Her Parents Fled the USSR: Now She Wants to Save California | The Brief

Why should people not only stay in California, but actually move to California? Oh, God, that's actually a really that's a really tough question because I'm actively trying to save California. I would say that if it continues going in the direction it's going, I might not want to stay here for too long. And that's being just completely honest as a lifelong resident. I was born and raised here in Los Angeles, and the weather, the opportunity here, I mean, you would think it's a great place to be. But when you. When you look at just West Hollywood, let's talk about West Hollywood in particular. The city council is trying to push bike lanes on a street on Fountain Avenue. I know that you're now in New York, but I think you're sort of familiar with the area. And Fountain Avenue already is so incredibly congested. Now they want to remove one of the lanes and add a bike lane to it. By doing so, that would remove 200 parking spots. And their answer is, well, what's the problem? People need bike lanes. They're not understanding that then when... Cars no longer are able to drive on fountains. They're going to scroll over to every other side street, and it's going to create complete chaos and so much danger. And it's like just little things like that that just don't make sense. It's like, okay, we want bikes. People on bikes to be able to ride them, wonderful, but how does that affect everyone else in cars? How does it affect if you're getting a high-rise building, what's going to happen to the people that have had rent stabilization? You say you care so much about people that can't afford to live and you want them to have a place, and yet you have policies that are bringing in these high-rises that are going to be upping the cost of rent where these people will have to leave. It's absolutely crazy. I think we're, and so many members of council too, In West Hollywood already are not actually from West Hollywood. They have grown up in other places and have come here to try to change our climate here. And it's really not great. We have more vendors outside than we have restaurants operating well, you know, in brick and mortar. It's we are fundamentally starting to see a change, I think, in the way that America like exists. You know, I am I am. A first generation American. My parents came here from the USSR as refugees in 1979, thanks to the Jewish Federation. And the number one thing they always taught me was that America is the best country on the planet, that it gives you the opportunity to be free and chase that American dream. My parents came here with nothing engaged in everything, and I'm living that American dream. And so to now see people that are sitting on council, that are running for governor, that are actively trying to subvert the things that make America great. For someone that had my parents give up everything to get me this blessing, it's horrifying and I'm actively trying to stop it. So on that last note, Tanya, of the demographic shift, roughly 10% of the population here are illegal immigrants. So number one, do you believe that deportations are an effective strategy? And then number two, do you actually think it's feasible? Because even though I, now back in New York, the first day I moved to Los Angeles was actually the day that LA Mayor Karen Bass imposed the partial curfew on the city. Because, of course, many residents were rioting and throwing molotov cocktails at police officers in response to the enforcement of federal law vis-a-vis illegal immigration. I mean, look, I think that supporting good borders has always typically been a bipartisan issue. It was an American thing. We don't want to be run over. You saw what happened in Spain recently, right? Like, we, every country... has a border. When I studied abroad in Italy, I had to get a visa. I couldn't just extend my stay willy-nilly. It makes no sense. Now, I will say I have a very common sense perspective on immigration. Anyone that has already come here and who's here and who's made it in here illegally, which is a crime and it is breaking the law, it is our fault that we didn't secure the border. If their only law, the only thing that they broke With the law of actually coming here illegally, but otherwise they're actively trying to be good citizens. I would prefer to have them be on a path to citizenship. But if they are here illegally and are doing anything criminal, get them out. I don't want them in prison. I don't want to pay them using my tax dollars. Just bye. Sayonara. Like this isn't complicated. Like I don't see how it's a complicated matter. I'm grateful to law enforcement. I'm grateful to ICE. Do I think that every time, you know, a police officer or a member of ICE behaves, they're always doing everything by the book? No, I don't know anybody in any sector anywhere that does things by the book. How many people die from medical malpractice? Like, mistakes happen. Not everything is perfect. But this whole notion of, like, you know, ban the police and, like, don't fund, like, defund the police and ban ICE is, to me, is insane. anti-American, like we as Americans should want to preserve our freedom and our safety first. And if we're seeing that so many people are illegally crossing our border that are not here with good intentions either, like let's be real, so many of them are trying to ruin our country on top of murdering and raping and drug dealing and everything else. Like it's really, I don't know how that became an issue of being racist. I really don't. To me, it's just simple. 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