California Lawmakers React (Or Don't React) To Trump Travel Ban

Democratic lawmakers in California joined the protests on Sunday against President Donald Trump’s executive order that bans travel from seven majority-Muslim nations.

The state's Congressional Republicans were largely silent.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has indicated his office will take some action to challenge President Donald Trump’s executive order that bans travel from seven majority-Muslim countries.

"This is ugly," Becerra says. "And it is something that may have happened in the past, but we thought we didn’t do anymore."

He also believes a court will strike the order down.

"It is unconstitutional — it is an overreach on the part of the president," Becerra says.

Becerra joined 15 other Democratic Attorneys General this weekend in a statement promising to fight the order. 

He says that doesn’t necessarily mean this will be the state’s first lawsuit against the Trump Administration.

"We’ll see where we fit," he says. "But there will be a space for the California Department of Justice to weigh in. Because there’s no doubt that the President’s unconstitutional executive order is going to harm people, including people in California."

To have standing in court, the Attorney General would have to demonstrate that harm applies not just to individuals, but to the people of California.

Three of California’s 14 House Republicans issued public statements.

Representative Devin Nunes — a member of the President’s Transition Team—called it a common-sense security measure, while House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Ed Royce also backed it.

Modesto Representative Jeff Denham criticized uncertainty and unintended consequences from the executive order.

No Congressional Republican agreed to interviews with Capital Public Radio.

Democratic Congressman Ami Bera of Sacramento County criticized the muted response from Congressional Republicans.

"I’m disappointed I haven’t heard more of my Republican colleagues step up to the plate," Bera says. "I think this is a time for Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell to step up and say, 'Mr. President, this policy is un-American.' "