New ‘Calexit’ Plan for Liberal Secession Gives Inland California to Native Americans

Advocates for California’s secession from the Union are pushing a new “Calexit” plan — one that involves turning the inland, and more conservative, part of the state into a new Native American nation.

The effort is the third attempt by the “Yes California” group, and comes just weeks after the California Supreme Court ruled that another effort by Silicon Valley billionaire Tim Draper to split the state into three was unconstitutional, even though it had collected enough signatures to qualify for the 2018 ballot.

The new plan would create a new nation out of the coastal, liberal portion of California, with an autonomous Native American portion in the eastern half of the state, based largely on federal land parcels in that portion of the state.

“The plan is to retrocede virtually all federally-owned properties in California back to its original occupants, the California Native Americans,” the group said in a press statement.

San Diego’s local ABC affiliate, 10News, adds: “The latest proposal asks voters about secession in 2020. If the longshot initiative passed, a second election would be held a year later that asks voters to affirm the action.”

The “Yes California” group tweeted details of its plan on Wednesday:

Let us Introduce the First-ever Autonomous Native American Nation in North America  – https://t.co/dcZ8UHJpux pic.twitter.com/SEpHfTbGxZ

— #Calexit Campaign (@YesCalifornia) August 1, 2018

We have begun a national conversation about retroceding land back to Native Americans. Our map doesn’t have to be THE map but we are excited to open a dialogue with Native Americans about how to right (some of) the wrongs committed against them throughout American history.

— #Calexit Campaign (@YesCalifornia) August 1, 2018

The map is based off of the current location of federal property in California. We didn’t arbitrarily draw lines. And we’ve said it before so we’ll say it again: our map does not have to be THE map. But our map has started the conversation of returning land to Native Americans. https://t.co/3NKCny4bn4

— #Calexit Campaign (@YesCalifornia) August 1, 2018

The Los Angeles Times notes: “There have been more than 200 efforts to cut up California since 1849 — and all have failed” (original link). It adds that while “California is home to the largest Native American population in the country, and there are more than 100 federally recognized tribes in the state,” the secessionist group “has not ‘officially’ communicated with representatives from tribal nations in California, but plans to start soon.

The secessionist group’s primary pitch is to left-wing Californians who are disgruntled with the results of the 2016 election. Previous efforts by the same organization were tarnished by suspicions of Russian support.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.