Once upon a time, conservatives pretended to be extremely concerned about preserving “states’ rights.” Those were the days when school desegregation and same-sex marriage were under debate. Today, states must either fall in line with the dictator in the White House or be excoriated on social media by the leader of the federal government, because the Republican Party is now the party of Trump.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper vetoed a bill that was unconstitutional on its face, requiring county law enforcement officers to detain black and brown people while doing the job of federal law enforcement officials to vet their citizenship status. Cooper insisted that he would not waste the time of police officers whose job it is to protect the public safety in order to advance Trump’s political agenda.
‘This legislation is simply about scoring partisan political points and using fear to divide North Carolina. This bill, in addition to being unconstitutional, weakens law enforcement in North Carolina by mandating sheriffs to do the job of federal agents, using local resources that could hurt their ability to protect their counties.’
The same party who no longer cares about states’ rights no longer cares what the U.S. Constitution says, either. In fact, they’re still defending Trump even after he vowed to change the Constitution with an executive order to end birthright citizenship and detain migrant children in cages indefinitely. After all, he must keep feeding the private prison system, who are currently making as much as $775 per person, per day to house them in inadequate and inhumane conditions. Trump is their biggest moneymaker and champion. States’ rights be damned.
Twitter was largely supportive of the North Carolina governor and were quick to let Trump know it. Read some of their comments below:
Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license
