'Calexit' supporters plan to convert half of Cali into 'autonomous Native American nation'

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Organizers of a long-running initiative to secure California’s secession from the United States now say they want to give away nearly half of the state, including all of its federal land, to form an “autonomous Native American nation.”

“Calexit,” as the proposal for California’s secession is known, was given the green light by the state government earlier this year to begin collecting signatures to place the measure on the November ballot. Advocates had until mid-October to gather 365,880 signatures of registered voters to put it up for a statewide vote.

But the revamp announced by Calexit’s founders on Tuesday adds an additional objective: constructing “the first ever autonomous Native American nation in North America,” by giving Native Americans all federal lands in the state, running from the border with Mexico to the state boundary shared with Oregon.

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“Why not do something to right some of the wrongs of the past to the Native American people, and give them back their land?” Calexit co-founder Louis J. Marinelli said Tuesday.

Because most of the federal land would include conservative-leaning portions of California, the plan also would create a “buffer zone between Donald Trump’s America and the new independent California Republic,” another co-founder of the initiative, Marcus Ruiz Evans, said in a statement.

Speaking to Fox News, Marinelli said the plan wouldn’t be unduly disruptive to Californians.

“It will have a minimal impact on the California population, two-thirds of which lives in a county on California’s shore,” Marinelli said.

He added that Calexit organizers will continue their fight even if Democrats make big gains in the upcoming midterm elections.

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