Copyright 1994/The Times Mirror Company
Los Angeles Times
November 6, 1994, Sunday, Home Edition
Both Sides Air Ads on Prop. 187
AD WATCH. Campaign '94. One in an occasional series
PAGE: A-35
TYPE: Series
Both sides of the Proposition 187 debate have been running
ad campaigns about the initiative, which would bar illegal
immigrants from receiving public school education, non-emergency
health care and social services. Taxpayers Against 187 is
running a 30-second TV spot. Two independent groups that support
Proposition 187--the Washington, D.C.-based Federation for
American Immigration Reform, and the Orange County-based
California Coalition for Immigration Reform--are running
60-second radio ads.
* THE AD "AGAINST": As a lengthy list of public officials
and organizations opposing Proposition 187 streams by on the TV
screen, a narrator states that the measure would result in a
crime increase because it would lead to 300,000 youngsters being
kicked "out of school and onto the street." It goes on to say
that the measure also does "nothing to beef up enforcement at
our borders" and would cost California $15 billion. The ad
concludes with a visual of newspaper headlines that refer to
"ties" between Proposition 187 and a white supremacist group.
* THE ANALYSIS: Law enforcement officials including Los
Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block and Los Angeles Police
Chief Willie L. Williams say that Proposition 187 could lead to
increased crime problems. A nonpartisan state legislative
analyst's report has stated that about $15 billion annually in
federal funds for health, social service and educational
programs would be placed at risk by Proposition 187 because it
would breach federal confidentiality requirements. The ad does
not make clear that the loss of funds is only a possibility. The
supremacist headlines refer to allegations made by Taxpayers
Against 187 concerning a link between measure co-author Alan
Nelson, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (known as
FAIR) and the New York-based Pioneer Fund, which has sponsored
research by scientists who have held that blacks are inherently
intellectually inferior to whites. That link, however, is
decidedly tenuous. When Nelson helped write Proposition 187, he
was working as a lobbyist for FAIR, which receives an annual
contribution from the Pioneer Fund.
* THE ADS "FOR": The FAIR ad blasts the campaign tactics of
Taxpayers Against 187, which is run by Woodward & McDowell, a
Burlingame-based professional political consulting firm.
"Taxpayers Against 187 is really a slick Bay Area p.r. firm
hired by government employees and other special interests and
what they want from you, the real taxpayer, is an open-ended
commitment to pay for services that like a magnet attract a
never-ending flow of illegal immigrants to our state," the ad
states. The ad by the California Coalition for Immigration
Reform rebuts charges that the measure would turn teachers and
doctors into immigration agents and that white supremacists are
affiliated with the measure. "The loss of $15 billion in federal
funds is a scare tactic, nothing more," the ad says, according
to a script read to The Times.
* THE ANALYSIS: Taxpayers Against 187, a coalition of
education, health and law enforcement organizations opposed to
the measure, is operated on a day-to-day basis by Woodward &
McDowell. But evidence is mixed concerning whether educational,
health and social services--which are already limited for
undocumented immigrants--drive people to immigrate illegally.
According to many experts, jobs are the leading factor.
Proposition 187 does not specifically call for teachers or
doctors to check on the immigration status of students and
patients. But the measure does require a check of residency
status before people can go to school or be treated in virtually
all hospitals and health clinics. Those reasonably suspected of
being illegal immigrants would be reported to state and federal
authorities.
Copyright 1994/The Times Mirror Company Copyright 1994/The Times
Mirror Company Los Angeles Times
============================================================================
October 27, 1994, Thursday, Valley Edition
Dispute Flares Over Planned Radio Spots for Prop. 187
BYLINE: PAUL FELDMAN; TIMES STAFF WRITER
With less than two weeks remaining before Election Day, the
battle over Proposition 187 continued to heat up Wednesday with
controversy erupting over a planned last-minute pro-187 radio ad
campaign by a national immigration reform organization.
Meanwhile, LAPD Chief Willie L. Williams and a wide range of
Southern California religious leaders issued statements opposing
the sweeping ballot measure, which seeks to eliminate most
government services for illegal immigrants and require
educational, health and law enforcement officials to report
suspects to federal authorities.
The radio flap concerns purchase of ad time by the
Washington-based Federation for American Immigration Reform, a
group known as FAIR that previously had indicated it was making
no financial contributions in support of Proposition 187.
FAIR Executive Director Daniel A. Stein, acknowledging that
the organization has reserved radio time for the last week of
the campaign, said it is doing so only to be able to respond to
recent ads aired by Taxpayers Against 187, a coalition of
organizations opposed to the ballot measure.
But spokesman Joel Maliniak of Taxpayers Against 187, which
made public the pending FAIR radio campaign Tuesday, said that
FAIR officials have "been caught lying with their pants down."
During the campaign, FAIR, whose former Sacramento lobbyist,
Alan Nelson, co-wrote Proposition 187, has come under repeated
attack from the taxpayers group for receiving a portion of its
annual funding from the New York-based Pioneer Fund. The latter
is a group that has also sponsored research by various
scientists, including the late William B. Shockley, who
contended that African Americans are inherently intellectually
inferior to whites.
Citing the indirect link between Nelson and the Pioneer
Fund, Taxpayers Against 187 have charged in their radio ads that
the ballot measure is backed by white supremacists.
Stein said any ads that FAIR now runs would be "to defend
ourselves." Stein, who has previously taken pains to point out
that his organization had nothing to do with the drafting of
Proposition 187, added that his group's ad "may (also) say vote
for 187--it won't say vote against it."
"FAIR has attempted to distance itself from Proposition
187," responded Maliniak. "This latest development completely
contradicts FAIR's denials and leaves absolutely no doubt about
its involvement behind the scenes at the Yes on 187 campaign."
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and other top religious leaders
gathered Wednesday in Los Angeles for a news conference
reaffirming their opposition to the measure.
Copyright 1994/The Times Mirror CompanyCopyright 1994/The Times
Mirror Company Los Angeles Times
===========================================================================
FAIR Executive Director Daniel A. Stein, acknowledging that
the organization has reserved radio time for the last week of
the campaign, said it is doing so only to be able to respond to
recent ads aired by Taxpayers Against 187, a coalition of
organizations opposed to the ballot measure.
But spokesman Joel Maliniak of Taxpayers Against 187, which
made public the pending FAIR radio campaign Tuesday, said that
FAIR officials have "been caught lying with their pants down."
During the campaign, FAIR, whose former Sacramento lobbyist,
Alan Nelson, co-authored Proposition 187, has come under
repeated attack from the taxpayers group for receiving a portion
of its annual funding from the New York-based Pioneer Fund. The
latter is a group that has also sponsored research by various
scientists, including the late William B. Shockley, who
contended that blacks are inherently intellectually inferior to
whites.
Citing the indirect link between Nelson and the Pioneer
Fund, Taxpayers Against 187 have charged in their radio ads that
the ballot measure is backed by white supremacists.
Stein said any ads that FAIR now runs would be "to defend
ourselves." Stein, who has previously taken pains to point out
that his organization had nothing to do with the drafting of
Proposition 187, added that his group's ad "may (also) say vote
for 187--it won't say vote against it."
"FAIR has attempted to distance itself from Proposition
187," responded Maliniak. "This latest development completely
contradicts FAIR's denials and leaves absolutely no doubt about
its involvement behind the scenes at the Yes on 187 campaign."
Copyright 1994/The Times Mirror Company
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