Power from the Past

Memory Work Research Initiative

Alto Prop 187

Alto Prop 187
A photo taken from within a janitors union march shows participants lifting a large banner over their heads at a march against Prop. 187 in May, 1994. SEIU-USWW (Justice for Janitors) Collection, IRLE Archives.

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On May 28, 1994, Justice for Janitors organized a “March and Rally for the Respect and Dignity of Immigrant Rights” in Boyle Heights. The march coincided with the announcement that an extreme anti-immigrant proposition, Prop 187, would appear on the November ballot. Members gathered to defend immigrants’ “right to live in peace with justice!”

A group of marchers from the Justice for Janitors look on as a Korean musician performs.
Korean music performance at the Alto 187 march in May, 1994.

The campaign to prevent the passage of Proposition 187 marked an important moment of convergence for the labor movement and the immigrant rights movement in Southern California. As captured above, it brought together diasporic communities from across the region in defense of immigrants. Reflecting that convergence, Justice for Janitors chose to stage its march in Boyle Heights, often referred to as the “Ellis Island of the West” because it had been home to immigrants from all over the world in the early 20th century.

protestors dragging a dummy with a sign reading "Pete El Buey"
Protestors carry a dummy dressed in suit with a sign that read “Pete El buey” (lit. Pete [Wilson] the ox or fool) at a march against Prop 187 in 1994.

Although efforts to prevent the passage of Prop 187 were unsuccessful, the act was never enforced and later declared to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Images from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Service Workers West (USWW) records, circa 1935-2008 (LSC.1940), UCLA Library Special Collections.