Democrats remain adamant about not funding President Trump's border wall. While they've appeared to express some bipartisan effort, they've said that Trump's border wall is a non-starter. In fact, they're not just saying that and working to put up legislative roadblocks in Congress to prevent it, they're also going after companies who are involved in the border wall's construction through California's Democrats.
Targeting Trump's border wall in Congress
On Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers in California moved forward to bar the state from giving those companies any wall-related construction contracts.
Its been reported that the state currently has a bill that's pending which restricts massive pension funds from investing in those companies as well.
Its been noted that California Republicans are more in league with giving immigrants an legal path towards citizenship, as opposed to the Trump administration which has gradually been moving to criminalize illegal immigrants with minor offenses. The effort paralleled the last week before President Trump's 100-day mark when Congress defeated the President's effort to try and force them to pay for his border wall or force a government shutdown. Congressional Republicans also saw funding for the wall as unrealistic and the White House decided to wait on the deal until later on during the year.
Symbolic legislation against Trump ideology
According to one report by Politico, state Sen. Ricardo Lara responded to a lobbyist who was complaining about the state contractors he represents getting "caught in the crossfire," saying that support for the wall meant support for Trump's ideas of divisiveness. The symbolic nature of this type of legislation is apparently putting Republicans in awkward positions.
Many contractors and companies seem to feel that they might be punished and this new effort to go after them is having a "chilling effect."
Many of the Republicans in Congress represent states that border with Mexico and at the very least have said that they still need more details on the project and have more questions that need to be answered.
Despite the opposition from Congress, Trump said that he will continue to push for it and promised to start building it later this year. In the meantime, California is also opposing the Department of Justice for their immigration crackdown. As Blasting News reported, Attorney General Jeff Sessions gave sanctuary cities a deadline to provide reasons as to why they're not submitting to the DOJ, threatening to pull federal funding. One Republican lawmaker said during a press briefing in San Diego that construction on the wall would begin in September.
