State of Affairs is your weekly peek at politics in the Golden State. This week:
The OC continues their resistance to the resistance
Chants of "USA" clashed with "The people, united, will never be divided" ahead of a board meeting in the OC Tuesday. County officials voted to join a federal lawsuit against California and its "sanctuary laws." Now President Trump is calling them brave.
My Administration stands in solidarity with the brave citizens in Orange County defending their rights against California's illegal and unconstitutional Sanctuary policies. California's Sanctuary laws....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2018
One expert says the decision could loom large in this year's mid-term election:
I think this is going to define the Congressional races in Orange County and possibly in San Diego.
You could argue this debate helps both sides — both Republicans and Democrats. Republicans have been pushing the gas tax as a way to mobilize. It hasn't really done very much for them, just as the tax plan hasn't helped Republicans nationally. But the immigration one is a live wire in the Republican party, and this may get people to the polls.
On the other hand, just as Proposition 187 mobilized Democrats and the immigration community and liberals in general, bringing Donald Trump more visibly in probably doesn't do Orange County Republicans a big favor. On balance, he may do more for Democratic turnout.
- Raphe Sonnenschein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State L.A.
Non-census?
"Arbitrary and capricious." California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has some strong words in response to the Trump administration's plans to add a citizenship question in the 2020 census. Becerra says the Census Bureau is "well aware" that it could lead to an undercount in California. He filed a lawsuit Monday.
The #Trump Administration's #Census2020 move is expected to significantly impact #California, esepcially. And as I shared with @EJDionne, the move was simply arbitrary and caprious: https://t.co/K0WqoIUlKA #CitizenshipQuestion
— Archive - Attorney General Becerra (@AGBecerra) March 29, 2018
Also featured in this segment:
Carla Marinucci, senior editor for Politico's California Playbook