This is California: The Battle of 187 Los Angeles Times

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In the fall of 2019, reporter Faith E. Pinho received a tip from a woman named Paulina Stevens. Paulina claimed she had grown up in an insular Romani community in California, where she was raised to be a wife, mother and fortuneteller — until she decided to break away. That first call unraveled a story spanning multiple continents, hundreds of years, and complex metaphysical realities.

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If you’ve listened to the first three parts of this podcast, you know former California governor Pete Wilson played a big role in setting the stage for Proposition 187. We tried to arrange an interview with him for months. And the day The Battle of 187 got released, we finally got a date on the calendar. So here’s a special bonus episode of our podcast, in which host Gustavo Arellano asks Wilson questions that have been bothering him forever. Like, who created that crazy “They Keep Coming” ad? And did undocumented families like Gustavo’s ruin California?

To learn more, go to latimes.com/thisiscalifornia.

Just one day after the 1994 election, federal and state lawsuits are filed claiming 187 is unconstitutional. And though 187 finally dies for good in 1999, Latinos in California never forget it. Prop 187 inspired more Latinos than ever before to register to vote and to run for office in California. Now, 25 years after 187 passed, the Golden State's bluer than indigo. Host Gustavo Arellano ends our series with a last lingering question: Given President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, will we experience another 187 on a national scale? Produced in collaboration with Futuro Studios.

To learn more, go to latimes.com/thisiscalifornia.

In June 1994, 187 gets enough signatures to qualify for the California ballot. Proponents get support for the ballot measure through a new tagline: Save Our State. Latinos see 187 as an existential threat, so they organize school walk-outs and a march in Downtown Los Angeles. But undecided voters see the Mexican flags waved at the march as an invasion come to life. In November 1994, 187 passes and Governor Pete Wilson is reelected. Produced in collaboration with Futuro Studios.

To learn more go to latimes.com/thisiscalifornia.

Host Gustavo Arellano learns how Prop 187 was born 25 years ago, and talks to the pair of Orange County political consultants who helped write it. We learn what California looked like in 1993 and how the then governor of California, Pete Wilson, attached himself to Prop 187. Issues around immigration are beginning to set the tone for a huge political debate in California. Produced in collaboration with Futuro Studios.

To learn more, go to latimes.com/thisiscalifornia.