--- title: Donald Trump vs. California: 7 Ways the State Is Resisting description: The nation's most populous state is pushing back against Trump's conservative tide on a range of issues including marijuana and immigration canonical: https://time.com/4725971/california-resisting-trump-administration/ author: Katy Steinmetz article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-06T10:00:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:49:10.088Z article:section: Politics og:title: 7 Ways California Is Fighting Back Against President Trump og:description: Including protecting legal marijuana and planning border wall boycotts og:url: https://time.com/4725971/california-resisting-trump-administration/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf515188581ed99a5/6988c182fb4eac4113891653/california-state-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3614 og:image:height: 2033 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-ELECTION-VOTE-TRUMP og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 7 Ways California Is Fighting Back Against President Trump twitter:description: Including protecting legal marijuana and planning border wall boycotts twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf515188581ed99a5/6988c182fb4eac4113891653/california-state-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 7 Ways California Is Fighting Back Against President Trump's Administration > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=9fc4d2b4-fe29-4f6c-be6c-f398aa279326&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch California Gov. Jerry Brown's State of the State Speech Taking on Donald Trump [Watch (HLS stream): Watch California Gov. Jerry Brown's State of the State Speech Taking on Donald Trump](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xDYhjmfj.m3u8) (2:01)  _Published 2017-01-24. California Gov. Jerry Brown delivered his annual State of the State address on Tuesday, and vowed to defend immigrants, healthcare, the environment and infrastructure in the face of President Donald Trump's administration._ by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Apr 6, 2017 10:00 AM UTC  The California State flag flies outside City Hall, in Los Angeles, CA on Jan. 27, 2017. The California State flag flies outside City Hall, in Los Angeles, CA on Jan. 27, 2017. Mark Ralston—AFP/Getty Images by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Apr 6, 2017 10:00 AM UTC In a big, red year for Republicans, California was one of the few places in America that got even bluer in [2016](http://time.com/4561347/presidential-election-results-interactive/). As the largest of only five states that emerged with Democrats controlling both chambers of the legislature and the governor’s desk, the Golden State quickly promised a [wall of resistance](http://time.com/4657662/california-president-donald-trump/) to conservative policies coming out of Washington, D.C. And as President Donald Trump approaches his 100-day mark, Californians have beefed up vows to push back with legislation and lawsuits. The relationship hasn’t been all hostile. Trump [approved](http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article142272894.html) hundreds of millions of dollars to help California recoup from ravaging winter storms after Gov. Jerry Brown appealed for assistance. In his State of the State address earlier this year, Brown also signaled that he believes infrastructure is an area where “we can all work together.” But much of the action in California — where Trump began his tenure with the [lowest approval rating](http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3t80s0q3#page-2) of any president in the past 60 years — has been persistently defiant. Here are seven examples. ## Climate change conflict Before Trump even took office, Brown said that if the president backed down from climate change research, “California will launch its own damn satellite.” After Trump released a proposed budget [gutting funds](http://time.com/4703569/trump-budget-epa-climate-change/) related to that work, Brown said he conferred with officials from other states and countries about how to fill the gap, promising a California-charged “[countermovement](http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-gov-jerry-brown-calls-for-1490734956-htmlstory.html).” The state has meanwhile reaffirmed its commitment to strict greenhouse gas emission regulations, as Trump has moved to roll back those back at the federal level, which [may lead to a showdown in court](http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article140631063.html). And California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has joined [other states](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-energy-lawsuit-idUSKBN1751R3) in threatening to sue the federal government if it delays issuing energy efficiency standards for products like ceiling fans and air conditioners. California can pressure businesses to cater to greener standards by setting them at the state level, because many companies can’t afford to miss out on selling their products in the world’s sixth-largest economy. ## Sanctuary state (and city) showdowns On April 3, the California Senate [passed](http://time.com/4724121/california-sanctuary-state-bill-passes-senate-immigration/) a “sanctuary state” bill in defiance of Trump’s promises to starve such jurisdictions of federal funds. The measure would prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from using their resources to aid in federal immigration enforcement. The bill’s author, state Sen. Kevin de León, accused the Trump Administration of “spreading fear and promoting race-based scapegoating” toward immigrants, while pursuing “inhuman and counter-productive mass deportations.” While that measure may mean a coming legal fight between California and the Department of Justice, which has already announced that it will deny grants to sanctuary cities and states, other lawsuits have already been filed. San Francisco [sued](http://time.com/4655515/san-francisco-lawsuit-sanctuary-city-trump/) over the Trump Administration’s threats to deny federal dollars to cities that limit cooperation with immigration authorities, as did the county of Santa Clara. Dozens of cities, including Los Angeles and the state capital of Sacramento, have signed on to [the latter suit](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-santa-clara-sanctuary-trump-lawsuit-20170223-story.html). ## Protecting immigrants The same day that the state Senate passed the “sanctuary state” bill, those lawmakers also passed a measure that would dedicate $12 million to defending immigrants in deportation proceedings. (Though immigrants have a right to counsel in those cases, the government has long had “no obligation to provide an attorney for those who are unable to afford one,” as one [law review article](http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=9502&context=penn%5Flaw%5Freview) put it.) The move comes as Trump has expanded the types of immigrants being targeted for deportation and instructed agencies to more aggressively enforce immigration laws. Several [other](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill%5Fid=201720180SB613) [bills](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill%5Fid=201720180AB386) that