And it just seems that we're going to only be putting our feet in the sand, defending all of our gains against this administration. It just seems that it's counterproductive. And we need Washington to join us in making California more prosperous.
DB: And, I know, you're very strongly in support of the decision by many California cities to become sanctuary.
BH: I'm supportive of cities not using public safety ... to do other than public safety functions, to send a message that the police are there to uphold the law and to fight crime. And if the federal government wants to expand their role, well, we need to hire more police officers, and they need to fund that.
But, it's not a good policy to have people that are trained at one thing, and are good at one thing, to perform a completely different function, and to take away from investigating crimes and upholding the law. It's just not the way our system of government works. It's not the way we fund government, it's not the way we achieve justice for all people in our community. It just does not work. He is ruining a good system.
And that's why we have a department that's trained and entirely focused on handling immigration matters. That's the Department of Homeland Security. If he wants to have the Department of Homeland Security do those functions, he needs to expand their ranks, train people in that area, and have them go patrol the border.
Spending money on building a wall is just a waste of taxpayer dollars. There hasn't been a wall that has ever stopped a single person. People find ways around walls, especially when you can't patrol them. It's a 3,000 mile border that we just don't have enough people in the United States to park them at the border, and to monitor people coming across. Less people are coming across at the border, anyway.
And so, it's just a waste of money. It's foolish. It sends the wrong message internationally about America's values, and what we stand for. And, currently, as we speak, there are countries getting together to start to block this administration's policies. One of them is our friend to the south, Mexico.
It's just a shame that instead of building bridges, we're building walls. And instead of making friends, we're making enemies. And I've always predicted that Republican incoming administrations always seem to cause a war with somebody. And it's something that our country needs less of, these days. We need to make friends around the world, and we need to use our excellent system of government to inspire other people in other countries to become democratic countries. We need to lead by example, not by the barrel of a gun.
DB: You know, Senator Hueso, let me... maybe we can conclude by this. Are you... the communities that you are working with, you know, within the legislature, and that you represent in your communities south of Los Angeles, in San Diego, are you uniting with other causes, interests? Is there sort of a cross pollination? Are you supporting the women? How is that working? Is your community coming together in that regard?
BH: I think the entire California community is coming together. We have the health care community coming out in opposition to the President's threats. We have the immigrant community coming together. We have the business community coming together, afraid of... the trade, the successful trade economy that we've established in California. I can't think of anybody, other than a very small group of people that support him in California, that hasn't thought about uniting. I feel that I have the support of my community.
I was at the women's march. It was incredible to see that level of organization without anyone organizing it. People issued an invitation, and everyone came out. We had 40,000 just in downtown San Diego. It was just unbelievable to be part of that. But we had those three marches throughout California, 250,000 people in L.A. It was just an amazing thing to witness.
And we're getting calls every day. People are concerned. People are asking us to act, to represent California's interest in a very bold way. And we have members that are stepping up. So, I'm not looking forward to any kind of conflict with this administration. We want to work with the presidential administration, and Congress and Senate to move our country in a better direction. And we're just very concerned about what's coming out of there, the rhetoric, the hate, the destruction that could come from that.
So, I want to thank you having me on your show and giving me an opportunity to say a few words. But, we're here. For Californians that need more information, they are more than welcome to call my office. I know other senators and assembly members of the state are eager to hear from their constituents. So we'd like to hear from everyone about what they feel about this as well.
DB: And, indeed, this is a part of that series of speaking with our legislators. Thank you for taking the time out, very gracious of you. And we appreciate the information.
BH: Thank you, and you have a wonderful day.
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