Latino Dems are split over Biden's border action

Jun 04, 2024

President Joe Biden speaks about an executive order in the East Room at the White House in Washington.

California Democrats were split in their reactions to President Joe Biden's immigration order Tuesday. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo

BORDER LINE: California’s Democratic Latino lawmakers projected everything from forceful support to appalled opposition in response to President Joe Biden’s border crackdown today, reflecting the party’s deep rifts on a major election-year issue in a state that could decide control of Congress.

The split reactions show the degree to which a piece of conventional Democratic wisdom — that holding migrant-friendly policies was the key for Democrats to secure California’s expanding Latino vote — is unraveling as Latinos have become the largest ethnic group in the state.

Three House Democrats from California attended Biden’s signing of the executive order to deny entry to migrants outside designated ports of entry as crossings surge But back in Sacramento, the chair of the state’s Latino Caucus blasted the action as akin to “Trump-era immigration policies,” calling on the president to reverse his decision.

“The Latino Caucus is steadfast in our commitment to vehemently oppose anti-immigrant or fear-mongering rhetoric that dehumanizes individuals who are risking their lives,” said Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes. “As a nation, we cannot afford to return to Trump-era immigration policies that threaten the lives of refugees or delegitimize migrants for the sake of political expediency.”

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, chaired by Democratic California Rep. Nanette Barragán, called the order “deeply concerning,” saying in a statement that “enforcement-only strategies have repeatedly proven ineffective and only create more chaos at the border.”

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a traditional Biden ally and fervent immigration advocate, slammed the executive order as having “undermined American values and abandoned our nation’s obligations to provide people fleeing persecution, violence, and authoritarianism with an opportunity to seek refuge in the U.S.”

On the other side, California Rep. Salud Carbajal from the moderate New Democrat Coalition was among those who attended the signing and praised Biden as “taking decisive, commonsense action to restore order at the southern border.”

Also defending Biden were U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler plus Reps. Mike Levin and Jim Costa, as well as Gov. Gavin Newsom and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria.

For decades, Democrats and immigration advocates have argued any border security enhancements must come with a path to citizenship, protections for those who come with family to the country illegally as children and reforms to the asylum process. But Democrats’ share of the Latino vote has declined and polls show this key demographic increasingly supports restrictions including a border wall.

Advocates are drifting from mainstream opinion, said Mike Madrid, a Sacramento-based strategist who has studied the Latino electorate for decades.

“Latino public opinion is shifting away from them decisively. The Latino electorate is totally different than the 90s and 2000s,” Madrid said. “The old narrative doesn’t work anymore.”

Madrid, whose forthcoming book “The Latino Century” examines how Latinos are moving beyond an ethnic voting bloc to being more motivated by economic concerns, said the fastest-growing segment of Latino voters are those under 30 who are a generation or more removed from recently-arrived immigrants.

The divide among Latino Democratic politicians reflects the gradual shift in Latino sentiment. There is still a large constituency for Padilla’s position — especially because California has a larger proportion of foreign-born Latinos relative to most other states — but the constituency for pro-border security Latinos like Carbajal is also growing.

One thing they could all agree on? Blaming Republicans who killed bipartisan border legislation earlier this year under pressure from former President Donald Trump.

“Reminder that the @GOP have refused to secure the border,” Newsom said in a post on X. “Only thing they're interested in is playing politics.”

IT’S TUESDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check on California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to wventeicher@politico.com.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

REFERENDUM ON THE RIGHT — Voters in the Inland Empire suburb of Temecula are at the polls today deciding whether to recall local school board President Joseph Komrosky. Since taking office in December 2022, Komrosky and allies have banned critical race theory, fired the district superintendent and required staff to alert parents if their child shows signs of being transgender.

Komrosky and ex-Trustee Danny Gonzalez — who has since resigned and moved his family to Texas — were propelled into the statewide spotlight after calling Harvey Milk a pedophile during a board discussion over curriculum mentioning the late gay rights icon. (The incident later prompted the threat of a fine from Gov. Gavin Newsom and a new law punishing districts for some book bans.)

The recall is at least the third in California this year against school board members aligned with the conservative “parental rights” movement. Two trustees in Orange and one in Woodland were already recalled during March elections. Two Sunol board members will face recall votes in July. — Blake Jones

ON THE HILL

Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.) speaks with reporters outside a House Republican Conference meeting on Capitol Hill.

