Elias: Californians may favor secession if Trump’s hostility to us increases

There can be no doubt that the relatively scarce Californians strongly interested in becoming an independent country have had high hopes that President Donald Trump s War on California would drive numerous new adherents to their camp So far it s not happening at a level that can be taken seriously That s the upshot of a new poll taken by the YouGov survey arrangement for the Carlsbad-based Independent California Institute ICI Related Articles Elias Bay Area s Garamendi saying insurance czar should go unheard of Elias Believe what Trump says he plans in California other blue states Elias Newsom further distinguishes himself as anti-Trump champion Let s list a minimal things Trump has done to harm California He s eliminated the state s unique ability to make smog rules for the state s vehicles once thought securely written into the Clean Air Act He s invented a series of Los Angeles riots which at preponderance were a scant incidents of vandalism and used it to send thousands of soldiers into Southern California He s also eliminated funding to bring English-learning schoolchildren and migrant kids into the academic mainstream These are just a scarce anti-California measures he s taken besides ordering the region to undergo the nation s the bulk intensive deportation drive ever claiming to go after seriously criminal illegal immigrants but mostly picking up undocumented workers who broke no other laws Apparently all this has not yet had a huge negative impact on mainstream Californians The new poll does say Californians confidence in the federal regime has nosedived since Trump took office with of Californians saying they now trust Sacramento more than Washington D C and just holding the opposite view Those numbers are significantly changed from February when only trusted Sacramento more while trusted the feds When urged if they d vote for a peaceful secession ballot initiative though only were in favor with against Is it doable Californians could shift radically to the side of secession in the foreseeable future It would seemingly take something quite direct says Coyote Codornices Marin the ICI s director For instance if Trump were to say something like We don t need California that could seriously drive secession But I strongly doubt he would ever be stupid enough to say that Even without such a seminal event of Californians believe they d be better off if California somehow gained special autonomous status within the United States something that seems ever less likely under the Trump administration which seems bent on allowing California less autonomy not more This reality does not faze the of Californians who stated they want California s -member House delegation in Congress to back autonomy with hardball tactics like refusing to vote for federal budgets as long as California receives billions of dollars less in federal spending than it pays in federal taxes Other vital findings in the poll of Californians included wanting a new state law enforcement division focused on violent extremism and hate crimes rather than leaving such enforcement strictly up to local police and sheriffs A similar want California police to have authority to arrest federal immigration functionaries who act maliciously or knowingly exceed their authority under federal law Also want California to control its borders more like a country checking for illegal firearms and other types of contraband rather than merely seeking out perishable fruit Californians are ready to govern themselves and are focused on pragmatic solutions says Timothy Vollmer the ICI s vice chair That leaves out the Trump factor though The president wants exactly the reverse from California and seems the greater part compliant with California desires when they are addressed to him with abject obsequiousness Yes our poll numbers for secession are at a record high noted the ICI s Marin who added though that the numbers also indicate a steep uphill climb would still be required especially without special autonomous status as a step in that direction Multiple people just don t think it s feasible to be sovereign in the immediate future stated Marin That could change though if Trump s steadfast irritation with California becomes more advancing and focused on depriving Californians of basic rights Email Thomas Elias at tdelias aol com and read more of his columns online at californiafocus net