2016 CA Senate race: on Immigration

Loretta Sanchez: Refugees are not the enemy, today nor in our history

Democrat Loretta Sanchez voted against the House refugee measure in Congress. In brief remarks before the vote, she indicated she was influenced by the history of her California district, heavy with refugees from Vietnam and neighboring countries. In an echo of today's circumstances, their arrival more than a generation ago was opposed by some. "We are ready to help resettle these refugees," she said, noting that most are women, children and the elderly. "Refugees are not the enemy. Remember the words on the Statue of Liberty: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

Rocky Chavez: We are home for the tired and oppressed, even Syrians

Republican Rocky Chavez sounded remarkably like her. "One, security is important, but two, we need to understand we are a country that has always been a home for those who are hungry and tired and oppressed," said Chavez. He recalled the internment in the 1940s of Japanese Americans who posed no threat, and of America's earlier reluctance to accept Jews escaping Nazi Germany. "That didn't set well in history," he said, adding that "a measured approach is often the best approach. We should not take counsel from our fears and we should not take positions that go against our values."

Duf Sundheim: Path to legal status without executive action

Tom Del Beccaro: Expose crime and danger at the US-Mexico border

"If you break the law, that means you've broken the law," Del Beccaro said, taking issue with the question about Harris.

"My focus is more about how to bring people to the table," he added. "I am not running so I can say, `Some people are wrong and some people are right.' I am going to be very specific in this campaign about solutions as opposed to just politics and yelling back and forth."