Your guide to California’s U.S. Senate candidates’ views on immigration and border security

Democratic Rep. Adam B. Schiff of Burbank and retired Dodgers All-Star Steve Garvey, a Republican, are battling to represent California in the U.S. Senate.

The race will bring fresh representation to the seat previously held by Dianne Feinstein, who represented California in the Senate from 1992 until her death last year.

Here’s where the candidates stand on immigration and border security, leading issues in the presidential race that are of great consequence to the Golden State.

Schiff beat fellow Democratic Reps. Katie Porter of Irvine and Barbara Lee of Oakland in the top-two March primary after spending millions of dollars on ads that cast the race as one between himself and Garvey — framing that raised Garvey’s political profile while keeping Schiff’s liberal opponents out of the general election.

Schiff is in his 12th term in the House, where he serves as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee. He was lead prosecutor in former President Trump’s first impeachment trial.

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Garvey spent nearly two decades as an All-Star first baseman for the Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, including when the Dodgers won the 1981 World Series. This is his first run for public office.

California hasn’t elected a Republican in a statewide race since 2006. Garvey told The Times he voted for Donald Trump twice, but said he had no opinion about who was responsible for the violent pro-Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Schiff says fixing the asylum process long term, in a way that addresses public safety and also keeps migrants safe, will require comprehensive immigration reform.

That, he said, will mean ensuring migrants can apply for protections before leaving their country of origin; hiring more judges and interpreters to address systemic backlogs; and providing resources for communities at the border and elsewhere that have received asylum seekers. It will also require improving border inspections with a surge in resources and technology to ports of entry, he said, to stop fentanyl and other illicit drugs from entering the U.S.

“We must pass a comprehensive immigration reform that treats immigrants and immigrant workers with dignity and respect, keeps families together, and gives Dreamers, farmworkers and other front-line workers a clear pathway to citizenship,” Schiff said. “Comprehensive reform also means ensuring a secure, orderly, and humane response at the border.”

“Dreamers” are those who were brought to the U.S. illegally when they were children.

Garvey says that President Biden’s recent action to limit asylum at the southern border “is an attempted quick fix instead of the real reform needed,” adding that the administration should have taken action on border enforcement earlier.

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“Enforcing the law should not be a political decision or an election year talking point,” he said.

In an opinion piece last month in the Los Angeles-based Spanish-language newspaper La Opinión, Garvey said a porous border poses threats to national security, has overwhelmed the already backlogged court system and has strained social services.

Even so, he said, “mass deportation of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in our country is not a realistic solution,” suggesting more resources and staffing for immigration agencies. Garvey is also in favor of reinstating Trump’s so-called “Remain in Mexico” policy that required migrants to wait across the border for the duration of their U.S. court proceedings.

Schiff said he supports efforts to keep families together, including the Biden administration’s recent executive action allowing 550,000 immigrant spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to access a pathway to citizenship. A federal judge in Texas has since temporarily suspended the program.

The policy, he said, “will have a profound effect on countless California families who will now have the opportunity to build a life together without the fear of being ripped apart.”

California is also home to thousands of immigrants — many of them skilled workers in Silicon Valley — who face decades-long waits to obtain a green card and must continually renew their work visas. Schiff said it makes no sense that the U.S. kicks out graduates of American universities who want to stay here, start companies and hire American workers.

As senator, Schiff said he would work to pass the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929, which would allow people to qualify for a green card if they’ve lived in the U.S. for at least seven years.

In baseball, Garvey said, he shared the dugout with players from all over the world.

“We learned so much from each other,” he said. “I don’t believe the answer is cutting off the United States from people who are seeking a better life.”

Garvey said he supports a merit-based immigration system that prioritizes skills, education and economic contributions. He also supports bipartisan efforts in Congress to “return us to a fair and functional immigration system that has a positive effect on California’s economy while also protecting our national security.”

In La Opinión, Garvey said he would advocate for reforms that expedite the path to citizenship, reduce wait times for those seeking legal entry and prioritize the processing of family-based green card petitions.

California is home to seven immigrant detention facilities with the combined capacity to hold more than 7,000 people. In 2020, California banned the use of for-profit detention facilities, citing the track records of health and safety violations at such sites. But the law was repealed before it took effect.

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Schiff said that reports about inhumane conditions at detention centers were “incredibly disturbing.” Successful programs that use other methods of ensuring court appearances are preferable, he added.

“There are better ways to improve the immigration system ... than splitting up families, separating children from their parents, or holding them in appalling conditions,” Schiff said.

Garvey said that state governments should not impede federal immigration enforcement. When the number of arriving migrants increases, there must be a place for those detainees to go, he said.

“California’s actions to make immigration enforcement more difficult only serve the criminals on our streets,” Garvey added.