California June 2 Primary Election: Congressional District 3 candidates on the issues

There are eight candidates in the competitive race to represent California’s newly redrawn 3rd Congressional District.It now covers Nevada County, El Dorado County and parts of Placer and Sacramento counties. This district is currently represented by Republican Kevin Kiley, but after voters passed Proposition 50 to redraw this district and several others to favor Democrats, Kiley is not looking to reclaim this seat in Congress. Instead, Kiley is running to represent California District 6, which is currently represented by Democrat Ami Bera.The top two candidates in each race from the June Primary will advance to the General Election in November, and the winner will serve the next two-year term that starts in January.We interviewed the six leading candidates in the California District 3 race. In alphabetical order:Democrat Chris Bennett is an Army veteran, former tech worker and community activist who says he quit his job to run for Congress.Democrat Ami Bera currently represents California’s 6th Congressional District and serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He was first elected to Congress in 2012.Democrat Lyndon “Pacey” Cervantes is a longtime radio host and community advocate. Democrat Heidi Hall is a Nevada County Supervisor who once worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.Republican Christine Bish is a small business owner and realtor.Republican Robb Tucker is a Nevada County Supervisor and businessman.The summaries of their positions below are based on their full interviews with KCRA 3.On the issue of the cost of living:Chris Bennett (D):Bennett believes the biggest driver in the high cost of living is the war in Iran and the interruption of the oil supply. “When the cost of oil goes up because there is an artificial restriction on the supply, that means that the prices for everything go up,” Bennett said. He wants to see cuts to military spending and suggests using that money to invest in things like public housing. Bennett is pushing for more federally managed functions. Specifically, he wants to see federally run, managed and funded hospitals in rural and urban areas that are underserved.He is pushing for a Medicare for all, single payer health insurance program. “Fundamentally, really, the reason why things are so unaffordable is because everything has been turned into a way for someone to make money off of us,” he said. “And a lot of these things are absolutely critical for us, just as human beings, to live and survive. And so, the government should really be focusing on meeting people’s basic needs.”Ami Bera (D):“We’ve got to end this war so we can get oil prices, gasoline prices back to where they’re manageable,” Bera said. “But we’ve got a real issue with the utility prices. We’ve got to address that part.” Bera said increased utility rates by investor-owned utility companies are driving up costs. He wants to see more affordable housing, suggesting that there should be an investment in building two-bedroom, one-bath starter homes that cost $200,000.“Get those families in there. We can do this,” he said. “And, you know, I’ve talked to developers, the city of Sacramento, the County of Sacramento has a lot of vacant land. Let’s build on that land and let’s build fast.”Lyndon “Pacey” Cervantes (D):Cervantes wants to see utility companies, like PG&E, turned into not-for-profit community energy providers.He is pushing for expanding affordable, healthcare access and moving towards Medicare for all.Cervantes also wants to subsidize childcare. “We have to expand affordable childcare to help people, to help new parents, especially, with their financial situations,” Cervantes said. “A lot of women are having to choose between having a child or having a career. Women should not have to choose that. And that is also what is hurting the equity for women in the workforce as well.”Heidi Hall (D):Hall wants tariffs repealed. “I hear from business owners all the time,” Hall said. “It varies depending on what kind of business. But these tariffs are absolutely impacting our small businesses as well as our farmers and growers here in the rural areas. Those have got to be pulled back.”She is also pushing for more investments into universal healthcare and affordable housing.Hall told KCRA 3 she is also advocating to repeal the billionaire tax cut, so there are more funds to invest in working people and small businesses.Christine Bish (R):“Roll back the taxes, roll back the regulations, allow us to clean up the forested areas, and help redevelop existing communities,” Bish said. Bish told KCRA 3 she believes redevelopment wouldn’t cost as much and it would preserve the existing communities without losing valuable farmland. Robb Tucker (R):Tucker believes California policies have resulted in the high cost of living. “I think we need to make government more efficient so that these programs can serve the people they’re intended to serve,” Tucker said.He supports less government regulation. On the issue of balancing needs of the district:Robb Tucker (R):“That’s a challenge that every candidate has now, that didn’t exist as much in the old days when districts were drawn with like areas, like values, and like issues like geography,” Tucker said. He believes wildfire resilience and mitigation as well as insurance cancellations are challenges facing people living in the rural areas of the district. Public safety, housing and homelessness are more concerning for people living in the district’s urban areas. “Ultimately that’s what I’m trying to share and advocate, that I’m going to represent the constituents and not a particular party,” Tucker said. “I’m going to do what’s right for the residents of California and the voters in District 3 counties.”Christine Bish (R):Bish told KCRA 3 that if she’s elected, she will have a main congressional office in Sacramento and three satellite offices.