Wilson

We must decide whether an applicant for intervention seeking to participate in the trial litigation surrounding California’s Proposition 187 may do so.

I

On November 8, 1994, the California electorate enacted Proposition 187 by a 59% to 41% margin. In passing Proposition 187, the People of California “found and declared that they had suffered ... economic hardship caused by the presence of illegal aliens in th[e] state” and that they had “suffered ... personal injury and damage by the criminal conduct of illegal aliens in th[e] state.” Californians thus “declare[d] their intention to provide for cooperation between their agencies of state and local government with the federal government, and to establish a system of required notification by and between such agencies to prevent illegal aliens in the United States from receiving benefits or public services in the State of California.” The various substantive sections of Proposition 187 reflect that intention: sections 2 and 3 criminalize the manufacture, distribution, sale, and use of false citizenship or resident alien documents; sections 4 and 9 mandate the full cooperation of both State law enforcement agencies and the State…