Tony Thurmond, the state superintendent of public instruction, says he is the first gubernatorial candidate to call for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Thurmond, in an April 30 briefing with American Community Media (ACoM), said he is not only in favor of “scrapping” ICE, but he would also tax for-profit detention centers and invite young Mexicans who live near the U.S. border to attend the state’s community colleges.
Thurmond, a Democrat, spoke with reporters in one of a series of ACoM briefings with the state’s gubernatorial candidates. A recent CBS News Poll shows Thurmond trailing the other seven major candidates. But 52% of the responding voters also said they haven’t heard enough about him to decide on whether they would support him in the June primary.
As the son of an immigrant mother from Panama who has two immigrant grandfathers, from Jamaica and San Andres, Colombia, he told reporters he wants to be California’s first Black and first Latino governor.
During the briefing, he also said he supports a wealth tax on billionaires, statewide rent control and bringing back redevelopment agencies to revitalize downtown areas.
Thurmond on immigration
“It’s okay to have immigration enforcement but … clearly this is a system that is not working … it is a failed project,” he said, pointing to detainee mistreatment as well as inmate and protestor deaths. “I will work to abolish ICE and establish a better immigration system that has a path to citizenship.”
Thurmond said the immigration crackdown hasn’t made the country safer as the Trump administration promised it would, and he would go after businesses that make money off immigrant detention.
“I believe that the whole purpose behind President Trump’s dangerous and reckless immigration policy is to help his friends make money like [for-profit prison operators] CoreCivic and GEO Group.
“We have to hit them in their wallet,” he said, suggesting a 50% tax on any company that operates an ICE detention center in California. He also said he would direct the state attorney general to prosecute anyone — including ICE agents — who violate California law.
Thurmond co-authored a ban on private prisons in California in 2016 when he was a member of the state Assembly, although then Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed it. A private prison ban was approved under Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019. Nevertheless, there are now eight privately-operated ICE detention centers in the state.
Small business, downtown redevelopment, rent control
Thurmond said he wants to provide more small business support and bring back redevelopment agencies to revitalize downtown areas. Other causes he supports include rent control, deferred college tuition, a single payer health care system and coverage for undocumented immigrants, child care support, and long term health insurance to take care of the elderly.
“I’ve been outpolled and outspent and flat out told I would never win” — Tony Thurmond
Rent control should be expanded statewide, Thurmond said, adding that it can be done in a way that also allows landlords to increase rents to cover their costs and have a small profit.
He would also bring down housing costs with a plan to build 2 million housing units on surplus school district property, which he said exists in every county in the state. As governor, Thurmond would support down payment grants for first-time home buyers and has already endorsed a $10 billion bond issue that legislators want to put on the November ballot.
“The state has not invested in affordable housing for more than a decade,” he said.
Billionaire tax to help middle and working classes
Thurmond said he supports the “billionaire tax” on the Nov. 3 ballot and thinks that other states – and perhaps the nation – will follow California’s lead in setting wealth taxes to bring more equity to society.
Proceeds from taxing the super rich would provide “a tax credit to working and middle class Californians so you all can have more money to pay for the rising cost of gas, grocery and housing,” he said.
Determined despite obstacles
During his 18 continuous years of public service, Thurmond said he has worked on important issues affecting Californians. The changes he advocates now, he said, would take time and depend on having a new Congress and another president. But he believes voters will flip the House in November.
Before being elected to be the state superintendent of public instruction in 2018, Thurmond represented part of the East Bay in the State Assembly for four years, where he was a member of the Latino, Black and Jewish caucuses and served on labor and employment, health, human services and education committees. Prior to that he served on the West Contra Costa School Board and the Richmond City Council.
When a reporter asked Thurmond if he’d leave the race and shift his support to another candidate, he indicated that wasn’t at all on his mind.
“I’ve been outpolled and outspent and flat out told I would never win” in five elections, he said.
Thurmond said critics erroneously say that someone like him – the son of an immigrant, someone who lost both parents by the time he was 6, and someone who worked for $3 an hour and became a social worker to help foster youth before entering politics – can’t win an election.
That fear, he said, is not justified.
“I don’t think polls elect anyone – people do,” he said. “When voters hear our message, they like what we’re working on and that we have a path to victory … I’m in it to the end and I’m running to win.”
In March, the University of Southern California cancelled its gubernatorial debate following criticism that it had excluded all candidates of color (in addition to Thurmond, that included Latinos Xavier Becerra, the health and human services secretary under President Joe Biden; Antonio Villaraigosa, a former Los Angeles mayor; and Asian American Betty Yee, a former state controller who has since dropped out of the race).
Thurmond will not be included in CNN’s May 5 debate because he did not meet polling criteria. Those eligible for that debate are Democrats Becerra, Villaraigosa, Matt Mahan, Katie Porter and Tom Steyer and Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton.
Thurmond’s campaign site lists numerous endorsements from education leaders, state and local politicians, labor unions such as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and advocacy organizations like the Black Women Organized for Political Action and the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club.
Lindajoy Fenley is a ChicoSol editor and oversees our Spanish section.