“That’s the only way that I believe we can really serve each community and their unique needs,” Bish said. Heidi Hall (D):“There are things that are really deeply in common,” Hall said. “But I’m also, you know, anxious to learn more about the area. One of the things we have in common is that I hear everywhere, across every part of this district that they want a progressive Democrat in this seat, that they want someone who’s going to be responsive, who’s going to show up, who’s going to have town halls.”Hall went on to say, “I’m not corporate backed. I’m grassroots. And that’s something they are demanding as well. In addition, much of that Sacramento area that’s now in the district, is unincorporated. And I’ve heard from them that they felt left behind, very much like the rural areas of this district. I know what it is to have to fight for these areas. I’ve been able to lead at the state and national level on issues that affect unincorporated areas and I’ll bring that fight to Congress as well.”Lyndon “Pacey” Cervantes (D):Cervantes told KCRA 3 he is very familiar with both areas. If elected, he wants to take on PG&E and see them become a not-for-profit community energy provider. “If you take the billions of dollars in profits that PG&E makes and put that towards fire resistant programs like undergrounding their lines, that’s really going to help the Sierra Nevada area of this district.”Cervantes believes a community energy provider would lower utility bills across the district. Ami Bera (D):“The best way to do your job is to show up. That’s why I’ve been going up to the Foothills, meeting with folks in South Lake Tahoe and Truckee.”He added, “You’ve got to meet with folks. You’ve got to ask questions and listen and then work with the local electeds, the county and state electeds to say, OK, one or two or three priorities that we can get done. That’s what I’ve done in Sacramento County, and that’s certainly how I’m approaching the new parts of the district.”Chris Bennett (D):Bennett told KCRA 3 he believes the basic needs of people living in the district are the same. “So really, it really boils down to actually just showing up and making sure that people have representation,” he said. “So, we are maintaining relationships with people in all the different areas, whether it’s urban, suburban and rural. We are attuned to the issues people are facing, and the only thing that really differentiates our platform, which is the most comprehensive of any candidate in this race, is that it’s actually being built and directly inputted by members of the community, the people that are actually being impacted. We’re not trying to impose the things that we think you need.”On the issue of wildfire prevention:Heidi Hall (D): Hall believes there are two aspects to addressing wildfires.“One is the clearing that needs to happen,” Hall said. “That needs to happen at the federal level and at the homeowner level. And then on the other side, there’s a wildfire insurance crisis which is pushing people out of their homes.”She wants to see increased federal staffing and work in federally owned forests to start mitigating the overstocked forests.Hall told KCRA 3 that the process can include some logging that can lead to more jobs in the region. She also wants residents to clear 30 to 100 feet around their homes. Hall said clearing the forests and land around homes would reduce the risk of wildfire from 40 to 60%. She wants to see the money that would be saved by the clearing to be passed on to homeowners. Lyndon “Pacey” Cervantes (D):Cervantes believes utility companies like PG&E are part of the insurance crisis and wants to see them become a not-for-profit energy provider. Ami Bera (D):Bera pointed to the Fix Our Forest Act, which establishes requirements for managing forests on federal land. The bipartisan legislation has passed the House and is in a Senate committee. He added, “We’ve got to work with the homeowners. Can we get insurance companies to reduce the fire risk, to harden your home, to clear brush, things like that? You know, a lot of homeowners can’t afford to do that.”Chris Bennett (D):Bennett supports full federal funding for all fire departments, especially in rural areas. He told KCRA 3 that floods and wildfires are caused by institutional climate polluters, like the U. S. Military.“I believe that what we really need to do is put those externalities that they’ve dumped onto rural areas in the global South, back onto those companies by making them pay for our public flood and fire insurance program at the federal level, because once they start having to pay for people in California as $1, $2, and $5 million dollar homes get burned down or flooded out, they’re going to find ways to move away from fossil fuel dependence very quickly,” Bennett said. Bennett also supports funding for companies that are clearing fire paths.He wants to see more investment into building alternate avenues of escape in rural areas as well as investments into renewable energy.Bennett added that it’s important that the crews battling fires on the frontlines have the tools they need to do the job. “It seems like our public safety funding is just completely backwards in terms of how we’re actually allocating those resources,” Bennett said. Robb Tucker (R):Tucker said wildfire mitigation conversations are part of every policy decision Nevada County Supervisors make. He thinks past policy decisions have a profound impact. “I believe decades and decades of mismanagement of our forest