California’s senior officials, including Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, take the position that federal immigration law does not govern, and cannot be enforced, within their jurisdiction. This is in spite of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.
It is not the first time that a state has sought to nullify the enforcement of federal law. The Nullification Crisis of 1832-33 was a signal moment in American history. The State of South Carolina, led former vice president John C. Calhoun, claimed the right to nullify the tariff act of 1828. This incurred the wrath of then-President Andrew Jackson. A friend writes:
In this context flying the Mexican flag is equivalent to flying a Confederate flag, is it not? It is exactly like South Carolina in 1833 nullifying the tariff law–and Andrew Jackson publicly threatening personally to hang his former VP John C. Calhoun who was leading the SC nullification. Calhoun believed Jackson and backed right off!
In the current crisis, President Trump has not threatened to hang Gavin Newsom. But his illegal immigration czar, Tom Homan, has said that if Newsom violates federal law by harboring illegal immigrants or interfering with the execution of federal immigration law, he will arrest him. At the moment, I don’t think that would be a good idea. Neither does Homan, who has clarified that he has no intention of arresting Newsom. (Mayor Bass, on the other hand, has been actively collaborating with the rioters, and might very well be subject to arrest.)
On the whole, the California episode reminds me of the lyric from an old song: Mister, we could use a man like Andrew Jackson again!
