A group of Latino lawmakers in California are seeking to reverse a string of anti-immigrant laws in an effort to gain more rights for immigrants in the state. 

Monday marks 20 years since Proposition 187 was passed in California, the law that barred undocumented immigrants from receiving education and health care, in addition to other public services. California voters approved the law, which required doctors, teachers and others to report people who were suspected of being undocumented immigrants. 

The measure, which has mostly been struck down as unconstitutional, was approved by 59 percent of California voters in 1994, according to The Los Angeles Times. 

While the law was passed two decades ago, it still conjures up feelings of resentment among California Latinos, especially in light of the immigration reform showdown continuing in Washington. 

Two years later, Proposition 209 was approved, banning affirmative action in college admissions and public hiring, and Proposition 227 passed in 1998, barring bilingual education in public schools. Proposition 227 passed with 61 percent of the vote. 

"It was a litany. It didn't let up," Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), told The Los Angeles Times about the numerous anti-immigrant laws. "lt just became not OK, in the eyes of far too many Californians, to even be Latino." 

A group of legislators is now seeking to change the anti-immigrant laws that prompted many of them to pursue politics. 

Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the Latino Legislative Caucus, is one of the lawmakers working to reverse anti-immigrant legislation. While the laws were detrimental to California's immigrants, the passage of the blatantly anti-immigrant laws prompted Latinos to become more civically engaged. 

Latinos have since become the largest ethnic group in California, as well as in the legislature. 

"It was 187 — I cannot overemphasize — that unified the community," Antonia Hernández, former leader of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, told The Los Angeles Times. 

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said that the Republican proposition backfired, and aligned Latinos with the Democratic Party. 

Lara says there is a "full circle" feeling in revisiting the legislation now that Latinos are more active in politics, and now that Latinos have substantially more electoral influence. 

Lara, whose parents are not legal citizens, said the proposal felt like a "blatant, direct attack" on his family and other families with undocumented immigrants. 

However, others say revisiting old laws to gain political influence could backfire, and could even alienate some voters. 

Pete Wilson, the former Republican governor of California who led the Proposition 187 campaign, denied allegations that the law is racist. 

"They are playing the race card and trying to intimidate people who had the spunk and the logic to protest against Washington, D.C., and Mexico City, who had been quite content to allow state taxpayers to be stuck with the cost of federally mandated services to illegal immigrants," Wilson told The Los Angeles Times. "Frankly, it's beneath contempt."

Nevertheless, Sen. Kevin De León (D-Los Angeles), the incoming Senate leader who led a rally in downtown Los Angeles in 1994 to protest the proposition, is now seeking to strip the remaining language of Proposition 187 from the state code. 

He said, according to The LA Times, that it's time to "erase its stain from our books."

Sen. Ed Hernandez (D- West Covina) is also working to repeal parts of Proposition 209 to allow affirmative action for college admissions, and Lara is seeking to remove portions of Prop. 227 to allow more access to multilingual educational programs. Both bills, if passed by the legislature, would need to be approved in 2016 by California voters. 

"These are policies that Californians have had to live with for 20 years, and we think the voters should be given an opportunity to revisit them," Hernandez told The LA Times. 

While some GOP members believe that Latino lawmakers should focus more on the economic issues facing the Latino community, some Republicans, like assemblymen Rocky Chávez (R-Oceanside), said he would vote down Prop. 187. 

"It shouldn't be there," he told the Times. "It was wrong."

While most immigrants support changes to the laws, not all immigrant populations could benefit from the amendments. Many Asian Americans pushed back against Hernandez's measure earlier this year, fearing that Asian American students will not be admitted to as many colleges if affirmative action is allowed in the state. 

Former UC regent Ward Connerly, who backed Prop. 209, said efforts to repeal portions of the bill will not succeed. 

"Our side will argue they are opening the door to discrimination," he said. "And racial discrimination is abhorrent to most Californians."

Yet, Republicans in the state may want to reach out to more Latino voters, as 55 percent of Latino voters in the country are Democrats, and only 17 percent are Republican. 

De León, who expects most Latinos to vote Democratically, said there will not be a backlash against the repeals because "California has come a long way."