the internet and how those curate the information we see. big technological developments that there is not a clear scientific consensus on what we ought to do. there is a certain obligation to have some kind of conversation about these issues and decide collectively what we ought to be doing as a society. >> i think we have a lot of issue at the federal level, but one we hear a lot about with my constituents and throughout the state is gun safety. it is a big issue, people are interested in a strong background checks and i think that is very important and no one is interested in taking away any guns, we just want to make sure they don't get in the hands of the wrong people. we need stronger restrictions on automatic weapons. they have one purpose, and that is to kill. i think we need to pay strong attention to that issue. >> voices from the campaign

trail, part of c-span's battleground states tour. host: camila dechalus is a reporter with cq roll call back from a trip to the u.s.-mexico border and extensive reporting in cq and cq weekly. cq's darkness on the edge, desperate conditions at the border for asylum-seekers. tell us about the trip. how long were you there? guest: i was there for about a week. we first went to the mcallen sector, the rio grande valley and then el paso and we studied what was happening, how customs and border protection was accommodating this increasing flow of migrants arriving to the border to seek asylum and also those crossing unlawfully into the u.s. and examining some of the policies the trump administration enacted in these months.

host: had you been down to the border before? at least in a professional role as a journalist? guest: no, but the last two years i covered immigration policy on capitol hill. the policies that lawmakers from both parties have tried to put forth and try to accommodate and mitigate this rising flow of migrants coming to the border. host: you have a couple pieces in cq weekly. we mentioned borderline despair, how the u.s. is warehousing asylum-seekers. you write about the policy of the trump administration, what is called the remain in mexico policy. why was that developed and what did you see as the net effects of that on your trip there? guest: the policy was implemented in january and it was designed to allow asylum-seekers to apply for asylum, but they had to do it by applying at a port of entry either if they crossed illegally

or applied lawfully or presented themselves lawfully at a port of entry, but they were forced to go back to mexico and wait as their case was being processed. ,hen it first was implemented only a few people were being sent back. because of a lot of federal court decisions in april and -- more thancy 40,000 asylum-seekers were sent back to mexico and this caused problems in the mexican government and border cities on the border because you have these migrants flooding into these cities, not just spanish-speaking -- they are coming from south asia, india, africa. what you saw a lot was these migrant shelters were being inundated. a lot of them lacked shelter and food and were not provided safety when coming back because there was not a lot of procedures, just one of those policies that expanded and they

did not have a lot of protocols in place. host: one of the stories you write about. one of the cases you write about is the 17-year-old man and his father from nicaragua. in mexico,idnapped held for ransom and you write they are waiting out their time in an asylum shelter in juarez. they are writing out their case with 500 other migrants in a windowless former clothing factory guarded by the mexican military. meals have been regular, but not a short and although officials say they offer classes, none of the children interviewed had attended or heard about them. you saw this facility firsthand. guest: this is a new migrant facility designed by the mexican government and it was supposed to present as a model for how other migrant shelters were supposed to be facilitated.

they had migrants that were already in the program waiting for their case. even though they provided regular meals, a lot of the children -- there were hundreds of children and none of them had access to education. they were idly standinaround. i asked them what they do all day and they said draw. another factor is a lot of people don't realize a lot of them don't have work permits, so they are not eligible to work in mexico, so they don't have an income. a lot of people waiting for immigration cases or hearings, they want a lawyer and cannot afford one. these migrant children are just waiting it out with little means to get income. they are getting food, but not a lot of opportunities to work or get any training. camila dechalus reporting

m.ekly on cq and cq.co we welcome your comments. 202-748-8001 is the number to call for republicans. democrats, use 202-748-8000. independents and others, 202-748-8002. you can send us a text at 202-748-8003. just to highlight a couple of the effects of the remain in mexico policy, the mpp policy, is that what it is? tens of thousands of asylum-seekers living in dangerous and uncertain conditions. under this program, shelter and feud is not guaranteed -- food is not guaranteed by mexico and many migrants cannot lawfully work. and many of the migrants cannot lawfully work. decisions about who goes into the mpp, who is metered and seemsd to wait

inconsistent. what does metered mean? guest: one of the things we realizen we re on the border is that there is this unofficial practice that customs and border protection is conducting in between the port of entry. in betweenn officers two ports of entry. we were in el paso, stationed at an el paso port of entry, and across the border is juarez. they are putting officers right in the middle of the bridge and they are asking for people if they want to go to el paso, they ask to see documentation. if you are a u.s. citizen and have a passport, you can go through. if you're there and say, i want to request asylum, they'll say, you need to go back to mexico and wait in line because we don't have enough capacity to practice -- process this many people in a day.

