In a surprising turn of events, Democratic legislators in California abruptly postponed a vote on a high-profile $50 million initiative aimed at countering President Donald Trump's policies.
The vote, which was scheduled for Thursday, was put on hold with no clear indication of when it would be resumed. This unexpected delay came as Republicans threatened to instigate a public debate on an amendment that would prevent the funds from being utilized to shield illegal immigrants with felony convictions from deportation.
According to The Washington Free Beacon, the state assembly was poised to approve $50 million in taxpayer funds on Thursday morning. Governor Gavin Newsom (D.) was to divide this sum equally between the California Department of Justice and various nonprofits. The $25 million allocated for the Department of Justice was intended to finance lawsuits against Trump's policies, while the remaining $25 million was to support nonprofit legal services, including deportation defenses for illegal immigrants.
However, shortly after the Democrats convened, they called an unexpected recess and held a closed-door meeting for nearly an hour before adjourning for the week. Assembly speaker Robert Rivas's spokeswoman did not respond to inquiries about what transpired but provided a printed statement given to reporters in the state capitol. "In the Assembly, we are going to look closely at the special session legal defense bills to ensure they are airtight and protect all Californians," the statement read.
Before the scheduled floor debate, Republican assembly members planned to compel their Democratic colleagues to vote on four proposed amendments. Assemblywoman Leticia Castillo intended to introduce an amendment that would have prohibited any legal aid money from funding the deportation defenses for illegal aliens with felony convictions, as per assembly minority leader James Gallagher's office.
During a Monday hearing on the $50 million plan, assemblyman Bill Essayli (R.) repeatedly pressed Newsom administration officials and legislative staffers for guarantees that no taxpayer money would protect convicted felons. They were unable to provide such assurances.
On Thursday, two sources informed KCRA that Newsom himself requested the legislature to modify the legislation to clarify that the money would not fund legal assistance for illegal immigrants with felony convictions. A Newsom spokesman did not address these claims in a statement to the Free Beacon, stating only that the governor "will take action on these measures when they reach his desk."
"Its becoming harder and harder to see how they could get a win out of this," a Republican aide told the Free Beacon.
Newsom announced his intention to call the special session two days after the November election, instructing the legislature to develop a resistance plan. During Trumps first term, California sued the presidents administration 123 times at a cost of about $41 million, according to a CalMatters analysis.
Both Newsom and Democratic lawmakers aimed to have the money appropriated and at the governors disposal before Trumps Jan. 20 inauguration. However, shortly after legislators reconvened in early January, wildfires began ravaging Los Angeles in the costliest disaster in U.S. history.
Republicans in the legislature urged Democrats to abandon the special session on Trump and concentrate on wildfire relief instead. Essayli wrote a letter to Newsom, who was already under fire for the states failure to protect against wildfires, asking him to abandon his "Trump-proofing" plans for a special session to address the wildfires.
Despite this, Democratic leaders did not postpone their hearings until flames threatened the assembly budget committee chairs district. Newsom then requested lawmakers for $2.5 billion in wildfire relief aid, which they approved last week before returning to their anti-Trump funding.
Under the current plan, the legislature would allocate some $10 million for the California Department of Social Services to fund nonprofit grants or contracts for immigration legal services and removal defense. The department last year disbursed $37 million in grants to pro-migration nonprofits like Al Otro Lado, Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, and Chinese for Affirmative Action, the Free Beacon has reported.
An additional $5 million would be directed to the nonprofit California Access to Justice Commission to expand its grants to legal aid groups. The commissions top-funded nonprofits have included the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, which works to release detained illegal immigrants, and Centro Legal de la Raza, a nonprofit firm that sues to fight detention of illegal immigrants as well as landlords and employers over alleged violations.
Another $10 million, earmarked for the California State Bars Legal Services Trust-Fund Commission, could also assist illegal immigrants. The legislature has designated this money for legal services for indigent people at risk of detention, deportation, eviction, wage theft, and more.
The commission already sends money to pro-immigration nonprofits like the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at UC Law San Francisco, Al Otro Lado, and the LGBT Asylum Project in San Francisco, which says its clients come to the citys Castro District, a gay tourism hub, "to find a sanctuary."
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