It's a bit more then that. It's the state equivalent of "You will #RESIST or else." Have you ever stopped and asked yourself "Why do California's politicians protect illegals with such gusto?" They don't pay taxes. Supposedly they don't vote. They take away jobs from citizens. They are a negative drain on the state's coffers through public education, health benefits, housing benefits, and food benefits. So what is in it for the politicians to fight tooth and nail for a demographic that is costing the state billions of dollars a year in taxpayer money? Are the politicians doing out of altruism? Probably not. Yet California keeps electing officials that follow this line of thinking. Why? I'm starting to think it might be best if California did follow through on their threats and leave the union if they only want to follow the laws they like. They can take their "7th largest economy in the world" and go make their way in the world. We'll see how well that economy is when the water, electricity and oil are cut off, the military bases closed, and all government contracts shut down. It's not like the state has more people living in poverty already then Mississippi or anywhere else in the country. Oh, wait....
There's a reason California secession was pushed by Russia: California is far weaker without the United States, and the United States is far weaker without California. I tire of this "let them fall into the sea" fantasy that Red America has, as if California is anything but a massive net benefit to the rest of the country.
I agree with that. But at the same time, why do California politicians keep flippantly giving the finger to the federal government and the nation's laws that they don't like? Yes, other states do it too, but California takes it over the top with their rhetoric and laws. Why is that?
Probably because of the aforementioned "let them fall into the sea" rhetoric. California is so used to be the target of Conservative ire that they no longer hesitate to hit back. Add to that that they're the largest and most powerful Blue state, it's often a matter of raw ability that leading the charge falls to them. For example California vehicle emission standards get the auto industry to sit up and take notice in a way that I doubt Delaware's would. New York, the other large powerful Blue state, acts similarly.
You know what? I lived in California when I was a kid before I moved to Idaho. Everyone hated me because I came from California. It didn't take me long to figure out why....it seems that even back then Californians had a smug attitude that they knew better then everyone else and that the rest of the country should fall in line with their superior way of thinking. Californians moved into my hometown by the thousands and completely changed everything so it more closely resembled where they moved from then the place they moved to. So yes, I'm a bit biased against Californians. Perhaps if the whole country adopted California's policies we would be a better place. Every state would thumb their nose at federal laws they don't like and just do as they please. Illegal immigrants would be a protected species and not subject to the laws, but be allowed all the benefits of citizenship with none of the responsibilities.
It’s probably more due to the fact that congressional representation is doled out based on census counts that don’t take into account citizenship status. They may not be able to vote but they can add what 10-15 seats to congress regardless? You think republicans are the only ones playing long ball in the gerrymandering game? They are protecting their power base flat out with sanctuary cities it has nothing to do with compassion. It’s not though leadership at all, at all. Fuck California.
Prop 187 was declared illegal in Federal Court. Rightfully so in my opinion if you agree that immigration is the responsibility of the Federal Government, not states.
Legally, yes, they're counted. I would bet a lot of money that they are underrepresented in the totals though. Maybe it's different in California, but most of them here keep a very low profile and distrust anyone who appears to have authority. Also, the idea that they don't pay taxes is not true. If they're using a fake or duplicate SSN to work for a company, taxes are being withheld from their checks. Most of them would be eligible to get almost all of that money back, but they never file a return to get the refund. If they're being paid in cash, then there's really no difference because white guys don't report their cash earnings either. Do any of you actually know any illegal immigrants?
That’s also social security fraud. The only time is isn’t is when someone unknowningly uses the wrong one. And let’s be honest, they’re not just using someone else’s SSN to pay taxes.
So the tax income is being generated and paid by people who legally can never benefit from it. Glad we can finally put that myth to bed.
Of course it is. The IRS admitted that its happening and is encouraged. They get in millions of dollars in revenue with no accounting of where its actually coming from because the cross-references of SSNs dont match up.
Ya'll are overthinking this. California likes the status quo, and illegal immigrants are part of the current status quo. We've done a poor job of keeping people out of the country for... pretty much ever, and at this point there are millions of people who have been here for five, ten, twenty, forty years who are technically illegal. These people work jobs, pick crops, rent apartments, and are in general entwined with the rest of us. Disentangling them would be a large cumbersome process that California sees no particular need to undertake, especially given that Trump's priorities and platform exist to appease racists in parts of the country that are 99% white to begin with, not to actually make any sane structural change to America's relationship with immigration.
So, a progressive state believe the status quo is the best answer? What about the larger issue of controlling immigration moving forward? Does the state see any value there?
Probably? The popular narrative on the right is that the Democrats are some hippie free love open borders folk, but that's hardly true. No Democrat has sought to defund the border patrol, or 10x the number of visas or remove all vetting of refugees, or any other policy that would go along with zero desire to control immigration. Obama even took heat from latino groups for his deportations.
My thought is, from talking to my more conservative friends, (who actually share a lot in common with Democrats from my perspective) is that without immigration control in place - universal healthcare, free college and all the other giveaways are non-starters because it could quite easily turn into an open-ended bonanza with the way things stand now.
True, although the truth of Obama’s deportation numbers is that they are mostly BS. His administration changed the definition of “deportation” to include a much wider range of actions like just turning someone away at the border, denying visas, etc to juke up the numbers. They weren’t deported anymore than someone getting a free bandaid received healthcare. But to your point, you can’t deport millions of people. But you can deport the felons and make the process for citizenship easier for everyone else. Give em 2 years to apply. Make it mandatory. If they don’t apply, they receive no benefits. I don’t think that’s unreasonable.
Are you really trying to say people that are more conservative than you would be ok with universal health care and free college if we just got rid of the illegals? Most of my conservative friends are against anything that uses taxes to benefit anyone other than them.
I'm saying that they disregard any serious discussion of these issues, as any thinking person should, in light of there being no control in place to limit the through-put on the systems that could potentially be made available. I'm also saying that both sides are unrealistic in their expectations of reality; we need to do a better job of taking care of people but we also have to do a better job of cost-control.
Another school shooting. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/2...t-held/ar-AAv4asx?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=mailsignout