"When it was challenged it was the governor's responsibility to defend it," he said. "(Gray Davis) refused to discharge that responsibility. I intend to see that Proposition 187 does have its full, fair hearing in court, and the best way to do that is to begin to enforce it.
"I will use every power available to the governor to see that our immigration laws are enforced," he added.
That includes pressuring the federal government to secure the borders, vetoing legislation (supported by Davis) that would allow illegal aliens to get California driver's licenses, and seeking to reverse a law that allows illegal aliens to pay highly subsidized in-state tuition rates at California state colleges.
A thoughtful man of measured words, McClintock is well suited to confront the implication that opposition to illegal immigration is anti-Latino. "(T)he most damaging thing about illegal immigration," he says, "is that it undermines the process of legal immigration accompanied by assimilation that is a strength of our nation, and in fact its foundation."
"There are millions of Latino families who have obeyed our immigration laws and come to our nation legally with the express purpose of becoming Americans and seeing their children succeed and prosper as Americans," he said. ". . . It is unfair to all of those from around the world who have stood in line to obey our laws to grant preference to those who have cut in line in front of them."
As a nation of immigrants, Americans are brought together by shared values that transcend ethnicity. The strategy of the Bustamante Democrats of imputing "hate" to those who supported Prop 187 was aimed at winning the power to govern a state by dividing it. The approach now being reclaimed by Tom McClintock and other California Republicans is aimed at uniting the state again. Given the overwhelming popularity of Prop 187, it's not a bad place to start.