There Are Reasons Why So Many Republicans Have Always Liked Dianne Feinstein

Harvey Milk was an old friend of mine. He was serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors with Dianne Feinstein when he was assassinated. He always detested Feinstein-- hated her even more than Dan White, the guy who murdered him and Mayor George Moscone late in November of 1978. I never met her by I felt like I knew her through Harvey. I never voted for her as a county supervisor or as a mayor or as anything else she ever ran for. Back in these early days of her political career, DiFi was a xenophobic asshole who was making her name as an anti-Hispanic/anti-Asian asshole. Eventually the political winds started blowing in another direction and she changed her attitude. But as late as her first election to the U.S. Senate in 1992 she was still campaigning against immigrants. This is Feinstein on June 16, 1993, when she wasn't pretending to be vaguely "liberal," the way she sometimes does today.

Today, there are 1.3 million Californians out of work. Families throughout our state face overcrowded schools and a scarcity of affordable homes. Meanwhile, there are an estimated 1.3 million undocumented immigrants in California.

In the last month, in San Diego, San Francisco and elsewhere along the California coast, boatloads of Chinese immigrants have been summarily dropped off by smugglers. In Tijuana, Mexican authorities recently uncovered a tunnel that would have carried drugs and people under the border.

In Los Angeles County alone, there are an estimated 700,000 illegal residents. Add to this the fact that 3,000 to 5,000 people attempt to cross the Mexico-California border each night-- and at least half of them succeed.

The budget impact of this constant inflow of illegal immigration is extremely high. Gov. Pete Wilson estimates that the state spent $1.7 billion in one recent year to pay for educational, medical and correctional costs associated with undocumented residents. A study for the Board of Supervisors found that 11% of the nearly 18,000 Los Angeles County jail inmates were deportable illegal residents. Another study showed that of those deported once they are released from prison, a shocking 80% return to commit another serious crime.

...I believe that we can protect our borders; other countries do, and so can we. Yet a comprehensive federal immigration strategy must come from the top down: It will take personal directives from President Clinton and Atty. Gen. Janet Reno to be successful. In addition, it must involve various arms of the federal government, among them: the Justice Department, to enforce the law; the negotiators working on side agreements to the North American Free Trade Agreement that will involve wage parity with our neighbors to the south; the Health and Human Services Department to address the additional stress on our health-care system caused by illegal immigration, and the executive branch to provide the necessary leadership.

DiFi came up with this nasty rhetoric and racist messaging two decades before Trump used it to help propel himself into the presidency. Republicans owe Dianne Feinstein a great deal.



Now skip ahead a couple dozen years to Wednesday and Joe Matthews' column at Fox and Hounds, When DiFi Was Anti-Immigrant. The way Feinstein framed her argument was part of what "legitimated a nasty backlash," wrote Matthews, "not just against immigrants but against Californians of immigrant heritage. Prop 187 was just part of it." He also pointed out that "De León was part of the effort to fight against that backlash. Along with other young friends (among them the future Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez), he was involved in organizing rallies and campaigns against 187.

A quarter century later, De Leon was clearly right on the policy and the politics. Undocumented immigration was not a problem that could be solved with enforcement; It requires legalization and ultimately amnesty. And a majority of the California public knows it. Feinstein has evolved to being a supporter of comprehensive immigration reform.

But Feinstein, a law-and-order type, still has a bad habit of playing to nonsense anti-immigrant narratives and supporting greater border enforcement, which is costly not merely in dollars but in fueling ICE and CBP agencies with more than their share of sub-standard officers who violate people’s rights. These are government agencies that are in the business of breaking up California families, after all.

In recent years, she urged a bill that would force local police in California to comply with federal immigration requests. She was responding to the Kate Steinle case in San Francisco, and argued that her bill was a more sensible alternative to a harsh Republican bill.

De León, by contrast, helped lead an effort to separate, as much as possible, federal immigration enforcement from local policing. This policy has now been enacted statewide, and it’s wise; it makes all of us safer when immigrants can contact police without worries about their status.

De León’s campaign has been off to a super-slow start. He has yet to resign his legislative leadership post to pursue the effort. If he ever really gets his campaign going, let’s hope that he reminds Californians of this past-- and pushes Feinstein to repudiate her previous stands, and to devote herself to protecting all Californians.

Something DiFi should have been thinking about yesterday

After Feinstein stunned most Californians a couple months ago by telling them they should have patience because Trump could turn into a good president. De León didn't agree. The Sacramento Bee gave KDL a platform:

“I don't think children who breathe dirty air can afford patience. The LGBT worker or woman losing their rights by the day or the black student who could be assaulted on the street-- they can't afford patience. DREAMers who are unsure of their fate in this country can't afford patience. Even a Trump voter who is still out of work can't afford to be patient.

"We don't have much patience for Donald Trump here in California," de León added in the statement, which was first picked up by KQED, drawing an even sharper contrast with an elected official who spends much of her time in Washington. "This President has not shown any capacity to learn and proven he is not fit for office. It is the responsibility of Congress to hold him accountable-- especially Democrats-- not be complicit in his reckless behavior."

What about you? You have patience to wait for Señor Trumpanzee to turn his life around and turn into a good president? Or would you prefer to see California with a senator willing to hold Trump accountable for his incredibly and blatant criminal behavior. Feinstein is one of the last sordid remnants of the state's sketchy past. Kevin De León is, in all ways, part of California's bright future. See that ActBlue thermometer on the right? Clicking that will take you to a page filled with California progressive candidates-- progressive candidates, not conservative Democrat candidates. The California Democratic Party establishment is putting major pressure on donors and organizations to ignore De León. He needs grassroots support and he deserves grassroots support, not just because of Feinstein's terrible record, bit because of his own strong, progressive record.