Internet erupts after California Dem on debate stage 'admits quiet part out loud' on immigration

"The sanctuary state policy is designed to make sure that our state resources - the taxpayer dollars, the public servants that we have - are focusing on doing their jobs, which is not cooperating with the federal immigration authorities.

"These are Californians. They contribute to our economy. They pay taxes. And they're one of the only ways that our state has been growing in recent years," Porter said of illegal immigrants.

While Trump and others have attempted to add a citizenship question to the Census in an effort to remove noncitizens from calculations determining the number of House seats each state has, the Constitution does not mention citizenship status in relation to congressional apportionment.

"Democrats have been in total control of [California] for the past 16 years."

Other critics seized on Porter's assertion that illegal immigrants benefit California's economy.