Becerra’s big DACA day + Kamala’s decline + Capitol annex upgrades
Top of the Tuesday morning to you, California. Here’s a fun tool for you that The Sacramento Bee built – How liberal or conservative is your community? Search every California city here.
DACA
It’s a big day for California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the more than 700,000 “Dreamers” with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status.
Oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court are scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. PT, during which Becerra’s office will have 20 minutes to make the case in support of the program. He’ll speak on behalf of a coalition of 21 attorneys general.
“More than two years ago we sued the Trump administration, telling Dreamers we would fight for them every step of the way,” Becerra said in a statement. “Today, alongside partners from across the country, we make good on that promise again, this time before our nation’s highest court. Today, for the Dreamers who contribute as first responders, teachers, entrepreneurs, and so much more, we remind America that the president acted unlawfully to end DACA. And we stand with the overwhelming majority of Americans who agree that Dreamers should be here to stay.”
- President Donald Trump sent shock waves through the nation in 2017 when he announced he’d end the program, which protects undocumented residents from deportation. The move to rescind the Obama-era initiative was done alongside a handful of other tough-on-immigration policies, including the “zero-tolerance” family separation effort in 2018 and the so-called “Muslim ban” introduced soon after he took office.
“I do not favor punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents,” Trump said in a statement on the day he announced the rollback. “But we must also recognize that we are nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws.”
The president blamed his predecessor for circumnavigating Congress to create the program. He said that while he’d end DACA with “heart and compassion,” he also said “unemployed, struggling, and forgotten Americans” deserve that kind of support.
- However, the program is largely backed by the American public. Nearly nine in 10 Americans are against deporting the recipients.
- There are nearly 700,000 DACA recipients, many of whom came when they were very young and have no familiarity with their home country. About 200,000 live in California.
- According to Becerra’s office, an average DACA recipient has lived in the U.S. for 20 years. They are estimated to pay nearly $9 billion in federal, state and local taxes.
Becerra is backed by Janet Napolitano, the president of the University of California and former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. During her tenure in the Obama administration, Napolitano established the program, and the university system was the first to sue the federal government for rescinding DACA.
Becerra is scheduled to hold a presser around 9 a.m. this morning, which can be watched here.
YIKES
Via Bryan Anderson
Things keeps getting worse for California Sen. Kamala Harris.
Harris, who was once in the top tier of the 2020 pack this summer, now finds herself with her lowest level of support to date. According to a poll of likely Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire released Monday by Quinnipiac University, just 1 percent of respondents plan to vote for her.
Meanwhile, Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard came in at 6 percent – her strongest showing in any qualifying poll. Harris joins Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro at the bottom of the field.
In Iowa and New Hampshire, the nation’s two earliest voting states, a top tier of four candidates has formed. Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren are leading the field, followed closely by Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.
Harris’s campaign has recently decided to go “all-in on Iowa” by pulling out staff members from New Hampshire and California. The California senator has already qualified for the Dec. 19 debate in Los Angeles and will hope to give her campaign a boost with a strong performance at the Nov. 20 debate in Georgia.
REALLY OLD BUT KINDA NEW
It’s not a secret that the California Capitol annex is a bit...run down.
The floors don’t match those on the rotunda side of the building. There’s an asbestos issue. Outdated technology and plumbing plagues the staff. And the annex is hardly a disability-friendly structure. In fact, it violates the Americans with Disabilities Act building standards.
For these reasons and then some, the Legislature approved a costly project last year that would gut or tear down the east wing of the Capitol to make room for an upgraded model. A temporary building for legislative and executive staff to move to is under construction and expected to be completed by November 2021, after which a new annex can be worked on.
But that hasn’t stopped legislators from requesting and receiving more than $195,000 in upgrades to their offices.
The list of improvements since last year ranged from a $548 paint “touch up” in the office of state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, to a $10,555.00 carpet renovation for Sen. Connie Leyva, a Democrat from Chino. Others received larger paint upgrades, complete carpet repair and modest remodeling, according to invoice reports obtained by The Sacramento Bee.
“We have an obligation to have a presentable, clean, and safe work space for our employees – and for the public who frequent our Capitol – so continued maintenance and upkeep of both the historical and Annex side of the building remains important,” said Erika Contreras, secretary of the Senate. “The new building that is currently under construction will not be finished for several years, so we do need to continue to do repairs as needed.”
Read more about the renovations here.
Editing note: A previous version of this section misstated that the Annex is attached to the west side of the building. It is to the east.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“How about we give them a tough smart woman to vote for?”
— Presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren, responding on Monday to a voter’s question on how to get men to cast a ballot for a female candidate.
Best of The Bee:
- California changed its rules on college athlete pay. Now White House looking into it by Brian Murphy and Francesca Chambers
- ‘Second Chance PD.’ One California town’s history of hiring cops with troubling pasts by Laurence Du Sault and Katey Rusch
Words just aren’t Trump’s ‘thing,’ Tom McClintock says as he prepares to fight impeachment by David Lightman
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 4:55 AM.