California Not Down With Trump's Plan Of 'First I'll Come For The Immigrants'

Bears repeating

La resistance is already starting to come together even before Donald Trump has appointed an Imperial Groom of the Stool yet, as indicated by California's cool reception to Trump's plan to deport two to three million immigrants in his first days in office. As Politico notes, the amorphous campaign promise is still a long way from becoming an actual plan, because finding and deporting millions of human beings is in reality a lot harder than saying it and getting cheers at a campaign rally, if you can believe that. House Speaker Paul Ryan is too busy creaming his pants over the prospect of privatizing Medicare, and said Sunday Congress is "not planning on erecting a deportation force. Donald Trump's not planning on that."

But the Great Man Himself said on CBS's 60 Minutes he intends to immediately deport 2 million to 3 million "criminal" immigrants, which may be a difficult trick, since the actual number of undocumented immigrants who've committed crimes is more like 820,000, according to the Migration Policy Institute (A frequently-cited "2 million" estimate includes legal residents and people on visas -- i.e., legal immigrants who have committed some crime or another.) So rounding up 2-3 million "criminals" is going to be a bit of a challenge -- particularly since of those 820,000, the convictions break down to about 300,000 felony convictions, and another 390,000 serious misdemeanors, leaving quite a few who may have to be deported for, say, pouring a foundation without a building permit.

In any case, California Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León has already said no, the deportation force the House isn't funding (yet) had better not plan on rounding up Californians, because de León still has a nostalgic attachment to such pre-11/9 follies as "due process" and "rights of the accused." In a statement released Sunday, de León writes:  

Since Tuesday's election, California's leaders have hoped and prayed for the best but prepared for the worst - and, today, President-elect Trump confirmed some of our worst fears.

It is erroneous and profoundly irresponsible to suggest that up to three million undocumented immigrants living in America are dangerous criminals - and threatening to immediately deport them only exacerbates the unprecedented angst and anger currently dividing our American community. It also appears to be a thinly-veiled pretense for a catastrophic policy of mass deportation that will tear apart families and weaken our economy. I implore President-elect Trump to reconsider and retract his preposterous statement.

Oh, there you go with your "math" and "accurate statistics" when America is in a round-em-up-and-put-em-in-boxcars mood. Why are you defending the millions of criminal aliens Trump really believes are out there? De León insists California is still committed to the sad outmoded values of the Old Republic:

I also want to assure the millions of people who are here pursuing and contributing to the California Dream, but lack documentation, that the State of California stands squarely behind you. State leaders will defend your due process rights and aggressively avail ourselves of any and all tools to prevent an unconscionable over-reach by a Trump administration in California. We will protect our people and prosperity.

It's not yet clear whether Sen. de León has been targeted by the Trump administration for deportation, even though he is a citizen. You really can't be too careful with these people. At the very least, he is likely to be sent a lot of angry Pepe the Frog images, which ought to teach him his place. Also, California should prepare to have its federal funding cut off; Mr Trump will probably relocate the state's Naval bases to someplace more loyal, like Kansas.

[ Politico / Kevin de León / MPI via WaPo / "We Bare Bears" flag by IEPH at DeviantArt ]