A group of California’s top Democratic lawmakers on Thursday introduced a bill targeting 2016 presidential candidates Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) after Trump made controversial comments about illegal immigrants from Mexico, and Cruz defended him.
The resolution notes, in part:
Resolved, That the Senate condemns in the strongest terms possible the racist rhetoric against immigrant families made by Presidential candidate Ted Cruz; and be it further
Resolved, That the Senate condemns in the strongest terms possible the racist rhetoric against immigrant families made by Presidential candidate Donald Trump; and be it further
Resolved, That the Senate calls upon the State of California to divest from Donald Trump, The Trump Organization, and any affiliated entities; and be it further
Resolved, That the Senate calls upon private businesses and individuals throughout California to end all business ties with Donald Trump, The Trump Organization, and any affiliated entities; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
“The state of California will not stand for this type of racist rhetoric and racist behavior. Today we stand and call upon the state of California to dump Trump!” Sen. Isadore Hall III (D-Compton), who co-authored the resolution (SR 39), said outside of the Senate chambers, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Echoing Sen. Hall’s sentiment, Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de León reportedly said Trump’s “vitriolic language denigrates the experiences of my family.” De León was born to an immigrant mother and is a staunch supporter of immigration reform. He was one of the major Democratic voices behind the introduction of a package of ten bills on immigration reform designed to expand benefits granted to illegal aliens in California. One of the bills would create an “Office of New Americans” geared towards teaching immigrants how to navigate their way through the system.
Senate Republican leader Bob Huff (R-San Dimas) reportedly issued a statement to the Times noting that although Trump’s comments were “offensive,” Senate Resolution 39 was not necessary.
Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) reportedly used California’s divestment from South Africa’s apartheid government decades ago as a precedent for the anti-Trump, anti-Cruz legislation, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Trump’s remarks were as follows: .
When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.
The introduction of SR 39 comes just days after the shooting death of San Franciso’s Kathryn Steinle by a five-time deportee and seven-time convicted felon from Mexico, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez.
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