Two-way bilingual immersion programs are noteworthy within the context of US public education because, in them, the children of immigrants are essential assets. Language-minority and English-speaking pupils are grouped together, starting in kindergarten or earlier and extending at least through grade five, with a goal of bilingual proficiency and biliteracy for all. This paper explores two-way immersion educators' and parents' responses to California Proposition 227, which severely restricted bilingual education. Given this obstacle, what has motivated the maintenance and further initiation of two-way bilingual immersion? And to what ends? Answers hinge on varied institutional climates at the school district level and parent-teacher activism towards the goal of truly multicultural education. Proposition 227 was a disastrous move, but dedicated educators, parents and communities have been proactive in creating two-way bilingual programs to help maintain bilingual education in a way that benefits all students. (Contains 8 notes.)