to the crisis in ukraine. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including charter communications. >> broadband is a force for empowerment. charter has invested billions building infrastructure, upgradingopportunity in communig and small. charter is connecting us. >> charter communications supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front-row seat to democracy. >> this morning on "washington journal," a look at nato's role in supporting ukraine with former nato secretary general anders fogh rasmussen. then adriano espaillat talks about legislative priorities for the congressional hispanic caucus and the immigration

meeting between caucus members and the president. later, doug lamalfa of california on the u.s. response to the coronavirus pandemic and other news of the day. ♪ host: this is the "washington journal" for april 28. the biden administration plans to halt the policy known as title 42 by late may. the pandemic related order from the cdc has been used to the port more than one million migrants from the united states -- deport more than one million migrants from the united states. the plan was put in place to effectively manage the border after the order is lifted. if you think title 42 should be lifted, call us at (202) 748-8000. if you say it should not be lifted, tell us why at (202) 748-8001.

if you live in a border state and want to give your perspective, call (202) 748-8002 . you can also text us if you wish at (202) 748-8003. you can post on our facebook and twitter feeds. you can follow the show @cspanwj . the department of homeland secure a secretary and testified on many things related to immigration, including the policy known as title 42. this is from the wall street journal this morning, writing that mr. mayorkas has faced intense bipartisan criticism in recent days from lawmakers, who have said the administration has provided information how it will manage the expected increase in migrants at the southern border after may 23. the ministration plans to end its use of title 42. you can still see the hearing on c-span.org and our c-span now app. here is the homeland security

secretary answering questions about title 42. [video clip] >> so your answer is you do not believe we are going to lose operational control of the border. >> we will not use -- lose operational control of the border but you have to allow me to answer fully. >> if you do not believe we will lose control of the border, what information do you have in your possession that your frontline agents do not have? because there's not a single person on the border today that will tell you that wants title 42 is lifted they will not lose operational control as part of the border, so what information do you have that they do not? >> the premise of your question and what you have identified as estimates are not estimates of what we will encounter. >> that was a homeland security document. the question is simple. what information do you have in your possession that your

frontline agents who risk their life every day and some of whom give their lives every day have or do not have that will tell you you will not lose operational control of some of the border at least one title 42 is lifted? >> we have a plan that we have developed and been preparing to execute and implementing since september of this past year. >> you are referring to the six pillar plan? has that been plummeted or is that a proposal? >> that is underway in its execution. >> the six pillars, the search started on january 21 president biden took office. why did you not implement the six pillars than. why did you wait for 14 or 16 months to implement these things? >> many of these efforts have been underway since the ministration began. >> you said they are being implement it now.

dark out the challenge of migration is not one the united states faces alone. what we are experiencing is a migration challenge throughout the region, throughout the western hemisphere come and through the world. that is why one of the pillars of the plan is to work with countries south of our border so they manage their borders effectively. >> the bottom line is the six pillars came out yesterday. >> that is incorrect. >> it was issued april 26 if you will incorporate that into the record. >> without objection, so ordered. >> the six pillars is something put out yesterday to cover the fact that you guys are getting -- you guys have lost operational control in parts of the border. host: there is more to that

hearing and exchanged with the homeland security secretary over title 42 and immigration related matters, but when it comes to the plan itself and lifting of it later in may, where do you stand on if it should go or not? if you say it should stay or the knighted states should lift the policy, -- the united states should lift the policy, (202) 748-8000. if you live in a border state, call us at (202) 748-8002. -- (202) 748-8003. you can use as that number to text us your thoughts as well. axios highlights a plan as far as what to do after the policy is lifted. they posted a story saying dhs vows to increase resources including personnel, medical support, and facilities to support border operations, including an increase of 6000 law enforcement personnel and agents from other government agencies to assist u.s. customs and border protection, adding

that by may 23 dhs will be able to hold 18,000 noncitizens in custody, up from for -- 13,000 at the beginning of 2021 according to the homeland security secretary memo. it should be noted there was legal action in connection to title 42, roll call picking up that story saying a judge of the u.s. district court in louisiana indicated he plans to file in order as part of a broader legal challenge. it found the states had a substantial threat of immediate injury from the early implementation of the plentiful -- fully and title 42. the biden administration announced plans to resend -- rescind title 42. when it comes to that order, there are other stories picking up there. when you think about title 42

