CA governor candidate campaigns in Fresno. Here’s what he said
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- Villaraigosa condemned mass deportations, urging humane immigration enforcement.
- He pledged to cut housing costs through permitting reform and construction policy.
- Villaraigosa backed redistricting changes, citing threats to democratic institutions.
Antonio Villaraigosa, one of the first candidates for California governor to campaign in the Fresno area this cycle, criticized the Trump administration’s mass deportation crackdown and urged a humane approach to immigration policy in a recent interview with The Fresno Bee.
“In a free and democratic society, law enforcement, in this case ICE, doesn’t come in all covered up without identifying themselves, with assault weapons and flash bang grenades, pulling people off the street, going into places of business without a warrant, going to schools, courthouses and hospitals,” Villaraigosa said. “That is not the America I love.”
The former California Assembly speaker and mayor of Los Angeles is running in the crowded and wide-open race for governor that includes former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former California Senate President Toni Atkins and former state Controller Betty Yee.
Villaraigosa campaigned in Fresno during “pistachio week” in August and will return to the city on Thursday for a panel discussion on public transit. He touched on a variety of hot-button statewide issues in a wide-ranging interview with The Bee.
Villaraigosa criticized the high cost of living in California, including high gas prices and utility costs, and said he would streamline permitting and pass policies to aid housing construction, if elected governor.
“You can’t afford to live in the state, which is why so many are leaving,” Villaraigosa said. “We need a governor that’s going to focus on affordability.”
Villaraigosa also voiced his support for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s redistricting plan to counter President Donald Trump’s election gerrymander in Texas. California voters will decide the proposal to temporarily gerrymander the state’s map of congressional districts in a Nov. 4 special election.
“I think it’s important to push back,” he said. “People have a right to make sure that we’re doing everything possible to take on this assault in our democracy. I’m supporting it because they’re giving the people a right to make that decision.”
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Villaraigosa also addressed the root causes of homelessness including mental health and drug issues, advocating for care courts and mental health facilities.
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“I’m not for criminalizing homeless. I am for compassion, but I’m not for chaos and what we have on the streets of California,” he said. “Some of these people need to be in mental institutions. So, we should have local medical facilities throughout the state.”
The 72-year-old Villaraigosa said a lot of mistakes were made with California high-speed rail, but supports the project’s completion.
“We spent so much on this, can’t just walk away from it, but we can’t do what we’ve done in the past. It hasn’t worked,” he said. “Don’t just throw money at the problem, evaluate the problem, analyze the problem, and come up with solutions.”
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