Civil rights leader vows to deface border sign
The Arizona Republic, June 23, 1998
By Ruben Navarrette Jr.
The sweltering desert terrain surrounding the Arizona-California border might get even hotter Saturday during a showdown over a billboard that offers this greeting to Arizona motorists: "Welcome to California, the illegal immigration state. Don't let this happen to your state."
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The billboard, near Blythe, Calif., west of the state line on Interstate 10, is sponsored by a group called the California Coalition for Immigration Reform.
The message has outraged a prominent veteran of the Hispanic civil rights movement.
"This billboard is a public nuisance and an affront to Mexican people," said attorney Mario Obledo from his law offices in Sacramento.
Obledo, who considers the billboard "racist and divisive," has vowed to deface or destroy it Saturday afternoon.
At 66, Obledo remains one the nation's most revered Hispanic political figures. A former president of the League of Latin American Citizens and 1982 candidate for California governor, Obledo is no stranger to political causes.
And the billboard's message comes at a time when portions of California's Hispanic population feel victimized by ballot initiatives in three successive elections.
In 1994, California voters approved Proposition 187, which denied education, health benefits and social services to illegal immigrants. In 1996, voters approved Proposition 209, which eliminated state-sponsored racial preferences. Earlier this month, they approved Proposition 227, which eliminates bilingual education for California students.
"Hispanics in California are a people under assault," said Obledo, now president of the California Coalition of Hispanic Organizations.
The Huntington Beach-based California Coalition for Immigration Reform could not be reached for comment. An answering-machine message at the group's headquarters describes the billboard as the "next step in halting the takeover of (California) by illegal aliens."
A group representative has said its members are prepared to meet Obledo and his supporters at the state line to protect the billboard.
That has law enforcement officials in California bracing for a possible physical confrontation between the two groups, something that could be more likely if tempers flare amid weekend temperatures that could reach 110 degrees.
Central to the billboard's message is the assumption that illegal immigration has harmed California and will do the same to other states.
Obledo disagreed, citing California and Texas as examples of states that absorb high numbers of immigrants and still thrive economically.
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