The Latest: US official lambastes California on immigration

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Latest on California’s reaction to President Donald Trump’s visit to San Diego to see border wall prototypes and plans to protest his visit. (all times local):

5:30 p.m.

A Trump administration official is stepping up criticism of some of California’s top elected officials a day before the president visits the state’s border with Mexico.

Thomas Homan, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s acting director, said Monday that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s comments on a recent spate of immigration arrests in Northern California were “beyond the pale.” He was responding to Pelosi’s statement that the arrests were an abuse of power intended to terrorize innocent immigrant families.

Homan also took aim and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s comment that a federal lawsuit against the state is an attempt to score points with Trump’s base. He lambasted Gov. Jerry Brown’s statements defending the state’s level of cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

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12:30 p.m.

Immigrant activists, church leaders and local elected officials are calling for demonstrations to show President Donald Trump that border communities oppose his plans to build a towering wall on the California-Mexico line.

Several dozen activists held a press conference Monday at San Diego’s Chicano Park to call on people to come out and peacefully protest the project.

Trump is expected to arrive Tuesday for his first visit to California as president to see the wall’s prototypes.

Joining the activists at the park were San Diego city councilwoman Georgette Gomez and Democrat U.S. Rep. Juan Vargas, whose district covers the entire California-Mexico border.

Vargas told reporters “Trump is not welcome here!”

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9 a.m.

Gov. Jerry Brown is inviting President Donald Trump to come to California’s Central Valley agricultural heartland while he is in the state to view border wall prototypes this week.

Brown extended the invitation Monday in a letter saying the president should see the state’s high-speed rail construction project.

The governor says California is focusing on bridges, not walls, and adds that the project has put 1,700 people to work.

Brown’s letter also cites the importance of California’s economy and visits by previous presidents.

Trump is expected to arrive Tuesday for his first visit to the state as president.

Trump’s arrival will come just days after his Justice Department sued to block state laws designed to protect people living in the U.S. illegally.

Brown likened that as “an act of war.”

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