The national immigration controversy came to a San Diego congressional debate on Tuesday, with Republican Bill Wells warning that “we’re going to lose this country” and Rep. Sara Jacobs countering that demonizing immigrants poses a threat to communities.
“We had almost 20 million people come across the border illegally,” said Wells, the mayor of El Cajon, which is home to a large immigrant Chaldean community from the Middle East. “We have 500,000 people in America right now that are criminals and have committed rape and murder and theft.”
“We need to wake up and take care of this or we’re going to lose this country completely and a lot of us are going to lose our lives,” he said.
But Jacobs, a Democrat, said demonizing migrants who seek asylum for safety and security “like all of our ancestors did” would create dangerous divisions.
“Let’s be clear about what this rhetoric demonizing immigrants means for all of us and the safety of our community,” she said.
Wells said he isn’t against immigration, and wasn’t demonizing, but wanted migrants to be vetted and go through a legal process. Jacobs countered that “it sounded like he is saying we only want white immigrants in this country.”
The debate between the two candidates for the 51st District took place in a synagogue, Temple Emanu-El in Del Cerro. Jacobs pointed out that Jews were once the group of immigrants who faced demonization. And she noted that today’s asylum laws were created in the aftermath of the Holocaust, when Jews were denied asylum in the United States.
The hour-and-a-half-long debate also touched on the economy, housing costs, fentanyl, homelessness, abortion and Israel. But demonization of immigrants came up repeatedly.
“Everyone is aware that the economy is a mess,” said Wells. “It’s our radical-left policies that have brought us to this place.”
And he blamed immigrants for high housing costs, saying “they’re 20 million people coming into this country competing for housing.”
But Jacobs countered that the United States has had faster growth, lower unemployment and less inflation than any other developed Western country. And she said immigrants currently “power our construction industry” and build new housing.
The debate took place a day after the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel by Hamas. Both Jacobs and Wells stressed their support for Israel, but differed on how the war should end
Jacobs called for a two-state solution, while Wells said Israel “can’t live side-by-side” with its enemies. He called for Israel to “eradicate Hamas, eradicate Hezbollah, and perhaps eradicate Iran.”
“The only way to make sure there is a safe and secure Israel,” Jacobs said, “is to make sure that there is a Palestinian state where Palestinians can have dignity.”
The debate was frequently interrupted by applause, which appeared equal between the two sides. But when boos were heard, Rabbi Devorah Marcus took over and reminded the audience that would not be tolerated.
In a final question, Wells was asked whether he believes Donald Trump won the 2020 election.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter anymore, does it? He’s running. He’s going to win in a couple of months,” Wells said.
To which Jacobs, who was trapped in the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection, replied, “Well, in the words of Tim Walz, that is a very damning non-answer.”
