On a recent overcast Saturday, in the manicured backyard of a constituent’s home, Rep. Mike Levine (D-San Juan Capistrano) told dozens of supporters about his efforts to bring more sand to local beaches, reduce veterans’ Military homelessness and efforts to prevent gun violence.
Peggy Avni whispered to her friend in the crowd, “What about immigration?” When Levine started asking, she immediately raised her hand.
“I’m worried about immigration,” Avni told him. “I know Republicans are trying to prevent anything from happening. So, is anything going to happen before the election?
As immigration takes center stage in the presidential election, the U.S.-Mexico border has become an increasingly important political issue on the ballot. In California, where the San Diego area is now a top destination for immigrants, a number of competitive House races could help determine control of Congress.
A handful of California Republicans appear vulnerable in the November election, including Reps. David Valadao of Hanford and Ken Calvert of Corona, Their defeat could help Democrats regain their majority in the House.
But some Democrats — including Levin — are still holding on to their seats.
“Right now, the border is the No. 1 issue affecting the region,” said Levine’s Republican opponent, retired businessman Matt Gunderson. “The San Diego County Line has become the centerpiece of the border crossing. Until we secure the border, all of our other concerns about public safety, public health and inflation will be put on hold.
Immigration is becoming a priority for Levine, whose maternal grandparents immigrated to the United States from Mexico with his parents on work permits.
(Alan J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Levine is an environmental attorney who has served in Congressional District 49 since 2019, representing most of coastal counties north of San Diego and parts of southern Orange County. His top priorities are combating climate change, supporting veterans and protecting democracy, even as immigrants increasingly appear on his list.
At a campaign stop in Encinitas, he told the crowd the shelter system was broken. He said it was easier for people to pay thousands of dollars to cartels or get step-by-step instructions on social media than to enter through legal channels.
He reminded them that Republicans heeded former President Trump’s demands and scrapped the bipartisan border security bill after months of negotiations. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and conservative news outlets have used the politically divisive issue of immigration as a cudgel against President Joe Biden.
“We do have a real crisis,” Levine said. “That’s not necessarily what Fox News is reporting. But it’s unacceptable. It’s indefensible.
Avni, 70, an independent voter, expressed support for Levine but found Levine’s answers to her questions vague. She said she supports legal immigration.
“My friends, even my more liberal friends, understand that this is a huge problem for Southern California,” she said. “I want to make a difference, but unfortunately it took the Biden administration three years to get there.”
Levine said in an interview after the event that his mother’s grandparents immigrated from Mexico with their parents and had work permits. He said their experiences might not be possible today.
Matt Gunderson, a Republican challenging Levine, said that before border security, “all of our other issues, in terms of public safety, public health and inflation, are going to be put on the back burner.”
(Gunderson Campaign)
Levine said he wants to expand legal pathways to citizenship, especially for so-called Dreamers and others who have lived in the United States for decades.
The failed border security deal marked the first time a majority of Democrats supported immigration legislation that did not include a legalization component. However, he said it was a good-faith negotiation that included necessary funding for more border agents, asylum officers and immigration judges.
“This is really a political issue,” he said, but “this is really a national security issue and should be treated as such. To me, that prioritizes where it sits within the continuum of all the other things that voters might care about. Ranking.
Three days after the meeting at the White House, Levine stood beside Biden and just behind Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas as the president announced an executive order limiting asylum at the border. The order raises legal standards for asylum applications and blocks entry for those who cross legal entry points When their numbers average over 2,500 people per day.
Asked how he felt about Biden relying on the same legal provision that Trump used to ban people from several Muslim-majority countries, Levin said he hoped Biden would use it for “very different purposes.” . He said record arrivals over the past few years showed changes were needed.
But Gunderson, Levine’s Republican challenger, said the president’s order came too late. The former car dealership owner ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2022, focusing his campaign on middle-class affordability.
Gunderson said the Biden administration has dismantled Trump’s border policies only to “slowly roll back” as the election approaches.
“The recent ‘come to Jesus’ perspective is not going to change what they’ve been doing for the past three and a half years,” he said.
Immigration issues also affect other races in California. In the 45th District, Republican Rep. Michelle Steel of Seal Beach faces Democratic challenger Derek Tran, a veteran and Oran A business owner in Zhixian County, his parents are Vietnamese political refugees.
Tran recently came under criticism from Asian American community leaders after she told Punchbowl News that Steele was “trying to run as a refugee” even though “she came to this country for financial gain.” Her family fled communist North Korea for Seoul, and she later moved to the United States to attend college.
Steele criticized Democrats’ handling of the U.S.-Mexico border, saying her constituents arrived legally.
In the 41st District, Calvert, the longest-serving Republican member of California’s congressional delegation, faces Democrat Will Rollins, a former federal prosecutor who helped prosecute the Jan. 6 insurrection. molecular.
The redrawing of congressional maps has divided once solidly Republican districts in Riverside County. While both candidates advocate for securing the southern border, Rollins also supports providing a path to citizenship for some immigrants and says those arriving at the border should be treated humanely.
Dave Wasserman, senior editor and elections analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said that while immigration has been one of Biden’s weakest issues in approval polls, “Democratic vetoes are partly responsible for succeeded in establishing a position independent of the White House on this issue.
Wasserman said the issue has become a lightning rod not just for border districts and states, but also spreading to suburbs farther north as recent immigrants put pressure on municipal budgets. He pointed to New York Rep. Tom Suozzi, who criticized the administration for its slow response to the issue while also blasting Trump and Republicans for undermining bipartisan compromise.
“Overall, swing voters support tightening the border or going further than what Biden and Democrats have taken over the past three years,” Wasserman said. “The focus in 2016 is Trump’s views on immigration and immigration ”
