One Democratic governor is citing adherence to Christian values as a reason to oppose the United States building a wall on its southern border.
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D.) explained Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" his opposition to President Trump's proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, telling host Chuck Todd that the project is not consistent with Christian values.
Brown brought up Christianity while explaining his opposition to constructing a barrier to secure the border and address the inflow of illegal immigrants.
"We are going to do the right, humane, and I would even say the Christian thing from my point of view [to oppose the wall]," Brown said. "You don't treat human beings like that. Trump's supposed to be Mr. Religious Fellow, and I thought we had to treat the least of these as we would treat the Lord."
"I hope he would reconnect with some of his conservative evangelicals, and they'll tell him these are human beings, these are children of God, [and] they shouldn't be treated that way," Brown added.
The California governor compared Trump's proposal to the Berlin Wall built during the Cold War.
"The wall to me is ominous. It reminds me too much of the Berlin Wall," Brown said. "When I see that 30-foot wall I worry somehow, 'Are they trying to keep me in or keep them out?'"
Brown said Trump is acting like a "strongman" by trying to portray himself as an "ultimate leader" by building a wall to keep people in and out of the country.
Todd asked if Brown would take every opportunity to stop construction of the wall. Brown responded that he and his state will oppose Trump's border wall in a "strategic" way, not wasting time on frivolous lawsuits.
"I don't like that wall, number one. And to the extent that that violates law, certainly I would enforce that," Brown said. "We're not going to sit around and just play patsy and say, 'Hey, go ahead. Lock us in. Do whatever the hell you want. Deport 2 billion, 2 million people.'"
"No, we're going to fight, and we're going to fight very hard," Brown continued. "But we're not going to bring stupid lawsuits or be running to the courthouse every day. We're going to be careful. We'll be strategic."