President Trump on Saturday called out California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) over immigration policy, marking further escalation in the dispute between the Trump administration and the Golden State.
Brown signed “sanctuary state” legislation last October in a rebuke of Trump’s increased immigration restrictions. Trump has repeatedly blasted the state as hosting immigrants in the country illegally who commit crimes, a charge he repeated on Saturday.
“Governor Jerry ‘Moonbeam’ Brown pardoned 5 criminal illegal aliens whose crimes include (1) Kidnapping and Robbery (2) Badly beating wife and threatening a crime with intent to terrorize (3) Dealing drugs,” he tweeted. “Is this really what the great people of California want?”
{mosads}
The Trump administration is suing California in a lawsuit filed earlier this month that aims to block the state’s sanctuary laws. The Justice Department charges that the laws are designed to intentionally obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration law.
Brown has called the lawsuit a “political stunt” by the Trump administration.
“This is basically going to war against the state of California, the engine of the American economy. It’s not wise, it’s not right, and it will not stand,” Brown said earlier this month.
Trump’s claims of specific immigrants pardoned by Brown appear to be based on information from Fox News, which he tagged in the tweet.
Brown granted pre-Easter pardons to five immigrants facing possible deportation on Friday, according to The Sacramento Bee. The governor’s office said a majority of the immigrants, who had all been convinced of crimes, were responsible for drug-related or other nonviolent crimes.
But The Sacramento Bee reported that the five pardoned convicts included one convicted for spousal abuse; another for kidnapping, robbery and using a firearm; another for vehicle theft and two for possession of a controlled substance for sale.
The nickname “Moonbeam” refers to a jibe from Brown’s past. It was coined by a Chicago columnist named Mike Royko, who in 1976 dismissed Brown’s appeal to young and overly idealistic voters.
California is also challenging Trump policies on global warming and emissions standards for cars.