It’s never been more evident how spectacularly out of touch with everyday Californians the Democrats in Sacramento are these days.
Case in point: the issue of “sanctuary cities.”
Across the entire political spectrum, most Californians strongly oppose “sanctuary city” policies. Yet those policies are currently being pushed and expanded by elected Democrats.
Last fall, a poll was released by the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley. The poll found that opposition to sanctuary policies “comes from strong majorities in both major political parties and among independent voters, and crosses other demographic categories.
“Almost two out of three Latinos said they oppose such policies.” Apparently, the Democrats are unaware of this poll.
Democrats appear surprised that President Donald Trump is keeping his campaign promise to end “sanctuary cities” across the nation.
If they ever bothered to poke their heads out of the liberal bubble in Sacramento, they wouldn’t be surprised, though, since candidate Trump campaigned consistently on exactly this immigration issue.
In September 2016, even the left-leaning CNN reported candidate Trump as saying he would “block funding for sanctuary cities … no more funding.”
“We will end the sanctuary cities that have resulted in so many needless deaths,” Trump said in Phoenix. “Cities that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities will not receive taxpayer dollars, and we will work with Congress to pass legislation to protect those jurisdictions that do assist federal authorities.”
Only those deliberately out of touch could’ve missed Trump’s meaning here.
So when, late last month, now-President Donald Trump put the nation’s “sanctuary cities” on notice, declaring they will no longer be permitted to willfully violate federal immigration laws without consequence, why were the Democrats so taken off guard?
The answer is they are out of touch with Californians and the rest of America.
President Trump’s executive order denies federal grant monies to all cities designated sanctuaries for those illegally in the U.S.
It also requires the DHS to compile a weekly list of all crimes committed by illegal immigrants, including crimes committed by illegal immigrant criminals released back into “sanctuary cities.”
One would think this would be a good thing cheered by all on both sides of the political spectrum. After all, upholding the U.S. Constitution and, in turn, U.S. law is something all legislators are sworn to do, right?
Wrong. As if on cue, Sacramento Democrats flipped their collective wigs.
The resultant flurry of partisan Democrat-backed bills like SB54, SB6, and AB3 doubled-down on sanctuary policies. These bills provide illegal immigrants with legal services, further shielding from deportation, training for immigration attorneys, and tie the hands of law enforcement regarding reporting criminal illegal immigrants to ICE.
And, as usual, all of these “provisions” come at the expense of the taxpayers – the very same taxpayers who oppose “sanctuary cities” and the policies related to them.
Not to be outdone in the doubling down and out-of-touch departments, top California Democrat and Gov. Jerry Brown also chimed in on President Trump’s order during his State of the State Address, saying, “We may be called upon to defend those laws (that violate federal law), and defend them we will.”
Here’s where we should ask ourselves this question: Why, knowing the majority of California citizens oppose these policies, are the Sacramento Democrats so set on defying federal law?
Is it because illegal immigrants — non-citizens — are somehow more worthy of hard-earned taxpayer monies than the actual citizen taxpayers who toiled to create that money?
No.
Is it because a state’s wishes now override federal laws simply because Democrats say they do?
No, that’s not it because after all, Republican and Democrats alike still take the oath to “bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the state of California” when they are sworn into office.
So why? What’s to gain from defying federal law and the will of Californians?
As usual, the answer comes down to money and power. Democrats lost in November and they still can’t believe it. They are desperate to maintain power any way they can.
The law matters little to them – unless it’s being used to cudgel the Republicans into submission.
What about the citizens? Democrats would do well to remember the California Constitution states: “Government is instituted for the protection, security, and benefit” of its people — the citizens — not illegal immigrants and not power-hungry Democrats.
And those same citizens can and will remove them from office.
Gwendolyn Sims is a project manager at a social media organization and a Santa Clarita resident of nearly 20 years.
