.
- [Narrator] The federal government won't stop them
at the border, yet requires us to pay
millions to take care of them.
- [FH] Wilson's campaign ad felt like
a personal attack to Kevin de Leon
even though he was a citizen.
His mother had come to California
illegally before becoming a legal resident.
- It was something that was deeply personal
because I witnessed my mother, I witnessed
my aunts who worked their fingers to the bone.
Who helped build this economy.
- [Reporter] For Hispanics, the largest
immigrant group in the state,
it had become a highly emotional issue.
- The politicians were scapegoating,
demonizing, looking for someone to blame.
That's not the America that I know.
- [FH] De Leon didn't have much experience in politics,
but he helped organize anti-prop 187 marches.
- And they all brought Mexican flags.
Boy that ticked off a lot of people.
That polarized the issue.
Polarized it.
Are you for it or against it?
- The tensions just hit a fever pitch.
As a young Latino I felt unease I think
for the first time in my own city.
My own country, my own state where I grew up.
- Yes to 187!
Time to get out!
- Prop 187 was an expression of unhappiness
with a community that was rapidly
becoming less and less white.
There was a kind of anxiety, anger,
rejection out there in the country.
- [FH] Proposition 187 and Pete Wilson won
in a landslide, but the courts ruled that only
the federal government can regulate immigration.
And Prop 187 never went into effect.
- What happened almost immediately after
is a surge of citizenship applications
and of people saying they were gonna vote.
A million new registered voters
who were Latino in California.
- I thought for the very first time
perhaps we have to run for office.
Enough with the demonization, enough with the scapegoating.
We want to be full-fledged Americans,
we wanna have our voices heard.
We wanna have a say.
- [FH] Kevin de Leon did run for office,
and 20 years after Prop 187, he became the first
Latino President of the State Senate in more than a century.
- My story should not be the exception.
My story should be the rule.
- [FH] Before leaving office in 2018,
he and other Latino politicians helped
make California one of the most liberal
and immigrant friendly states in the country.
A change fueled by a long term
demographic shift in the state.
- It's not just the rise of the Latino vote
that has turned California so blue.
From the mid-1990s up until the early part
of this decade, there's a mass exodus
of white working class voters.
They went to surrounding states.
They were being replaced by younger,
poorer immigrant voters, and that combined,
that mix, is what has made California
the bluest state in the Union.
- [FH] But Proposition 187 had an impact beyond California.
Even though it never went into effect,
it added fuel to an immigration crackdown
that spread across the country in the mid-90s.
- [Reporter] It was Prop 187 that began
the anti-immigration fever, a fever
which has now spread to Washington.
- Immigration went to the top of the agenda.
The Clinton Administration started ratcheting up
immigration enforcement efforts because they were
scared to death of what Prop 187 symbolized.
- [FH] Calls for additional border barriers,
expedited deportations, and for local police
to enforce immigration law, started to grow.
And it was a democrat who signed those ideas into law.
- That's why our administration has moved
aggressively to secure our borders more
by hiring a record number of new border guards.
By deporting twice as many criminal aliens as ever before.
- It was a really fundamental change in the way
the federal government goes about
enforcing immigration policy.
And created the basis for the large scale
removals that we've experienced in this country.
- We'll build the wall, but who's gonna pay for the wall?
- [Rally] Mexico!
- Who?
- [FH] Since the 2016 election,
immigration has divided much of the country.
And there were echos of Proposition 187.
From the anger.
- Go back to Mexico!
- [FH] To the rhetoric.
- They come over to the border.
They have the baby in the United States.
We now take care of that baby.
Social security, Medicare, education.
Give me a break.
- It's this mix of economic insecurity
combined with dramatic changes in our demography.
We're seeing the story replay itself.
- [FH] Today the Trump Administration is taking
a harsher approach to immigration.
- [Reporter] President Trump has decided
to slash the US refugee program almost in half.
- [FH] New policies have expanded the categories
for immigrants targeted for deportation.
They've also made it harder to apply
for asylum and enacted aggressive
family detention policies at the border.
- [Reporter] Lawyers say hundreds of migrant children
were forced to sleep on the floor
for weeks without enough food.
- [FH] But California's experience
in the years since Proposition 187
suggests that it's hard to predict
what the current crackdown will lead to.
- They're not gonna realize what seeds were being planted.
It's never a simple story of a melting pot,
and it's not a simple story of they're taking over.
It's this constant struggle between feelings of being
threatened and trying to create a larger community.
I think 187 was a signpost on that.
(dramatic atmosphere music)
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