lands, and national forest makes up a large majority of our county up there, as well as some of the other ones in this district. I think that has been what has contributed, very specifically to the wildfires.”Tucker supports timber harvesting. He also wants insurance companies to assess wildfire risks to individual homes based on the future and not historical data. “If this community has invested in home hardening and wildfire mitigation, that should be taken into effect as it is now,” Tucker said. “It’s all grouped together geographically. And I think science has advanced enough that they can do that. So it’s a multifold issue and it’s a huge one up there.”Christine Bish (R):“I’ve actually authored legislation and I call it the Wildfire Act,” Bish said. “And, as I’m waiting to be elected to Congress, I actually copyrighted it.”Bish said her plan involves wraparound insurance mitigation.“When we start looking at how they’re paying claims, if they pay them, when they deny them, I believe that California Fair Plan is insolvent and the best and fastest, relief for people in high fire areas is going to be the Wildfire Act because it’s modeled after National Flood Insurance,” Bish said. On the issue of immigration:Bish believes current immigration laws are not being enforced. She wants to see more immigration judges hired and a path to citizenship for immigrants who came to the U. S. as children. “They are American citizens by everything other than birthright,” Bish said. “And I know this isn’t the most popular thing with a lot of Republicans, but we’ve got to be realistic. Let’s remove the bad guys. Let’s get them out of our communities. And for hard working individuals who do not know another lifestyle, and a lot of them don’t know another language, I want to see them on a path to a green card.”Robb Tucker (R):“Other candidates in the race and elsewhere talking about abolishing ICE, doing away with immigration,” Tucker said. “To me, that’s just political rhetoric and talking points. And it’s not realistic. Now, we need to have accountability in all our programs, but I think there needs to be balance there.”Tucker believes immigration is a public safety issue. “We need to focus on the public safety side, bringing to justice and holding accountable those who violate the law. I’m not talking about violating the law coming to the country, because that’s a separate issue.”He told KCRA 3 he believes sanctuary city policies have made illegal immigration worse. “We have gotten in the way of law enforcement doing their job as a whole, as opposed to collaborating. So, yeah, I think it’s a big issue, particularly here in the state. And I would do everything I can to support law enforcement.”Ami Bera (D):Bera wants the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) to be reformed. “If ICE is targeting violent felons and criminals, that’s one thing. But if folks are driving around in unmarked vans with their faces covered, not identifying themselves, that is, to me, that’s criminal,” Bera said. “And we’ve got to stop that. If we want secure borders, that’s one thing. If we want to go after folks that are violent felons, who are here illegally, that’s another thing. Then we have to actually have a legal immigration system, the ability for folks to come here to live the American dream.”Bera told KCRA 3 his parents came to the U.S. as immigrants in the 1950s.Lyndon “Pacey” Cervantes (D):Cervantes wants ICE to be deconstructed and rebuilt. He wants the immigration process to be faster.“If we actually invested money into expanding the immigration system, making it faster, we wouldn’t have so many, as they call illegal immigrants, because the speed of which they could be processed, background-checked and approved to come into this country to help this economy that immigrants are so necessary for, then we wouldn’t have all these problems with immigration,” Cervantes said. Heidi Hall (D):Hall wants to abolish ICE. “It is clear to me that our immigrant population in this country benefits all of us,” Hall said. “They contribute so much to our workforce. They contribute culturally. They pay into the system and don’t get that payment back. We have to have a better way to make sure we know who’s coming across our borders. But we have to be able to process them in a way that’s humane and efficient.”She also wants to see more immigration judges.“This is a challenge to both parties, Republican and Democrats,” Hall said. “Children under the age of 18 should never be removed from their families or put into detention centers. I would love to put forth a bill that abolishes that, that stops that practice altogether.”Chris Bennett (D):“Since the Chinese Exclusion Act, we have seen immigration be a way for the wealthiest people in the country to basically blame immigrants every time they destroy the economy,” Bennett said. Bennett says the immigration system needs to change and be about humanity. He is pushing to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) and things he U.S. should make it easier for people to live and work in the country legally with pathways to citizenship. “So fundamentally, we need to flip the narrative, flip the script on this immigration discussion to really be about what are our actual needs, and how do we make it so that this system actually works, instead of punishing people in order to benefit those who are actually destroying our economy?”Also, on the ballot in the 3rd Congressional District:Republican Laura KosckiGreen Party Candidate Chris RichardsonYou can learn more about the candidates on their campaign websites:Chris BennettAmi BeraLyndon “Pacey” CervantesHeidi HallChristine BishLaura Koscki (no campaign website available)Robb TuckerChris Richardson