the mexican government is conducting a waitlist. on august 18, they said that they processed 12,000 people on that list already and there are 6000 people in mexico just waiting. are the facilities similar? guest: no, they're just waiting. they are not guaranteed food or shelter. then they have to go to the mexican government to get on a waiting list to go to a port of entry and formally request asylum. more we will get into about the article that you wrote on the types of people and nationalities of people coming in. china is a longtime leader in asylum request. the makeup of those grant asylum each year rises and falls based on unrest and conflict. if you look almost 20 years back

china is the longtime leader in asylum requests. who is requesting asylum at the border? this really spans across all different nationalities. border patrol say they are seeing people come from 15 countries. it is a misconception that the only people arriving are from central american countries. you have a lot of chinese migrants coming, immigrants from india. to 2018, the amount of migrants from india increased by more than 4000%. the agencies and the department of homeland security needs to adjust to the different types of people coming to the border and how to accommodate their needs when it comes to language access when it comes to making sure that they understand their rights. in a companion piece from

cq weekly, refugees from around the world are caught up in the crisis at the southern border. let's go to philippe from staten island, new york. caller: i'm very upset about what this president has been doing. i have never been more afraid of my country than now. this man has destroyed our trading.ur tpp he has destroyed america and it is time for people to wake up and smell the coffee before its the end of the world. we're in a problem now with iran. we don't need to be in all these countries, fighting everybody's wars. this country is great. we don't need this man trying to make america great.

america is great and it is time to impeach this man looking to destroy us. host: from your experience on the border, what do they say the number one reason they wanted to come to the united states was? guest: there is this conception that everybody coming to the border is just requesting asylum because they are fleeing gang violence or persecution. a lot of the migrants we crossed -- talked to just crossing, a lot of them coming to the u.s. were just seeking a better life. they talked about providing educational opportunities to their children and not having resources like that back home. mary in texas on the republican line. caller: hello.

i livein houst mwhole life. i taught children of all 101onalities and there are languages that are taught in this area. loveoblem is this, we people. americans have always loved people, but the situation is that at this point, the government is in such disarray. my feeling is that the reason it's in such disarray is that we are also incompatible. there are me of these cultures, languages, ideologies, religions, races, just in my area. it makes for a lot of incompatibility. ofnow that we're a nation immigrantss. i, myself, am a child of that,

but the thing of it is is that most of the time, our immigrants game and they were able to assemble with us, able to work together. we were comfortable together. so, a lot of the anger, much anger -- host: mary, we will let you go there. cmamila? few monthshe first of the administration, the increase of migrants coming to the border passing 100,000 individuals per month. it started decreasing at the end of july. republicans and democrats, the tension is how to accommodate migrantsng influx of coming to the border, how to do

it in a humane way. there are conflicting ideologies about whether to put them in theytion centers, where can wait for the overstay or immigration hearing or process, which can take months or years. the trump administration solution was to send them back to mexico. the biggest thing that we saw when we were down there is there was not a lot of coordination between the trump administration on the mexican government and it caused a lot of problems, especially migrants not really understanding what the problem was or how to get on the waiting list or comprehending that they might be mexico -- in mexico waiting for an immigration hearing for months or years. the problem is that there is not a lot of communication between how this policy was enacted. they have to come into the

u. for the hearing. guest: usually you're given a slip and given a date for court. case, the court date was november 26. he was supposed to goacto port of entry and i was supposed to pick him up and take them to the hearing and as soon as the hearing is over he goes back to the migrant shelter if there is space and wait for his second hearing. conception that you have one hearing at it's over but it can take months. has been president tweeting about the border for the last few minutes. massive sections of the wall going up being built to the highest standards. experts say it is an amazing structure. our u.s. military is doing an amazing job. ofnow it is not the subject your reporting. what were your observations of

the border wall situation? guest: i'm putting another piece next monday examining the technology at the border. what we have found when looking at the border wall in the rio grande valley sector and the el paso sector is that a lot of border patrol agents felt at the wall was important but that there are other factors that are important like technology at the order, like manpower, infrastructure. the border wall is just one layer of defense but it is a multilayer approach to securing the southern border. we are showing our viewers some of the photos from your report. next we go to bill at the nation's capital. caller: you may not be familiar this,he legal aspect of but it is rarely spoken about