would bolster immigrant protections have yet to be voted on by a full legislative chamber. ## **Border wall boycotts** The Bay Area cities of Oakland and Berkeley have both passed measures that [would deny city contracts](http://time.com/4710070/border-wall-boycott-san-francisco/) to firms that take part in building Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. San Francisco is considering a similar proposal. “It goes beyond symbolic protest of the wall at the border and basically makes a statement through San Francisco’s action in the marketplace that the city will not be complicit with the building of this wall in any way,” says San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen, the bill’s author. California, along with several other states, is considering another tactic that uses money as a stick: requiring public pension funds — the nation’s largest — to divest from any companies that help build the barrier. “This is a wall of shame and we don’t want any part of it,” Assemblymember Phil Ting, a San Francisco-area Democrat, said in a [statement](https://a19.asmdc.org/press-releases/ca-lawmakers-push-state-divest-companies-building-trumps-border-wall) about the proposal. “Immigrant stories are the history of America and this is a nightmare.” A [poll](http://escholarship.org/uc/item/60d4423f#page-2) conducted by the University of California at Berkeley found that California voters oppose the wall by a three-to-two margin. ## **Russian interference and tax returns** A [bill](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill%5Fid=201720180AB838) currently in the state Assembly’s committee on education would require that a California commission consider adding material on “Russian interference with the 2016 United States presidential election” to high school history textbooks. Another resolution passed by the state Senate, which is toothless beyond expressing the sentiment of lawmakers, calls on Congress to order a bipartisan, independent investigation into any ties Trump, his presidential campaign or his “business empire” might have with Russia. Both that measure and another resolution also call on the President to release his tax returns, “including any pertinent documentation which can reveal foreign interests and financial interests which may put Donald Trump in conflict with the interests of this nation.” ## **Protecting legal marijuana markets** In an interview shortly after the election, a representative of the cannabis growers industry in California told TIME that many farmers feel safer, despite uncertainty about whether Trump might crack down on marijuana. Their reason? In 2016, voters in the state legalized recreational pot and California is now working with the industry to legitimize cannabis as a crop. “For the first time in the history of my life, at least, the state government is our ally,” said the California Growers Association’s Hezekiah Allen. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has denounced legalizing marijuana, has sent mixed messages about how strongly the feds might go after people in states where it is legal. In the meantime, California AG Becerra has vowed to defend the will of the state. “Everyone, and I mean everyone, who plays by California’s rules deserves to know: we’ve got your back,” he said at a hearing in January. Members of Congress are also planning to reintroduce [an amendment](https://rohrabacher.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rohrabacher-urges-continuation-of-medical-marijuana-amendment) to an upcoming spending bill, named after California Republican Congressman Dana Rohrbacher, that would prohibit the Drug Enforcement Administration from using funds to interfere with legal medical marijuana markets. ## Grassroots movements and protests When Trump’s top immigration official recently came to Sacramento, hundreds — including the city’s mayor — showed up to protest the actions the President has taken on refugees and undocumented immigrants. Marchers taking to the streets to push for workers’ rights on Cesar Chavez’s birthday in late March carried new signs this year that simply said #resiste. The momentum has been sustained since before Trump took office, as hundreds of thousands of Californians have shown up throughout the state to [march for women’s rights](http://time.com/4642467/los-angeles-womens-march-protest-heal/) and immigrants’ rights and [LGBT rights](http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Activists-Protest-in-San-Francisco-Over-Trans-Rights-414670613.html). Tech workers in Silicon Valley have been [hosting hackathons](http://time.com/4663419/silicon-valley-donald-trump-apps-technology/) to build apps that make it easier to appeal to members of Congress (often to oppose policies being pushed by Trump and other Republicans). And a quixotic movement to secede from the country — known as #CalExit — continues to forge ahead, with organizers hoping to have a vote on leaving the union in the next two years. Most Californians [don’t support](http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3t80s0q3#page-5) a declaration of independence, though Democrats (44%) are much more likely to say they would jump ship than Republicans (15%). After all, that arguably crosses a line between resisting and giving up on the idea of a more perfect union. As state Sen. de León, the author of the sanctuary state bill, said to TIME in [an interview](http://time.com/4657662/california-president-donald-trump/) for a previous story on California’s reaction to the election, “We can’t secede, we need to lead.” ## Transcript The recent election and inauguration of the new president, has show deep divisions across America. While no one knows what the new leaders will actually do, there are signs that are disturbing. We seen the bald assertion of alternative facts, whatever those are. We've heard the blatant attacks on science. Familiar signposts of our democracy. Truth, civility, working together, have been obscured or even swept aside. We must prepare for very uncertain times. And reaffirm the basic principles that have made California the great exception that it is. First, in California, immigrants are integral part of who we are and what we become. [ APPLAUSE ] California has enacted several protective measures for the undocumented, the TRUST Act, the driver's licenses, basic employment rights and non- discriminatory access to higher education. This is what made the dreamers and you made it happen. We may be called to defend those laws and defend them we will. And let me be clear. We will defend everybody. Every man, woman, and child who's come here for a better life and has contributed to the wellbeing of our state. Whatever they do in Washington, they can't change the facts. And these are the facts the climate is changing, the temperatures are rising and so are the oceans. Natural habitats everywhere are under stress. The world knows this 194 countries have signed the Paris agreement to control greenhouse gases. We can't fall back and give into the climate deniers. The science is clear The danger is real. We can do much on our own and we can join with others. Other states and provinces. Even countries to stop the dangerous rise in climate pollution. 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