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| Assemblyman David Chiu addresses protestors in Sacramento. |
NO ONE should be surprised at the latest salvo from Attorney General Jeff Sessions against the State of California. The tension between the state and the Donald Trump administration has been simmering for a long time.
California and the Trump administration have long been on a collision course since Trump announced his candidacy for president by describing Mexican immigrants as drug dealers and criminals, mocking Asian political and business leaders with a sterotypical accent and attacking Hollywood entertainment celebrities and liberal San Francisco.
"California, we have a problem," said Sessions in front an audience of law enforcement officials. The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit, he told the California Peace Officers Association, to undo the California Values Act, three so-called sanctuary laws that the state's legislature passed last year in response to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement measures.
The lawsuit argues that California lacks the authority to impede cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts. It reads:
This lawsuit challenges three California statutes that reflect a deliberate effort by California to obstruct the United States’ enforcement of federal immigration law, to regulate private entities that seek to cooperate with federal authorities consistent with their obligations under federal law, and to impede consultation and communication between federal and state law enforcement officials.
Only a quarter of the audience gave him a standing ovation after his speech.
“This is basically going to war against the state of California,” said Gov. Jerry Brown. “This is pure red meat for the base … The Trump administration is full of liars.”
U,S. Senator Kamala Harris, whose parents are immigrants, called the DOJ's suit hypocritical.
“It’s hypocrisy at its height. Again, I think there’s a distraction in that they’re trying to suggest that this is about the constitution when in fact, what they’re doing is playing politics,” she said. “They’re playing politics and they’re playing politics with California.”
“It’s hypocrisy at its height. Again, I think there’s a distraction in that they’re trying to suggest that this is about the constitution when in fact, what they’re doing is playing politics,” she said. “They’re playing politics and they’re playing politics with California.”
“Trump and Sessions think they can bully California -- but it won't work,” Harris said in a tweet.
Gubernatorial candidate State Treasurer John Chiang said, “California refuses to be a cog in Donald Trump’s deportation machine, and we will not tolerate these attacks on our communities,” he said. “This isn’t just a stand against the administration. This is a statement of values.”
Several state legislators addressed the demonstrators outside the Capitol protesting Sessions' presence and the administration's immigration policies.
"Attorney General Sessions' publicity stunt to sue California will not deter leaders in our state from standing up for our immigrant communities. California will continue to protect our families and defend our values," said Assemblymember Davie Chiu, D-SF.
"As a former prosecutor, I know sanctuary policies make us safer. When immigrants feel comfortable reporting crimes to police and testifying as witnesses in court, our communities are safer."
Assemblyman Rob Bonta, the first Filipino/American legislator in California tweeted:
Congressman Ted Lieu of southern California added:
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - California (Advancing Justice - CA) issues the following statement in response:
“Our large and diverse immigrant communities are essential to the fabric of our great state. California is home to 2.6 million undocumented immigrants, 417,000 of whom are Asian American. Studies have shown that jurisdictions with Sanctuary policies are safer and more economically prosperous than non-sanctuary jurisdictions. Immigrants help California thrive.
The Trump administration has been obsessive in their attack and scapegoating of immigrants," says the AAAJ statement, "fueled by hate, xenophobia, and racism. But the Constitution is clear: the federal government cannot commandeer California’s resources to carry out deportations.
“It is very clear that Donald Trump has California in the crosshairs,” said state Sen. Kevin de León (D), the state Senate president pro tem.
This is partly because Trump's animosity towards California goes way beyond immigration. The state represents to Trump supporters: environmental regulations and gun control, it's at the center of the LGBTQ movement and tech innovation, the state has the largest immigrant population in the country and to top it off, somehow California is the envy of the rest of the country with the country that is the seventh largest economy in the world.
Perhaps most galling to Trump, California has been the center of the political resistance to Trump since he was a candidate. Trump received just 31.6 percent of the vote in California in 2016, lower than any Republican presidential nominee in history. The state has sued and the GOP's attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
It should be very interesting when Trump visits California next week, his first visit since he was elected. He reportedly will avoid the San Francisco Bay Area, a hotbed of anti-Trump sentiment, and spend most of his time in Southern California.
At the Sacramento rally, Assemblymember Chiu asked, “Are we ready to resist, to defend our state?”
“Mr. Trump, Mr. Sessions, we are America, we are California, and we will be here long after you are gone,” said Chiu, himself the child of immigrants and the author of one of the bills that Sessions is suing California over.
At the Sacramento rally, Assemblymember Chiu asked, “Are we ready to resist, to defend our state?”
“Mr. Trump, Mr. Sessions, we are America, we are California, and we will be here long after you are gone,” said Chiu, himself the child of immigrants and the author of one of the bills that Sessions is suing California over.
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