clearly. the united states signed a convention right after world war that allows anyone fleeing persecution a safe haven here. u.s. law.he effect of this isn't just a nice idea or something that we should do or something that is recommended. this takes the form of u.s. law. it's the same as if you would go out and run a red light and you got a ticket, except it is much more serious, it is u.s. law and i don't think that is repeated enough, if ever. parenthetically, or more to the point, the united states is a vast country. the country of jordan has taken in over one million refugees from the syrian war. 2 million taken in

refugees from wars in the middle east. when you hear people say we are nol up, no where, it has connection with reality whatsoever. lawse two points, it's u.s. not just international law. host: ok, bill. camila dechalus. guest: this last year the state department announced they would slash the refugee cap by 8,000. migrants know that it might take months or years to lawfully apply for asylum to come to the u.s. is then going to incentivize them to go unlawfully? we have been hearing the lots of

cases of migrants crossing the rio grande which has claimed lives because it is so dangerous and taking that perilous journey. when you are looking at policies and the problems arising from it, it's to understand if this is putting more lives in danger. if a migrant knows that it is going to be a dangerous journey, but we are trying to go through it and enter the u.s. illegally, knowing that might be a shorter time to enter the u.s. the thing about the policies we examined is it is making it harder for people to lawfully enter the u.s. whether entering is a refugee or lawfully seeking asylum. with these policies at the border, a lot of experts have thought this might incentivize people to cross illegally. host: next up, democrats line.

caller: i was an immigration lawyer from 1990 to 2004. that was my main area of expertise. did is primarily what i during my practice. deportation proceedings forgetting more and more strict. when people say, why don't you come legally? the legal way has become so restrictive, it is almost impossible. it doesn't even make sense. pushingcies trump is morefor more and restrictionss.

basically, they don't want immigrants from more and more areas. they have a quota system. there are only so many people from mexico, china, and one oner other country that can come. they are waiting for years and years because of the quota system. that is what that immigration law is based on. 1950ration laws started in . that's why they call immigrants aliens. it is very derogatory and racist, and we are still under that law. one of the things we have seen these past few months is the trump administration pushing

for stricter asylum policies that would make it harder for people to apply for asylum. a lot of people don't understand that it is actually a really expensive process. we spoke to one private attorney in el paso and she said it could cost up to $10,000 for someone to pay for an attorney to see them throughout their legal process because it could take months or years. a lot of private attorneys are scared to take on these cases because they have to cross over the border to talk to their clients and there is confusion about whether they need work visas because they are working in mexico when they are talking to the client and there is also a threat to them. sometimes local gangs know that they are trying to push people to go through the legal process so it is hurting their business.

attorneys andor people to represent clients within mpp because it puts a threat on them. host: this is a part of your peace. admittance -- refugee admittance is going to be slashed to almost half here. there a similar number on asylum-seekers? is there a number they will cap? process.fferent guest: they don't have a cap but it is a different process. even though there are a larger number of people applying, they accept a lower amount.

say -- to attorneys who if someone is complaining of gang violence it is hard to prove. they don't have audio, they don't have solid evidence, but even though they have a solid claim going through the proceedings is almost a different process because you have to have evidence. of people who receive it is very low. host: as of the end of august a inal of 38,291 mpp remained mexico cases make up about 10% of the cases in fiscal year 2019 which hit 384,000. and that number is just at the southern border? guest: yes. host: here is mike in southern carolina.

caller: i'm not going to just blame the democrats but republicans too. back in the day they all wanted immigration to come in for cheap labor which boosted profits. that these people coming across the border, they say they are escaping violence and a lack of food butlos like a lot of them are healthy to me. if their countries are so bad, why are they having so many babies? over, when the europeans came over they weren't set up with free housing and welfare and stuff like that, they had to work for it and a lot of it has to do with the assimilation. up withe refugees set free housing when they come across the border?

