SACRAMENTO, CA – California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed laws Friday setting aside $50 million to help the state protect its policies from challenges by the Trump administration and defend immigrants amid the president’s mass-deportation plans, reported CBS News.
The bills, as CBS News explained, will establish “$25 million for the state Department of Justice to fight legal battles against the federal government, and $25 million in part for legal groups to defend immigrants facing possible deportation.”
Since Trump’s previous administration, CBS News reports that “the same fights are reemerging in the early days of Trump’s second term,” citing the current president’s “climate laws, water policy, immigrant rights.”
Following his election as president, CBS reported that “Newsom expanded a special session to ‘Trump-proof’ California values by calling on legislators to also prioritize the Southern California wildfire response,” which involved signing a “$2.5 billion package for fire relief into law last month to help fund the state’s disaster response including evacuations, sheltering survivors and removing household hazardous waste.”
According to CBS News, Republican lawmakers have criticized the lawsuit funding, claiming that the focus on Trump is “distracting as the Los Angeles area recovers from the fires.”
Republican Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones charged, “This slush fund isn’t about solving any real problems—it’s a political stunt designed to distract from the urgent issues our state faces, and it won’t bode well for fire victims.”
Other issues, according to CBS News, include “critics have also said the legislation doesn’t ensure that funding wouldn’t be used to defend immigrants without legal status who have been convicted of serious felonies.”
According to CBS, Newsom stated that “the money wasn’t intended to be used for that purpose,” and urged lawmakers to pass additional legislation if clarification is required.