and where you stand on it as far as if it should be lifted or not, call us on the line. we will hear from maryland first. thanks for calling. caller: it is fitting that you started the segment plane the clip you did because the director for homeland security light to the american people yesterday. he lied to congress yesterday. we cannot afford this. the amount of money that we need to put into our foster care system is being wasted here. the amount of money needed for medicaid, medicare, and so many other things in this country are being wasted here. host: how is that connected to keeping the order in place and not lifting it? caller: we need to keep that order in place because it is just about the only thing we have after everything else has been ruined by this administration. no wall, no oversight, no

consideration by the vice president, who is supposed to be in charge of this. she is as good a vice president as the current president was and that is not very good. host: that is karen in maryland. the order does not prohibit the administration from ending title 42 on that day. the judge appointed by president trump has set a hearing for an injunction. that is from the. let's hear from jim in new york. good morning. caller: this happened a couple times. you want us to listen to our phone and shut the tro -- tv off , so i did that yesterday. i did that two other times when i called and.

host: you're on now. tell us what you think about title 42. caller: i thought i was calling on the republican line but you did not do that today. you have to do something about this title 42 not letting them and is a great idea. i'm telling you this neighborhood is a mess. i am very involved with the government here. this is like a border state in new york. i'm telling you i'm involved. i go to town meetings and police meetings. one of the biggest problems around here is -- i already said it 1000 times. the houses are so overcrowded they are parking on the sidewalks and nobody is doing anything about it. host: so the specific order you are saying should not be lifted, why do you think that? caller: why shouldn't it be lifted?

because we cannot handle what we have right now. this town is a mess. my brother got sick and died recently and he was on medicaid. they sent him a bill that he could not pay and he is dead now, so they took what little money he had. do you think they are doing that people coming here across the border? they are getting free medical care. we do not have the money. i am taxed out. host: we set aside a line this morning if you live in a border state and want to give perspective on these issues. this is from sacramento, california. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i am saying do not lift this. i live in california. we are in a high crisis of homelessness. i question about the immigration is if we are accepting all of those coming across our border and particularly here in california, we have faced -- we

have a situation here. what if we have a lot of industries such as our vegetables and wineries who use the mostly immigration -- immigrants to pick our produce and one -- wine? why aren't we talking to countries who learned immigrants -- who immigrants are coming from a start charging them? start making those countries pay for their people to come to our country. host: you mentioned homelessness and a couple other things. do you attribute that to title 42? caller: political reasons and not because they are at war. host: do you attribute those things you talked about to title 42? caller: economically. i believe we should hit those countries for money now. we are so taxed out here in california. we have people living under the freeways who are immigrants. our schools are bad because we

are taking on more and more of this issue. host: we will hear from daniel, who says the policy should be lifted. he is from pennsylvania you are next. >> a significant amount of people believe the whole southwest of the united states is occupied territory. the best thing that can be done specifically for mexicans and the lease the united states could offer would be that mexicans can live in work in the united states and vote in mexico and vice versa. live and vote -- host: as far as the title 42 issue, you say it should be lifted. tell us why. host: he hung up. this is ivan in tennessee,

saying the policy should be lifted. go ahead. >> -- caller: i think it should be lifted. when you have people coming in into the economy of the usa, then republicans take your medicare and your social security. host: how does that deal with title 42 since it is a pandemic related issue? do you think the situation in the united states pandemic wise is controlled enough where we can lift it? caller: dr. fauci says we are out of it right now, so, yes. if they come in, i think they should be whatever.