guest: if you apply for asylum and you are put in the mpp program you automatically go back to mexico to wait. but if you are an unaccompanied minor, if you don't speak -- which means you might speak spanish identify with the lgbt community you might be exempt from the program then you would not go to that facility to wait out the case. discipline i of want to touch upon is that a lot of the migrants that we talk to were-- even though they not fleeing from persecution or gang violence, their situation at home was so bad because they didn't have food every day. those kids couldn't go to school. in my experience, just going to the border, a lot of the migrants we spoke to did not eat during the trip because they did

not have money to buy food. their sleep deprived or sleep in the bushes are on the streets as they were making the journey from their country to the u.s.. they are in dire conditions. host: this trip was produced in partnership with the pulitzer center. explain that. guest: they had granted and produced these pieces to look at what is really happening at the border. this issue that people don't really focus on, the fact that troubleion are having accommodating non-spanish speakers because of the lack of interpreters. sayt of times attorneys they don't have enough resources to really give clients who do not speak spanish or english the

resources that they deserve. host: let's hear from rich calling us from wisconsin. fostered likendma 70 immigrants who came here the right way. we have been to the system my whole life. it is hard but that's the kind of people you want coming here. i'm not saying we shouldn't be taking people but what is the number we set? if we are only catching one out of five, one million per year that means there is 3 million more coming across? when do we get to control our own destiny? just curious. have toresources do we take care of these problems because you can't tell me that 30,000 people just got up one day and decided, let's start marching up to the united

states. we will take a three month tour. it doesn't make any sense how all of a sudden we are taking on the world's poverty. host: we will go to john on the democrat line. caller: there is a problem that i noticed here. attackne of them democrats. i myself am an immigrant. life, you try your best to do what you can, but the problem we are seeing, these countries like honduras and el when you are applying for asylum, there has to be a reason. you can't say i'm running from ms 13 and i need asylum. it doesn't work like that.

it has to be case-by-case. understand these people am fromt asylum -- i immigrants but at the same time we need to respect the way that we come here. guest: over a few weeks the government has reached agreements with el salvador, honduras and guatemala to come up with another silent -- asylum process where it would ofentivize migrants instead making the perilous journey they would apply for asylum in their own countries. curb theher effort to mass of people coming from the border.

it's something the trump administration has been working on to curb the number of people coming so that our facilities are not inundated with so many people. host: canada is waiting on whether to help people in the central american crisis. it is hard for central americans asylum. the third country agreement between the u.s. and canada. mr. trump has pushed for third safe party deals with guatemala and mexico, moves that have been pandas trying to shut out asylum-seekers. effectsays it went into in two thousand four. so for the trump administration has not been able to come up with those deals from guatemala and mexico.

came out right. they just reached another agreement last week. it is still unclear when the policy is going to be implemented and it when it will be effective in these countries right now is pretty big, but they are pushing more to a safe third-party country >> migrants take a circuitous route to the united states and your graphics show the various ports of entry along the u.s. and texas border in particular and all the way to yuma and san diego as well and some of the arrests at the border points. -- she's is calling us on the up independent line. >> thank you for c-span and thank you for taking my call.

i have might question and the comment. we -- iion is what can happen to be a widow, what can we do to help? what organizations are helping to feed people who are detained when there is not enough food, clothing or water to go around? and where donate to can we get that information? saw -- i believe it by an c-span, a new book pastor called christ in crisis. he is mentioning that we are not following biblical teachings on this. i would urge everybody to read the book of matthew, to read the story of the good samaritan. we are going to have to answer

for this, as a country and individually for how we are treating people. thank you for taking my call? was reverend jim wallis whose new book is called christ in crisis. she asked about organizations to donate to, who did you see active down there with refugee guest: two of the biggest groups we saw on the order was the hopes institute and the catholic charities relief services. they are big in the mcallen, texas, area. called person who just in there is a website who does list all of the organizations on the ground playing a pivotal

part including the religious organizations playing a pivotal role in helping migrants accommodate them. host: do you recall the website? host: we will go to greenville, south carolina on the republican caller: my question is when you come to the border there is a sign that says you are trespassing. we have laws in this country. when people cannot follow the laws they shouldn't even be here. more time and more of our money trying to take care of these people in the last 10 years.

we are letting our own citizens roam the street homeless with nowhere to stay. we need to take care of american citizens first. there are no immigrants. up not fore set illegal immigrants. >> that caller talked about trespassing. coming toare migrants the border arrested for various issues previous offenders, et cetera? guest: there are a lot of parts to that. if they are apprehended by customs and border protection, depending if they have a child or not they are sent back or have to be processed.

there are all of these other procedures that make it harder. the idea of we should take care of american citizens and not these immigrants that is a contentious subject because the u.s. has always been one of the countries that receives immigrants in the last few years. this information is being relayed to them back home in their home countries. a lot of migrants knew about the trump admission policies and saidcame anyway and they their situation is so bad that they decided to do it anyway. caller: i have an important question to ask. can you hear me?

