In anticipation of President Trump's first visit to the nation's largest state this week, Gov. Jerry Brown has sent the president a letter touting California's entrepreneurial spirit, saying immigrants have been key to the state's success for decades.
"(But) our prosperity is not built on isolation," Brown wrote in a letter dated March 12. "Quite the opposite. California thrives because we welcome immigrants and innovators from across the globe."
Brown's seven-paragraph letter starts by quoting President George W. Bush on his first visit to California, in which he said "for decades, California has been the place where the future happens first. Your continuing success is essential to the success of our national economy." The governor adds "that is as true today as it was then."
One week after calling the federal lawsuit against California's immigration policies essentially "an act of war" and part of a "reign of terror" against the state, Brown's letter lays out the case for California's unique place in the nation's story.
He then encourages Trump to visit the Central Valley, "the heart of California," where Brown notes "the nation's first and only high-speed rail line" is under construction. Touting the jobs created, he invites Trump to "come aboard and truly 'Make America Great Again' " by supporting the troubled project, which desperately needs federal funding.