On November 2, 1998, WLF filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, urging the court to uphold Proposition 187, the initiative adopted by California voters in 1994 to prevent illegal aliens in the State from receiving public social service, health, and education benefits. WLF argued that the federal district judge who has enjoined enforcement of Proposition 187 for the past four years has grossly exceeded her constitutional powers. WLF argued that a State has a strong interest in ensuring that its tax dollars are reserved for those legally present in the State, and that it has every right to enforce measures designed to protect that interest. WLF argued that it is nonsensical to argue, as do the plaintiffs, that Proposition 187 somehow conflicts with federal law when Congress has passed measures designed to accomplish the same objectives.