GOP Rep. Mike Garcia brushed off concerns about Donald Trump’s felony convictions. | Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images

COURT CHATTER — The slow drip of California GOP reaction to Donald Trump’s legal woes continues this week. GOP Rep. Mike Garcia, buttonholed by CNN’s Manu Raju in the Capitol yesterday, brushed off concerns about Trump’s felony convictions.

“The American people saw what happened in New York. They saw two what were typically misdemeanors elevated to 34 felonies,” he said.

Garcia, like most other vulnerable House Republicans from California, did not issue a statement in the immediate aftermath of the verdict. But he’s been less circumspect when speaking to conservative media. On one right-leaning talk show appearance before the jury’s decision, he blasted the entire prosecution as inherently biased against Trump. — Melanie Mason

ON THE BEATS

LIFE IN THE SUPER MINORITY — Assembly Republicans boycotted a hearing in the Judiciary Committee this morning in protest of Speaker Robert Rivas booting Bill Essayli from the body last week.

As we previously reported, Essayli, who has embraced the role of Assembly contrarian, was removed from Judiciary after calling Democrat Pilar Schiavo a “pedophile protector” on X. Schiavo had joined her fellow Democrats in blocking Essayli's attempt to force a vote on his Assembly Bill 2641, which would have required law enforcement to cooperate with immigration enforcement authorities when someone is convicted of a sex crime against a minor.

Schiavo had also lambasted Essayli in an earlier op-ed, accusing him of using survivors of sex crimes to rile up "extremist supporters on social media" and calling his conduct around the bill "disgusting."

The swift retribution from the speaker’s office apparently didn’t sit well with his Republican counterpart, Minority Leader James Gallagher, who asked Vice Chair Diane Dixon, Kate Sanchez and Joe Patterson to skip this morning’s regularly scheduled meeting in a show of protest.

“I’m glad people noticed and acknowledge that a healthy democracy requires representation from all sides of the political spectrum," Gallagher said in a statement to POLITICO.

Rivas didn’t immediately comment on the demonstration.

The boycott received little attention from the Democrats on the committee. But it did succeed in igniting more indignation from conservative supporters online, including San Diego’s Carl DeMaio, who is running to fill Assemblymember Marie Waldron’s vacant seat this year. Following the boycott this morning, DeMaio sent out a fundraising email, seen by POLITICO, for his group Reform California, decrying the actions of the Democratic supermajority. — Lara Korte

TENTH TIME’S THE CHARM? — The Legislature has tried nine times to enact laws that would open up prisons to more media and state official access — and has gotten shot down by a governor each time.

Democratic state Sen. Nancy Skinner is hoping the tenth time’s the charm this year, over a decade after the last attempt in 2012.

Her bill — which would grant media access to interview prisoners, capture video and document facility conditions — passed through the Assembly public safety committee this morning. Skinner said 1990s tough-on-crime restrictions made California prisons among the least transparent in the nation. She added that the corrections department especially merits attention given its $14.5 billion budget.

“Any time you have that amount of your budget going to some activity or department, it deserves to have a level of transparency, it deserves for the public to know what’s going on there,” Skinner told Playbook.

The nine previous attempts passed by the Legislature died at the desks of governors Pete Wilson, Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown. They feared that repeat TV appearances could elevate inmates to celebrity status, traumatizing victims and creating security concerns.

But Brittney Barsotti, general counsel for California News Publishers Association, said that in states with more media access — like Florida, Maine and Rhode Island — such concerns have not materialized. Under Skinner’s bill, wardens still could deny requests that might threaten security.

“There are plenty of true crime stories on Netflix,” Barsotti said. “But that doesn’t outweigh the need for the press to report on conditions." — Storey Wertheimer

What We're Reading

— Ford is two years away from offering technology that will allow drivers to take their eyes off the road and their hands off the wheel, according to CEO Jim Farley. (Orange County Register)

— California is the fifth best economy in the nation based on economic health, economic activity and innovation potential, a new study finds. (The Fresno Bee)

— A group of current and former OpenAI workers are calling on tech companies to establish stronger whistleblower protections. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

AROUND THE STATE

— State regulators rejected Berkeley’s plan to test for contaminants in two Bay Area parks where a chemical plant disposed of over 11,000 tons of industrial waste. (Los Angeles Times)

— San Francisco’s priciest home just hit the market for $38 million. (The San Francisco Standard)

— Officers in Los Angeles cleared a budding pro-Palestine encampment outside of City Hall. (The Associated Press)

— compiled by Ariel Gans

Nostra culpa: Monday's newsletter misstated which Dakota was voting on a ballot measure on candidate age limits. It was North rather than South Dakota — and definitely not Dakota Johnson — our apologies!

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