host: we can. can you hear me? host: go ahead. i want to bring something to your attention. what you're talking about is very important. i'm 81 years old. i am a benefit of african-american and jewish faith. i want to bring attention to something that the young lady may not be aware of. in 1970 want a conservative congressman called the immigration quota act of 1921 which existed until 1965. that act is not mentioned -- did not mention jews by name but it targeted the jews of europe. grandparents, and my mom who was six and 1923 could

not get a visa to the united states. they went to cuba and from cuba , they came tor america. some of them went to cape town south africa. marching for a hundred years and i have been marching for 65 years. question, ifu a you're republican or democrat or whatever, franklin delano jews fromrejected coming into this country prior to the holocaust and during the holocaust. away to st. louis. i'm with you 100 percent. people should be able to come legally. this is a country that should accept all people. we have to protect our borders.

host: camila dechalus, any final thoughts on his call or anything else? guest: there are a lot of factors that go to the border. there are a lot of things people don't see at the port of entry. they proceost 100,000 people legally every day and people are crossing from the u.s. to mexico and mexico to u.s.. the you think about how u.s. is trying to accommodate people applying for asylum, and people making their daily commute it is very hard. it is very hard and you see this at the border. there is one -- there is no one solution fits all you need to have different policies in place.

can people read your report? it on the site and shortly it will be on. host: homeland security announcer: coming up in just a few minutes, defense and state department officials join a discussion on syria moderated by the new york times foreign policy editor. that's set to begin at 12:30 p.m. eastern. we will have live coverage. nancy pelosi and adam schiff briefed reporters earlier today on the impeachment inquiry. here is what they had to say. mr. schiff: in terms of the issues we have been focused on this week, i want to give you a brief update on what has

transpired, really, just within the last week. last thursday, the intelligence committee held an open hearing with the acting director of national intelligence. the following day, chairman engel issued a subpoena to the state department in close consultation with myself and chairman cummings. we are deeply concerned about secretary pompeo's effort now to potentially interfere with witnesses whose testimony is needed before our committee, many of whom are mentioned in the whistleblower complaint. we want to make it abundantly clear that any effort by the secretary, by the president, or anyone else to in her beer with the congresses ability to call beef -- to interfere with the congress pause ability to call witnesses will because congress ability to call

witnesses will be considered obstruction of congress. adversel create an inference that those allegations are correct. i issued a subpoena to rudy giuliani in consultation with chairman cummings and chairman engel. expect mr. giuliani to comply with the legal process. he is obviously a key figure in all of this by his own admission as well as by allegations in the whistleblower complaint. today, just within the last half, chairman cummings noticed a subpoena that will go out later this week or next week period hasnotice expired that that committee intends to subpoena documents

the white house has been withholding from congress. on thursday, ambassador volker is scheduled to appear before our committee, and on friday, ic inspector general of the will appear and testify before the committee as well. the last time the inspector general testified, we did not have the complaint. we now do. we certainly intend to ask the director about the attempts made tocorroborate that complaint know what the inspector general found both credible and urgent. next week, with the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine. withe are in discussion other state department witnesses to secure depositions. we have been very busy as you can tell this week and we will be very busy next week. we are proceeding deliberately, but at the same time, we feel really a sense of urgency here

thats rk needs to get done and needs to get done in a responsible time. >> have you taken off the table plans for a full house vote on impeachment inquiry? and chairman shift, as the white delaying theo be interference, in the past, it has taken a long time. are you preparing for a court battle and how do you make sure that happens in an expeditious manner? [indiscernible] isat is not anything that excluded. by the way, there are some republicans that are very nervous about us bringing that vote to the floor. >> we are concerned that the white house will attempt to stonewall our investigation as much as they have stonewalled other committees in the past. it is why i say that the white house needs to understand that any action like that that forces us to litigate or consider

litigation will be considered further evidence of obstruction of justice. that was an article of impeachment against nixon, the obstruction of the lawful functions of congress, that is. we will also draw the inference as appropriate that they are trying to conceal facts that would corroborate the allegations on the wet -- wet -- west wing floor. we are not fulling around. we do not want this to drag on months in the administration's strategy. even as they try to undermine our ability to find the facts around the president's efforts to coerce a foreign leader to create dirt he can use against theyolitical opponents, will be strengthening the case on obstruction if they behave that way. >>