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

There are eight candidates in the competitive race to represent California’s newly redrawn 3rd Congressional District.

It now covers Nevada County, El Dorado County and parts of Placer and Sacramento counties.

This district is currently represented by Republican Kevin Kiley, but after voters passed Proposition 50 to redraw this district and several others to favor Democrats, Kiley is not looking to reclaim this seat in Congress.

Instead, Kiley is running to represent California District 6, which is currently represented by Democrat Ami Bera.

The top two candidates in each race from the June Primary will advance to the General Election in November, and the winner will serve the next two-year term that starts in January.

We interviewed the six leading candidates in the California District 3 race. In alphabetical order:

Democrat Chris Bennett is an Army veteran, former tech worker and community activist who says he quit his job to run for Congress.

Democrat Ami Bera currently represents California’s 6th Congressional District and serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He was first elected to Congress in 2012.

Democrat Lyndon “Pacey” Cervantes is a longtime radio host and community advocate.

Democrat Heidi Hall is a Nevada County Supervisor who once worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Republican Christine Bish is a small business owner and realtor.

Republican Robb Tucker is a Nevada County Supervisor and businessman.

The summaries of their positions below are based on their full interviews with KCRA 3.

On the issue of the cost of living:

Chris Bennett (D):

Bennett believes the biggest driver in the high cost of living is the war in Iran and the interruption of the oil supply.

“When the cost of oil goes up because there is an artificial restriction on the supply, that means that the prices for everything go up,” Bennett said.

He wants to see cuts to military spending and suggests using that money to invest in things like public housing.

Bennett is pushing for more federally managed functions. Specifically, he wants to see federally run, managed and funded hospitals in rural and urban areas that are underserved.

He is pushing for a Medicare for all, single payer health insurance program.

“Fundamentally, really, the reason why things are so unaffordable is because everything has been turned into a way for someone to make money off of us,” he said. “And a lot of these things are absolutely critical for us, just as human beings, to live and survive. And so, the government should really be focusing on meeting people’s basic needs.”

