Gavin Newsom just can’t stop talking about Ron DeSantis, and that boiled over with a suggestion that the latter should be charged with kidnapping on Monday.
As RedState reported, a flight carrying a small number of illegal immigrants wound up in California recently, setting off a firestorm of accusations against the 2024 presidential candidate. The flight reportedly originated in New Mexico after the illegal immigrants were bussed in from El Paso, TX, one of the hottest areas of the Southern border for crossings.
Newsom immediately expressed his outrage, announcing a joint investigation with the California DOJ while claiming that DeSantis could face kidnapping charges.
What an odd response from a man who claims to welcome illegal immigrants with open arms. If someone sent you something you claim is a positive force for good, would you call the person giving it to you a “small, pathetic man?” I wouldn’t think so, which points to the idea that Newsom’s bluster in support of illegal immigration is actually just NIMBY virtue signaling. It’s all well and good until they end up in your backyard. Then it’s a travesty that demands a state investigation. How very convenient, right?
Let’s take a trip down memory lane at what Newsom was saying about illegal immigrants in 2018.
Now, I’m not the smartest tool in the shed, but I’m pretty sure that if you pronounce your state a sanctuary for illegal immigration, you probably shouldn’t cry foul when a few of them are flown in to take part in the hospitality. Why is Newsom now acting like illegal immigrants being in California is an issue? He’s long expressed the idea that they are needed to do jobs, specifically in the agricultural parts of his state. Did something change? Shouldn’t he be sending DeSantis, if he’s behind this flight, a thank you note?
Regardless, the problem with Newsom’s threat is easy to discern. You can’t charge someone with kidnapping for giving people voluntary rides. These illegal immigrants were likely living on the streets of El Paso after crossing the border. An offer to go to a self-proclaimed refuge like California, where sanctuary status is the norm across the entire state, would likely entice anyone who wasn’t already meeting up with family elsewhere. They wouldn’t need to be lied to or coerced, and as far as I can tell, there’s no real evidence they were.
The fact remains that Texas simply can’t continue to absorb the sheer number of illegal immigrants coming across. It is completely fair for sanctuary cities and states to start taking on the burden of policies they promoted for years. The first place illegal immigrants should be sent is California given the state has been on the leading edge of flaunting federal immigration law.
As to DeSantis, he’s not going to face kidnapping charges because no one was kidnapped. Heck, Newsom’s suggestion that people would need to be forced to go to California seems rather self-defeating. In the end, if he and the rest of the Democratic Party don’t want to deal with illegal immigrants in their communities, they are welcome to start enforcing immigration law. Until then, keep the buses and flights going.