California is at it again; they’re defying the federal government in its efforts for immigration control. The newest development is a proposed bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to serve on state and local boards. Senate Bill 174, authored by Democratic Sen. Ricardo Lara, allows illegal aliens over the age of 18 to be appointed to and serve on civic boards and to be paid.
The legislation is a rewrite of an older bill and a replacement of an 1872 law, which Lara said was written to ban Chinese immigrants at the time. Lara’s intent with the bill is to make all Californians, regardless of citizenship, equal, according to the Sacramento Bee.
“California is stronger when we utilize talents of all our residents, and opening state and local boards and commissions to every Californian will allow us to better serve our diverse communities," Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens and the bill's author, said in a statement. “Undocumented Californians are our neighbors, co-workers and parents, and as lawmakers we can’t make good policy if their voices are left out of the discussion."
The problem is, they are not true Californians or American citizens. They are here illegally and should not have the ability to hold such significant appointments or to potentially change laws - and get paid for it.
Residents without legal documentation of citizenship are prohibited by federal law from seeking salaried positions, yet Lara’s bill would allow just that. This is just another in a long line of defiant actions against the Trump Administration and the regulation of immigration. According to the Bee, Lara said, “immigrants granted work authorization under the federal Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals program would be eligible for pay.”
How can state officials not see this as a blatant rebellion against the federal government? How can they not understand that this is illegal? Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen explains it quite well:
"If you enter our country illegally, you have broken the law and will be referred for prosecution. If you make a false immigration claim, you have broken the law and will be referred for prosecution. If you assist or coach an individual in making a false immigration claim, you have broken the law and will be referred for prosecution."
But we all know the Golden State isn’t one to shy away from ruffling the federal government’s powerful feathers. In fact, officials there seem to thrive when they are at odds with the president. The state is already engaged in a lawsuit filed against them by the government for their sanctuary status, which restricts local and state law enforcement from aiding in immigration control. The Department of Justice is looking into filing charges against Oakland Mayor Libby Schaff for he tweet warning about an upcoming ICE raid that allowed hundreds of criminal aliens to escape capture. Lizbeth Mateo, an undocumented immigrant who was rejected from DACA by Obama in 2013 for illegally entering the country, was just appointed to a state post. And Lara recently authored another bill that, if approved, would allow undocumented immigrants to receive health care benefits under their parents’ insurance until the age of 26 – paid for by the taxpayers, of course.
The signs are all there. California officials are determined to separate themselves from the government, regardless of what it means for their constituents. The Golden State is on a downward spiral into becoming a separate country, with no help from ICE to control its massive droves of criminal immigrants.
