On Tuesday, at a White House event discussing so-called “sanctuary cities, GOP Representative Martha McSally of Arizona made what seemed to be a serious suggestion: building a wall between California and Arizona.
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Most people will agree that McSally’s proposal is “off the wall.” However, in a state with a history of right-wing elected officials such as Sheriff Joe Arpaio, anything might be possible.
McSally said a wall is needed to protect her constituents in The Grand Canyon State.
“As we look in Arizona, we often look into the dangers of the southern border,” McSally said while she was attending a round-table discussion on sanctuary cities at the White House.
“But if these dangerous policies continue out of California, we might need to build a wall between California and Arizona as well to keep these dangerous criminals out of our state,” she added.
McSally also complained that Arizona’s large western neighbor, with over 40 million residents, “can’t just provide sanctuary for these criminals and think that it’s only impacting California dangerously.”
In October, California openly defied the Trump administration by becoming the country’s first “sanctuary state.”
Earlier this month, California Governor Jerry Brown accused President Trump’s administration of “declaring war on California” after Trump’s Department of Justice filed a lawsuit trying to stop California’s policies protecting undocumented immigrants from being deported by federal authorities.
Governor Brown is correct that the Trump administration has severely criticized California’s sanctuary cities policies. Trump’s administration has indicated quite forcefully that they plan to challenge any of the Golden State’s policies that attempt to restrict local law enforcement from working with federal immigration enforcement authorities.
Perhaps McSally’s comments will be popular in Arizona where she is trying to advance her political career. In January she announced that she is running for the U.S Senate to replace Sen. Jeff Flake who is retiring.
Another notorious candidate in the primary to replace Flake includes former Maricopa County, Ariz. Sheriff Joe Arpaio who was pardoned by Trump after being convicted of a crime.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
