CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / PROPOSITION 187 : Foes Launch Radio Ad Campaign

Opponents of Proposition 187 launched their radio advertising campaign Tuesday, airing a tough 60-second spot charging that the anti-illegal immigration ballot measure would lead to increased crime and is being backed by white supremacists.

Sponsors of the initiative responded in interviews that the white supremacist allegation is ludicrous and potentially libelous. Furthermore, they said, it is racist on the part of opponents to declare that the crime rate would increase if young illegal immigrants are expelled from school.

The Taxpayers Against 187 ad says the measure, which would bar illegal immigrants from receiving most government services and would require educators and health care officials to report suspects to federal immigration authorities, would result in “300,000 kids out of school . . . and onto our streets, and that means more crime.” The ad, running statewide, concludes that news accounts “show white supremacists are behind 187.”

However, the supremacist charge is not backed by any further information in the ad, and at a Los Angeles news conference Tuesday, opponents of the measure acknowledged that they were not referring to the authors or main financial backers of Proposition 187. They said they were referring to an organization with no known direct links to the initiative’s sponsors.

Karen Kapler, campaign manager for the anti-187 coalition, said the reference was to a New York-based organization, Pioneer Fund, which has provided annual grants to the Federation for American Immigration Reform as well as to scientific researchers including the late William B. Shockley, who claimed that blacks are inherently intellectually inferior to whites.

Trying to show a link between the Pioneer Fund and Proposition 187, Kapler said one of the initiative’s authors, former federal immigration chief Alan C. Nelson, helped pen the ballot measure while he was working as a Sacramento lobbyist for FAIR last year.

“Trace the trail down,” Kapler said. “I think it’s a legitimate thing to be raised. Is there kind of a convergence of ideas and thoughts?”

Nelson reacted angrily, saying he has no ties to the Pioneer Fund, which, as far as he knows, is not led by white supremacists anyway. “This shows how desperate the other side is,” Nelson said. “The voters aren’t being fooled by those kind of allegations.”

He added that opponents of the measure are guilty of racism for painting a picture of anarchy in the streets once illegal immigrant children are expelled from public schools and colleges.

“If we said that kids will be on the street and will get involved in crime and most are Hispanic, we’d be accused of racism or anti-ethnic behavior. Here, the opponents are saying these kids, a big percentage of whom are Hispanic, will be on the street and get involved in crime. They are the ones that should be accused of anti-ethnic behavior.”

Pioneer Fund President Harry Weyher has denied that his organization believes in white supremacy.

Proposition 187 co-author Harold Ezell termed the ad “a total lie.”

“They’re reaching to that goofy Pioneer Fund connection with FAIR, and FAIR had zero to do with this initiative,” said the former western regional immigration chief. “Nelson was a part-time consultant to FAIR and I sure didn’t call him to join in with us (in writing Proposition 187) because of that. I called him because I worked for him for seven years.”

Political observers were mixed at the import and possible impact of the radio ad.

Prof. Bruce Cain of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley said the linking of white supremacists to Proposition 187 “is probably a non sequitur.” But he added that it could prove effective because “the opposition strategy is to create doubts and negatives in people’s minds.”

Sherry Bebitch Jeffe of the Center for Politics and Economics at Claremont Graduate School disagreed. “Simple mudslinging without the perception of some corroboration isn’t working as well as it might have once,” she said.

The anti-187 coalition, which last week reported having $250,000 cash on hand but $125,000 in debts, would not say how long the ad would run. Kapler said the coalition is still trying to raise enough funds to advertise on television.

Proponents of 187 have yet to run any radio or TV ads and last week reported a campaign debt of $276,000.