BORDER/CALIFORNIA/GOP/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WALL: “President Donald Trump is finally set to make his first visit to California as president this week, as his administration battles the state over its immigration policies and some of his fellow Republicans here look to keep their distance from him.
Mr. Trump is scheduled to travel to the state Tuesday [3-13-18], after becoming the first president since Dwight D. Eisenhower not to visit California during his first year in office, according to the American Presidency Project at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
The visit, which is to include a tour of the state’s border with Mexico, comes at an especially tense time between the Trump administration and the left-leaning state, the nation’s most populous.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week announced a lawsuit challenging three new California laws aimed at protecting unauthorized immigrants, prompting an outcry from top California Democrats. Mr. Trump has lashed out at the state in recent weeks for being too soft on immigration. Some California GOP candidates in tough congressional races are steering clear of Mr. Trump while he is in the state.
Dueling rallies by supporters and opponents of Mr. Trump were expected during his trip to the border and nearby San Diego, where the president was set to view prototypes of the wall he has promised with Mexico… Meanwhile, several immigrant-advocacy groups and other opponents of Trump’s immigration policies were organizing their own protests around San Diego and the border ahead of the president’s trip.”
-Alicia A. Caldwell and Alejandro Lazo, “Trump Visits California This Week After Clashing With State,” The Wall Street Journal online, Mar. 12, 2018 09:00am