Welfare Benefits for Immigrants. California's Proposition 187 in 1994 set off renewed
national debate debate over immigration. Placed on the ballot by citizen initiative, Proposition
187 denied public education, nonemergency health care, and social service benefits to illegal
aliens in that state. Following a highly spirited and well-publicized contest over the initiative, California voters approved it by a solid 59 to 41 percent. However, the Fourteenth
Amendment declares that no state shall"deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Federal courts quickly overturned most of the provisions of provisions 187.
The Fence. The United States has attempted to stem the tide of iltegal immigration by
U"iiai"g .200-mile securiry fence along poitions of its border with Mexico. U.S--Mexican
bo.de. !*t .d,
"ppro*i.o^..ty
2,000 rn',io, ,o a 700-miles fence leaves open most of the border
area. Th. f..r.e, ho*"l..., is directed at sectors of frequent crossing' The fence. is conffoversial:
Americans are equally divided over it (fivot 49 Percent, oPPose 48 percent)''