Ami Bera (D):

“We’ve got to end this war so we can get oil prices, gasoline prices back to where they’re manageable,” Bera said. “But we’ve got a real issue with the utility prices. We’ve got to address that part.”

Bera said increased utility rates by investor-owned utility companies are driving up costs.

He wants to see more affordable housing, suggesting that there should be an investment in building two-bedroom, one-bath starter homes that cost $200,000.

“Get those families in there. We can do this,” he said. “And, you know, I’ve talked to developers, the city of Sacramento, the County of Sacramento has a lot of vacant land. Let’s build on that land and let’s build fast.”

Lyndon “Pacey” Cervantes (D):

Cervantes wants to see utility companies, like PG&E, turned into not-for-profit community energy providers.

He is pushing for expanding affordable, healthcare access and moving towards Medicare for all.

Cervantes also wants to subsidize childcare.

“We have to expand affordable childcare to help people, to help new parents, especially, with their financial situations,” Cervantes said. “A lot of women are having to choose between having a child or having a career. Women should not have to choose that. And that is also what is hurting the equity for women in the workforce as well.”

Heidi Hall (D):

Hall wants tariffs repealed.

“I hear from business owners all the time,” Hall said. “It varies depending on what kind of business. But these tariffs are absolutely impacting our small businesses as well as our farmers and growers here in the rural areas. Those have got to be pulled back.”

She is also pushing for more investments into universal healthcare and affordable housing.

Hall told KCRA 3 she is also advocating to repeal the billionaire tax cut, so there are more funds to invest in working people and small businesses.

Christine Bish (R):

“Roll back the taxes, roll back the regulations, allow us to clean up the forested areas, and help redevelop existing communities,” Bish said.

Bish told KCRA 3 she believes redevelopment wouldn’t cost as much and it would preserve the existing communities without losing valuable farmland.

Robb Tucker (R):

Tucker believes California policies have resulted in the high cost of living.

“I think we need to make government more efficient so that these programs can serve the people they’re intended to serve,” Tucker said.

He supports less government regulation.

On the issue of balancing needs of the district:

Robb Tucker (R):

“That’s a challenge that every candidate has now, that didn’t exist as much in the old days when districts were drawn with like areas, like values, and like issues like geography,” Tucker said.

He believes wildfire resilience and mitigation as well as insurance cancellations are challenges facing people living in the rural areas of the district. Public safety, housing and homelessness are more concerning for people living in the district’s urban areas.

“Ultimately that’s what I’m trying to share and advocate, that I’m going to represent the constituents and not a particular party,” Tucker said. “I’m going to do what’s right for the residents of California and the voters in District 3 counties.”

Christine Bish (R):

Bish told KCRA 3 that if she’s elected, she will have a main congressional office in Sacramento and three satellite offices.

“That’s the only way that I believe we can really serve each community and their unique needs,” Bish said.

Heidi Hall (D):

“There are things that are really deeply in common,” Hall said. “But I’m also, you know, anxious to learn more about the area. One of the things we have in common is that I hear everywhere, across every part of this district that they want a progressive Democrat in this seat, that they want someone who’s going to be responsive, who’s going to show up, who’s going to have town halls.”

Hall went on to say, “I’m not corporate backed. I’m grassroots. And that’s something they are demanding as well. In addition, much of that Sacramento area that’s now in the district, is unincorporated. And I’ve heard from them that they felt left behind, very much like the rural areas of this district. I know what it is to have to fight for these areas. I’ve been able to lead at the state and national level on issues that affect unincorporated areas and I’ll bring that fight to Congress as well.”

Lyndon “Pacey” Cervantes (D):

Cervantes told KCRA 3 he is very familiar with both areas.

If elected, he wants to take on PG&E and see them become a not-for-profit community energy provider.

“If you take the billions of dollars in profits that PG&E makes and put that towards fire resistant programs like undergrounding their lines, that’s really going to help the Sierra Nevada area of this district.”

