President Donald Trump praised San Diego County on Thursday for defying California’s “sanctuary state” laws, and criticized Governor Jerry Brown for insisting that 400 National Guard troops deployed in the state not be used to enforce immigration laws.
“Thank you San Diego County for defending the rule of law and supporting our lawsuit against California’s illegal and unconstitutional ‘Sanctuary’ policies,” Trump tweeted on Thursday morning.
Thank you San Diego County for defending the rule of law and supporting our lawsuit against California’s illegal and unconstitutional ‘Sanctuary’ policies. California’s dangerous policies release violent criminals back into our communities, putting all Americans at risk.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 19, 2018
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 on Tuesday to join a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit against three of the state’s “sanctuary” laws — the Immigrant Worker Protection Act (HB 450), the Inspection and Review of Facilities Housing Federal Detainees law (AB 103); and the California Values Act (SB 54).
San Diego joined roughly a dozen other local governments in Southern California, including Orange County, in opposing the state’s new “sanctuary” laws.
On Tuesday, Gov. Brown blamed “low-life politicians” for stoking public opposition to the laws. On Wednesday, Trump hailed the “Revolution” in California against the “sanctuary state.”
In addition, Trump attacked Brown on Thursday morning and insisted that the federal government would not pay for a National Guard mission that did not improve border security:
Governor Jerry Brown announced he will deploy “up to 400 National Guard Troops” to do nothing. The crime rate in California is high enough, and the Federal Government will not be paying for Governor Brown’s charade. We need border security and action, not words!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 19, 2018
On Wednesday, Gov. Brown’s office announced a deal with the federal government under which some of the 400 National Guard troops would be deployed to the border. The troops “will not enforce immigration laws or participate in the construction of any new border barrier,” the governor’s office said, adding that it had agreed to the deployment “after securing the federal government’s commitment this week to fund the mission.”
But Trump’s tweet suggested that the federal government would not fund the mission, which in turn suggests that the mission may still be in doubt.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named to Forward’s 50 “most influential” Jews in 2017. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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