SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ The eight states targeted by California's new travel ban barring official travel are not suffering the slight quietly.
The ban _ punishing states that have recently passed laws that California's attorney general has determined infringe on LGBT rights _ has been ruthlessly mocked by its red-state critics since last week's announcement that the list of states would double and include Texas.
It's been called everything from a cheap political stunt to a hypocritical move by a state that vehemently opposed President Donald Trump's very different travel ban from several majority-Muslim countries. And it didn't go unnoticed that California Gov. Jerry Brown recently made an official visit to China, where gay marriage is illegal and LGBT citizens do not enjoy the same civil rights protections as they would in, say, Tennessee.
For those who love to hate California, the travel ban has provided bountiful fodder.
"It's funny how the very state that is so adamantly against keeping terrorists out of our country _ they oppose the president's travel ban _ now wants to keep Californians out of Texas," Marc Rylander, communications director for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, told The Houston Chronicle. "I guess that's California logic."
Some Texas Republicans, including Rep. Dustin Burrows, are already urging the state to retaliate next month during the Legislature's special session, the newspaper reported.
The first states included in the ban were Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee. Late last week, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced that Alabama, Kentucky, South Dakota and Texas had been added.
The ban bars state officials and employees from state-funded travel to those states, though it does include some exceptions, such as previously signed contractual agreements and essential travel by law enforcement.
Circulating on social media is a resolution from Tennessee lawmakers mocking the new law _ and taking some sharp jabs at California.
"WHEREAS, California's attempt to influence public policy in our state is akin to Tennessee expressing its disapproval of California's exorbitant taxes, spiraling budget deficits, runaway social welfare programs, and rampant illegal immigration," the resolution said.
"BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the other forty-eight states to refrain from imposing their unfounded moral judgment on their sister states as California has done in order to prevent escalating foolishness."