the people who come here contributed. host: when it comes to other talks on immigration, the hill reporting a bipartisan group of senators will launch immigration talks today, marking the latest entry in congress to talk about the policy. the group will include durban as well as john cornyn and alex padilla. the bipartisan immigration bill is a heavy lift especially in an election year but it likely presents democrats' best hope of a bill. build back better round -- ran aground last year. instead of trying to craft an agreement from scratch, the group is using bills to put

together a package that could get the 60 votes needed to advance through the senate. you can follow that as the senate talks about those issues. you can tell us specifically about this title 42 policy. if you say it needs to be lifted, you can call us at (202) 748-8000. if you say it should not be lifted, call us at (202) 748-8001. if you live in a border state, it is (202) 748-8003. use that one also to text us if you wish. let's hear from someone on our "no" line. caller: good morning. i would like to think that the american authorities are cooperating with mexican authorities to try and resolve some of these problems. title 42 is a health concern, but in the broader sense this

country might consider negotiating with mexico to place a couple processing ships, one on the pacific side and one on the atlantic side, and try to ameliorate some of these problems, certainly on the mexican side would like to calm down some of these problems. you know what i mean? host: with all that in mind, your sing at this point do not live title 42 yet? caller: not only do not lift it, but consider improving the processing capability of this country for all the people trying to get relief and we can process them a little better with ships. they could even have some residents on those ships, some

of these folks that are indigent and need help. i think it could not only split the concentration of people at the passage points to the border control points and give relief to some of the concentration of people in major cities and areas along the border that have crossing points. host: we have set aside a line for border state residents. in tucson, arizona we will hear from matt. go ahead. caller: i think the idea about helping immigrants is a worthy idea, but the problem we have is we do not have a system to handle that. until we get our system in place , we should keep the border in a reduced or just shut it down until then. this is a reflection of the

incompetency the united states congress has on some issues. why haven't we had this issue taken care of until now or whenever? it is a real issue that congress should take care of soon. do not open the border until you have a system in place to handle these people. that is it. host: for the years you have lived in arizona, there have been stories about surges a court -- occurring at the border. have you seen evidence in areas you have lived? caller: i have. this is a political issue. it is very strong on both sides emotionally. it is a strong issue. i think we need to get a system in place to handle this. host: when you say you have seen evidence of it, how would you describe that? caller: at this point, i would rather -- it is want to take a

long time to elaborate on that. i will say i have seen negative and real benefits from these surges. where i live is very close to the university. there is a lot of construction around here and i do a lot of running and walking. i go by the sites and almost universally the language i hear is spanish. my hobby is spanish. i am very supportive of these people, but we have to get that border under control. we calm it down now so we forget about it. host: that is matt in tucson. if you live in a border state, you can give your own perspective on what is going on when it comes to immigration related issues. usa today takes a look at

politics on the democratic side and dealing with these issues. it highlights a couple people. this is senator mark kelly, a democrat from arizona. he is quoted as saying title 42 was put in place because of the public health emergency. he told a local news station it should not be around forever but right now the ministration does not have a plan. he won a seat in the senate by roughly two percentage point in 2020. it also highlights a democrat from michigan who called on president biden to delay lifting the policy, saying unless we have a well thought out plan it is something that should be revisited and delayed. i will defer judgment on that until i give the administration the opportunity to articulate what the plan is but i share concerns with colleagues, the story adding that his term does not end until 2027. michigan is a competitive battleground states. let's hear from linda, who says

the policy should be lifted. go ahead. caller: i do not know what title 42 is. apparently it is not working. in new york state, the initial dhs stands for department of home services and federally it stands for department of homeland security. here is my outcry. those agencies are practicing unconstitutional policies in my home state. why should i be trafficked in and out of homeless shelters and have no security? host: the border policy was put in place because of pandemic related issues to keep migrants from coming in, so you are saying that should be lifted? caller: as i said, i do not know what it is and how it affects me. i am a citizen.

i am putting -- being put on the street to accommodate people who are just running over basically and taking advantage of the united states. host: that is linda in new york. that article saying it was just six-month from the midterm election and mr. biden is being forced to strike the balance on immigration and title 42, trying to appease voters and advocates while assuring he can get vulnerable democrats reelected to keep the majority in congress. democrats have been urging the ministration to end title 42 for months, saying it goes against international law and hurts democrats with core constituents. the more centrist wing of the policy -- party is asking for the policy to remain in place, saying they do not believe the administration has a policy.

