California kicked off its new legislative term in a special session on Monday focused on making plans to thwart President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda.
Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom convened the special session and wants the state legislature to approve a $25 million legal defense fund for the state’s justice department. The goal of the fund would be to “Trump-proof” the state against legal challenges from the Trump administration.
“The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle. California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond. We are prepared, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians have the support and resources they need to thrive,” Newsom said in a statement last month announcing the special session.
Several of the policies that California Democrats want “Trump-proofed” include rules that block local and state authorities from working with federal immigration enforcement, as well as rules on California’s strict standards for vehicle emissions, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
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California’s Democrats have banded together to promote resisting Trump. Sen. Alex Padilla appeared on CBS News on Sunday to tout Newsom’s approach to immigration. Padilla said that California would spend taxpayer funds providing legal services for illegal immigrants.
“If it’s legal assistance, legal advice, legal support, that’s just the California way. We embrace our diversity. Our diversity is what has made our communities thrive and our economy thrive. And so we will assist families against the threats of the Trump administration,” Padilla said.
Padilla suggested that the state would fight any attempt to deport illegal aliens who were not considered to be “violent criminals.”
“If we wanted to sort of cut to the chase, you know, we’re hearing a lot of bombast from Trump and his allies about the biggest deportation operation in our country’s history, on the one hand, versus a – maybe a focus on violent criminals on the other,” he said. “Nobody – nobody disagrees with a focus on violent criminals.”
Trump tore into Newsom last month after the governor began to call for passing new laws aimed at thwarting Trump’s agenda and tying up federal action in court. The president-elect said in a post on Truth Social that Newsom and other California Democrats are driving residents out of the state through “INSANE POLICY DECISIONS.”
“Governor Gavin Newscum is trying to KILL our Nation’s beautiful California. For the first time ever, more people are leaving than are coming in,” Trump said in the post. “He is using the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again,’ but I just overwhelmingly won the Election.”