Cervantes believes a community energy provider would lower utility bills across the district.

Ami Bera (D):

“The best way to do your job is to show up. That’s why I’ve been going up to the Foothills, meeting with folks in South Lake Tahoe and Truckee.”

He added, “You’ve got to meet with folks. You’ve got to ask questions and listen and then work with the local electeds, the county and state electeds to say, OK, one or two or three priorities that we can get done. That’s what I’ve done in Sacramento County, and that’s certainly how I’m approaching the new parts of the district.”

Chris Bennett (D):

Bennett told KCRA 3 he believes the basic needs of people living in the district are the same.

“So really, it really boils down to actually just showing up and making sure that people have representation,” he said. “So, we are maintaining relationships with people in all the different areas, whether it’s urban, suburban and rural. We are attuned to the issues people are facing, and the only thing that really differentiates our platform, which is the most comprehensive of any candidate in this race, is that it’s actually being built and directly inputted by members of the community, the people that are actually being impacted. We’re not trying to impose the things that we think you need.”

On the issue of wildfire prevention:

Heidi Hall (D):

Hall believes there are two aspects to addressing wildfires.

“One is the clearing that needs to happen,” Hall said. “That needs to happen at the federal level and at the homeowner level. And then on the other side, there’s a wildfire insurance crisis which is pushing people out of their homes.”

She wants to see increased federal staffing and work in federally owned forests to start mitigating the overstocked forests.

Hall told KCRA 3 that the process can include some logging that can lead to more jobs in the region.

She also wants residents to clear 30 to 100 feet around their homes.

Hall said clearing the forests and land around homes would reduce the risk of wildfire from 40 to 60%. She wants to see the money that would be saved by the clearing to be passed on to homeowners.

Lyndon “Pacey” Cervantes (D):

Cervantes believes utility companies like PG&E are part of the insurance crisis and wants to see them become a not-for-profit energy provider.

Ami Bera (D):

Bera pointed to the Fix Our Forest Act, which establishes requirements for managing forests on federal land. The bipartisan legislation has passed the House and is in a Senate committee.

He added, “We’ve got to work with the homeowners. Can we get insurance companies to reduce the fire risk, to harden your home, to clear brush, things like that? You know, a lot of homeowners can’t afford to do that.”

Chris Bennett (D):

Bennett supports full federal funding for all fire departments, especially in rural areas.

He told KCRA 3 that floods and wildfires are caused by institutional climate polluters, like the U. S. Military.

“I believe that what we really need to do is put those externalities that they’ve dumped onto rural areas in the global South, back onto those companies by making them pay for our public flood and fire insurance program at the federal level, because once they start having to pay for people in California as $1, $2, and $5 million dollar homes get burned down or flooded out, they’re going to find ways to move away from fossil fuel dependence very quickly,” Bennett said.

Bennett also supports funding for companies that are clearing fire paths.

He wants to see more investment into building alternate avenues of escape in rural areas as well as investments into renewable energy.

Bennett added that it’s important that the crews battling fires on the frontlines have the tools they need to do the job.

“It seems like our public safety funding is just completely backwards in terms of how we’re actually allocating those resources,” Bennett said.

Robb Tucker (R):

Tucker said wildfire mitigation conversations are part of every policy decision Nevada County Supervisors make.

He thinks past policy decisions have a profound impact.

“I believe decades and decades of mismanagement of our forest lands, and national forest makes up a large majority of our county up there, as well as some of the other ones in this district. I think that has been what has contributed, very specifically to the wildfires.”

Tucker supports timber harvesting.

He also wants insurance companies to assess wildfire risks to individual homes based on the future and not historical data.

“If this community has invested in home hardening and wildfire mitigation, that should be taken into effect as it is now,” Tucker said. “It’s all grouped together geographically. And I think science has advanced enough that they can do that. So it’s a multifold issue and it’s a huge one up there.”

Christine Bish (R):

“I’ve actually authored legislation and I call it the Wildfire Act,” Bish said. “And, as I’m waiting to be elected to Congress, I actually copyrighted it.”

