California Governor Jerry Brown “welcomed” President Donald Trump to the Golden State by releasing a letter he sent to him on Monday, declaring that California’s vision for America was one of “bridges, not walls.”
On Tuesday, President Trump will arrive to inspect the border wall prototypes being built near San Diego; to speak to Marines at the Miramar base; and to attend a Republican fundraiser in Beverly Hills.
The visit comes in the midst of clashes between the state and the federal government over immigration policy and other issues.
Brown and his government have led the “resistance” to the Trump administration’s policies, suing it dozens of times. Last week, the Trump administration turned the tables, suing the State of California over its “sanctuary state” laws.
The letter from Brown reads:
March 12, 2018
The Honorable Donald J. Trump
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500Dear President Trump,
When George W. Bush first set foot in California as President, he reminded the country why the largest state in the union matters, stating: “For decades, California has been the place where the future happens first. Your continuing success is essential to the success of our national economy.”
That is as true today as it was then. And the Golden State – the sixth largest economy in the world – is thriving. California added almost 3 million jobs since the recovery began.
But our prosperity is not built on isolation. Quite the opposite. California thrives because we welcome immigrants and innovators from across the globe.
President Harry S. Truman certainly recognized this when he used his first trip to California as President to witness the signing of the charter establishing the United Nations in San Francisco on June 26, 1945. So did President Lyndon B. Johnson, who met with the President of Mexico, in February 1964 during his first stop in California as President.
You see, in California we are focusing on bridges, not walls. And that’s more than just a figure of speech.
After you’ve examined your wall prototypes on the border, I invite you to head north to the Central Valley – the heart of California. Here in cities like Fresno and Madera more than a dozen bridges and viaducts are being built for the nation’s first and only High-Speed Rail line. We are already putting 1,700 Americans to work.
You have lamented that “we don’t have one fast train” in our country. Well, Mr. President, in California we are trying to fix that. We have a world-class train system under construction. We invite you to come aboard and truly “Make America Great Again.”
Respectfully,
Edmund G. Brown Jr.
Last week, Joseph D’Hippolito recalled in the Wall Street Journal how Brown led opposition to Vietnamese refugees settling in California in the 1970s.
Brown also joked in March 2016 that if Trump won the election, he would build a wall around California.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named to Forward’s 50 “most influential” Jews in 2017. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.