The most recent budget revisions for the state of California contains $15 million to defend illegal aliens from deportations.

Breitbart reports that Governor Jerry Brown is making good on a promise he made last January to defend "every man, woman and child" in danger of being deported.

It is certainly controversial, to say the least, for a state government, within the United States, to start providing taxpayer dollars to fight efforts by the United States to deport people who have entered the country, or overstayed their visas, in violation of the law.

To find this controversial spending proposal, just in the summary document of the budget, you have to comb through to the Department of Social Services section, and then read all of the way through to page 38, in the Health and Human Services subsection – where you find under "Immigration Services" an increase of $15 million to $30 million "to further expand the availability of legal services for people seeking, "…deportation defense[.]" ...

President Donald Trump ran and was elected on a platform of cracking down on illegal immigration. Trump's Attorney General, former Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), has been carrying out the President's promises by focusing federal law enforcement resources on cracking down on illegal immigration.

The Trump administration's focus on this issue, conversely, has been a rallying cry for the progressive Democrats that control the levers of political power in California. Legislation authored by State Senate President pro Tem Kevin De León (D-Los Angeles) to make California a "sanctuary state" is rapidly advancing through the legislative process. In addition, the state legislature has produced stinging anti-Trump resolutions. Last week, it was announced that the California legislature extended a controversial contract for former Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder and his law firm, at $25,000 per month, focused on taking an aggressive posture against the Trump administration.

Sacramento Democrats are not the first to engage in this very aggressive funding of efforts to stymie federal immigration enforcement. Several large cities around California with Democratic mayors and city councils have already entered into this space.

Suppose Republican governors decided to pick and choose which federal law to uphold and which to defy.  We'd have liberal Democrats screaming about "nullification" and the danger to the Constitution. 

Technically, California's efforts to defend illegals from deportation is not nullification.  It is much worse.  It's revolution.  It is taking an active part in defying the law, enabling Californians to avoid the consequences of breaking federal immigration law.  The feds aren't asking California to deport people – they are doing that themselves.  The proceedings will take place in federal immigration courts.  The cases will be heard by federal judges.  That the state of California will seek to short-circuit federal deportation procedures using taxpayer money is outrageous.

Is there a remedy for this arrogance?  Congress could try to withhold funds, but that is proving to be harder than it should be.  Since California voters see fit to return politicians to office who defy the federal government, it's likely this power-grab by the state will continue for the foreseeable future.