Bish said her plan involves wraparound insurance mitigation.

“When we start looking at how they’re paying claims, if they pay them, when they deny them, I believe that California Fair Plan is insolvent and the best and fastest, relief for people in high fire areas is going to be the Wildfire Act because it’s modeled after National Flood Insurance,” Bish said.

On the issue of immigration:

Bish believes current immigration laws are not being enforced.

She wants to see more immigration judges hired and a path to citizenship for immigrants who came to the U. S. as children.

“They are American citizens by everything other than birthright,” Bish said. “And I know this isn’t the most popular thing with a lot of Republicans, but we’ve got to be realistic. Let’s remove the bad guys. Let’s get them out of our communities. And for hard working individuals who do not know another lifestyle, and a lot of them don’t know another language, I want to see them on a path to a green card.”

Robb Tucker (R):

“Other candidates in the race and elsewhere [are] talking about abolishing ICE, doing away with immigration,” Tucker said. “To me, that’s just political rhetoric and talking points. And it’s not realistic. Now, we need to have accountability in all our programs, but I think there needs to be balance there.”

Tucker believes immigration is a public safety issue.

“We need to focus on the public safety side, bringing to justice and holding accountable those who violate the law. I’m not talking about violating the law coming to the country, because that’s a separate issue.”

He told KCRA 3 he believes sanctuary city policies have made illegal immigration worse.

“We have gotten in the way of law enforcement doing their job as a whole, as opposed to collaborating. So, yeah, I think it’s a big issue, particularly here in the state. And I would do everything I can to support law enforcement.”

Ami Bera (D):

Bera wants the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) to be reformed.

“If ICE is targeting violent felons and criminals, that’s one thing. But if folks are driving around in unmarked vans with their faces covered, not identifying themselves, that is, to me, that’s criminal,” Bera said. “And we’ve got to stop that. If we want secure borders, that’s one thing. If we want to go after folks that are violent felons, who are here illegally, that’s another thing. Then we have to actually have a legal immigration system, the ability for folks to come here to live the American dream.”

Bera told KCRA 3 his parents came to the U.S. as immigrants in the 1950s.

Lyndon “Pacey” Cervantes (D):

Cervantes wants ICE to be deconstructed and rebuilt.

He wants the immigration process to be faster.

“If we actually invested money into expanding the immigration system, making it faster, we wouldn’t have so many, as they call illegal immigrants, because the speed of which they could be processed, background-checked and approved to come into this country to help this economy that immigrants are so necessary for, then we wouldn’t have all these problems with immigration,” Cervantes said.

Heidi Hall (D):

Hall wants to abolish ICE.

“It is clear to me that our immigrant population in this country benefits all of us,” Hall said. “They contribute so much to our workforce. They contribute culturally. They pay into the system and don’t get that payment back. We have to have a better way to make sure we know who’s coming across our borders. But we have to be able to process them in a way that’s humane and efficient.”

She also wants to see more immigration judges.

“This is a challenge to both parties, Republican and Democrats,” Hall said. “Children under the age of 18 should never be removed from their families or put into detention centers. I would love to put forth a bill that abolishes that, that stops that practice altogether.”

Chris Bennett (D):

“Since the Chinese Exclusion Act, we have seen immigration be a way for the wealthiest people in the country to basically blame immigrants every time they destroy the economy,” Bennett said.

Bennett says the immigration system needs to change and be about humanity.

He is pushing to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) and things he U.S. should make it easier for people to live and work in the country legally with pathways to citizenship.

“So fundamentally, we need to flip the narrative, flip the script on this immigration discussion to really be about what are our actual needs, and how do we make it so that this system actually works, instead of punishing people in order to benefit those who are actually destroying our economy?”

Also, on the ballot in the 3rd Congressional District:Republican Laura KosckiGreen Party Candidate Chris RichardsonYou can learn more about the candidates on their campaign websites: