In testimony provided before the California Senate's Public Safety Committee, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles) decided to admit that "half of his family" is residing in the United States illegally and with the possession of falsified Social Security Cards and green cards. Lest you think we're exaggerating, here is the exact quote:

"…I can tell you half of my family would be eligible for deportation under [President Donald Trump’s] executive order, because if they got a false Social Security card, if they got a false identification, if they got a false driver’s license prior to us passing AB60, if they got a false green card, and anyone who has family members, you know, who are undocumented knows that almost entirely everybody has secured some sort of false identification. That’s what you need to survive, to work. They are eligible for massive deportation."

The quote came from a hearing being held on SB54, a California Senate bill that was introduced by De Leon that would make the entire state of California a "Sanctuary State" (we discussed SB54 here: "California Considering Legislation To Become First Ever Sanctuary State"). Fast forward to the 1:27:00 mark for the relevant comments from De Leon:

Of course, in a follow-up interview with Larry Mantle of KPCC, De Leon was pressed but minimized the problems associated with not only illegally crossing the border but also committing multiple other federal crimes related to identity theft...sure, what's the big deal? Per Breitbart:

“Someone simply who received or purchased a [fraudulent] Social Security card down at McArthur Park, or elsewhere in my district would be eligible immediately for mass deportation,” De Léon said. “He’s trying to deputize police officers — and with the suspicion of someone being a criminal or having a broken taillight, that they themselves, as a local police officer, could call the ICE agents immediately and have that person deported without even legal due process.” Host Larry Mantle asked him: “… First of all, I just — I want to make sure I understand correctly: You don’t think purchasing a phony Social Security card and number should be a deportable offense?” De Léon replied: “I don’t think so … the vast majority of immigrants — hard working immigrants — have done that. I can tell you I have family members specifically who came here as undocumented immigrants, and they did the same thing. That’s what you need to do to survive in this economy.” Mantle objected: “But of course the problem is, — and I know people too — who’ve had their Social Security numbers and identities stolen as a result of that….”

Meanwhile, Trump blasted California's "Sanctuary State" bill last night during an interview with O'Reilly saying that he doesn't "want to defund anybody" but failure to enforce federal laws would require defunding to be used as a "weapon."

“I think it’s ridiculous — sanctuary cities. As you know I’m very much opposed to sanctuary cities. They breed crime. There’s a lot of problems,” Trump said. “If we have to we’ll defund. We give tremendous amounts of money to California. California in many ways is out of control. Obviously the voters agree. Otherwise they wouldn’t have voted for me,” the president added. “So defunding is your weapon of choice —” O’Reilly followed up. “Well, it’s a weapon. I don’t want to defund a state or a city,” Trump replied. “But you’re willing to do it?” O’Reilly asked again. “I don’t want to defund anybody. I want to give them the money they need to properly operate as a city or state. If they’re going to have sanctuary cities, we may have to do that. Certainly, that would be a weapon,” Trump said.

Fast forward to the 4:50 mark for the relevant exchange:

Can someone please explain at what exact point in American history it became perfectly acceptable for an elected official to admit publicly that "half" of his family has committed numerous federal crimes including multiple counts of identity theft and falsification of federal records?