SACRAMENTO\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Two of the top Democratic candidates in the race for California governor are taking heat for their past votes to fund and support federal immigration enforcement as the backlash against the Trump administration\u2019s actions in Minnesota intensifies after the shooting death of Alex Pretti.<\/p>\n
Fellow Democratic candidates are criticizing Rep. Eric Swalwell and former Rep. Katie Porter for voting \u2014 in Swalwell\u2019s case, as recently as June \u2014 to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and support its agents\u2019 work.<\/p>\n
Swalwell (D-Dublin) last year voted in favor of a Republican-sponsored resolution condemning an attack that injured at least eight people demonstrating in support of Israeli hostages, <\/a>one of whom later died, in Boulder, Colo., and expressing \u201cgratitude to law enforcement officers, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, for protecting the homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n He was one of 75 Democrats, including nine from California, to cross the aisle and vote in favor of the resolution<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that Eric Swalwell stood with MAGA Republicans in Washington to thank ICE while in California masked ICE agents terrorized our communities \u2014 despite Swalwell\u2019s notorious and chronic record of absenteeism from Congress, is shamefully hypocritical,\u201d former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a rival Democrat running for governor, said in a statement.<\/p>\n Swalwell\u2019s campaign dismissed the attack as a \u201cpolitical ploy\u201d by \u201ca desperate campaign\u201d polling in single-digits.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat Eric voted for was a resolution to condemn a horrific antisemitic attack in Boulder, CO that killed Karen Diamond, an 82-year old grandmother,\u201d a campaign spokesman said in a statement. \u201cThe truth is no one has been more critical of ICE than Eric Swalwell.\u201d<\/p>\n The exchange comes as Villaraigosa, Swalwell and other Democrats running to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is serving his final year in office, struggle to differentiate themselves in a tight race that lacks a clear front-runner. <\/p>\n In a poll released in December by the Public Policy Institute of California, <\/a>Porter led the field with support from 21% of likely California voters. She was slightly ahead of former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and conservative commentator Steve Hilton but had far from a commanding lead. <\/p>\n With the June 2 primary election fast approaching, the sparring among the candidates \u2014 especially in the crowded field of Democrats \u2014 is expected to intensify, with those leading in the polls fielding the brunt of the attacks. <\/p>\n The Trump administration\u2019s immigration tactics face mounting political scrutiny after federal agents fatally shot Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse from Minneapolis, during a protest over the weekend. <\/p>\n Pretti was the second U.S. citizen in Minneapolis to be killed by immigration officers in recent weeks. Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother, was shot in the head by an ICE officer Jan. 7. Federal officials have alleged it was an act of self-defense when Good drove her vehicle toward an officer \u2014 an assertion under dispute.<\/p>\n In recent days, Swalwell said that if elected, he would revoke the driver licenses of ICE agents who mask their faces, block them from state employment and aggressively prosecute agents for crimes such as kidnapping, assault and murder.<\/p>\n Tony Thurmond, another Democrat currently serving as California\u2019s top education official, in an online political ad<\/a> criticized Swalwell\u2019s vote as well as several by Porter for bills to fund ICE and Trump\u2019s border wall during the president\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n Porter and Swalwell joined majorities of Democratic House members to support various spending packages in Congress, which included billions for a border wall and in at least one case, avoided a government shutdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen others have stayed quiet, Katie has boldly spoken out against ICE\u2019s lawlessness and demanded accountability,\u201d said Porter campaign spokesman Peter Opitz.<\/p>\n