this is sheila, who says no to lifting the title 42 border restriction. she is in oklahoma. caller: thank you for taking my call. this says it was number two on people's minds on voting and immigration, so it is a problem and needs to be resolved. i do not know how, but i am against lifting it. i have seen the homeless and purcell. we have so many homeless people and i think it is from letting all these people in and one of my concerns is when you go to the grocery store shelves are empty. that has not been resolved. they are empty. you are letting all these people come in. you have droughts in the western

part of the united states. even oklahoma's having a drought now. how are we going to have the food to help all the people if you lift that? regardless of the masks or whatever you have met we are not going to have food for anybody. host: sheila in oklahoma calling in on our no line. this is melvin from twitter saying if republicans cared about immigration they would have had congress members put forward reasonable legislation like marco rubio did and that president trump refused to consider immigration reform because it is congress's job hearing when it comes to the work of secretary mayorkas, texting us in saying he is a failure that he knows the border is a disaster and admitted that at the last hearing and has not done anything to improve it. again, that hearing yesterday with the home unsecured he secretary, immigration a large part of that, showing a little bit of an exchange or at least an opening statement. sec. mayorkas defending the

border control and homeland security policies since the ministration took office in 2021. [video clip] >> we inherited a broken system that is already under strain. it is not built to manage the current levels of migratory flows. we have managed an unprecedented number of noncitizens seeking to enter the united states and disrupted more smuggling operations than ever before. an increase in migrant encounters will strain our system further and we will address this challenge successfully. it will take time and we need partnership of congress, state and local officials, and communities to do so. to build on our ongoing work in this budget, we have requested funding to hire 300 new border patrol agents, the first

increase since 2011 to ensure the safe and humane treatment of migrants and to operationalize a new rule on asylum processing. we are requesting additional funds to counter human and drug smuggling operations, combat crimes of child exploitation and human trafficking, and stop goods reduced by forced labor from entering our markets. finally, our mission set includes a series of other essential priorities. the cybersecurity and infra structure security agency protects our critical infrastructure from malicious cyber activity, a threat heightened due to russia's invasion of ukraine. our budget will expand our cybersecurity services, bolster our ability to respond to cyber intrusions, and grow our cyber -- our cyber operational planning activities. dhs through tsa protects the traveling public.

host: when it comes to funding issues, roll call reporting this morning, saying republicans largely are not interested in additional government resources to manage any expected increase of migrants on the u.s. border if the biden administration follows through to stop the border expulsion plan. republicans threw cold water on supplemental funding which may be used to shore up order patrol facilities or provide food, shelter, or medical care for migrants. republicans are rankled by the idea that spending money to address the fallout from the ministry should decision they opposed to the -- the first place even as they criticize current preparedness. more to that store in the last couple days. you can comment on that as well, especially those of you who live in border states. cheryl in texas, you are next up. good morning.

>> thank you for taking my call. i live in texas, so i see more on the local news than other callers and the problem is not the people who try to come in legally. it is the ones who just go across the rio grande and disappear into the area. we lost a national guardsmen a few days ago who drowned trying to -- illegal immigrants that were attending to cross. i think we should keep it in place and i would like to see them reform the legal ones to where it is people with education and job -- that can perform jobs that we need. i worked in a nursing home for

many years and a lady called one evening and said her mother in mexico had just been diagnosed with a bad form of cancer. she said, if i move here -- move her here to texas, will the united states provide medical services for her? i asked her, is your mom a citizen? she said no. i said, i don't think so. a lot of people just look on the united states for what it can give them. they do not give us anything through their lifetime but if they have a problem they want to come here. thank you very much for taking my call. host: chris is in kansas and says the policy should be lifted. hello. caller: i think we should lift

that title 42 and make it a title 43 and take everyone of these politicians and all the illegals and feed the fish. host: let's go to irene in houston, texas, saying the policy should be lifted. >> -- caller: good morning. i have been think about this and i thought perhaps i should say it is a complicated issue but it really is not a complicated issue. i am against lifting title 42. we already have fallen -- we already have 20 million undocumented in the united states. after -- after title 42 a, if it is lifted, we will have a staggering, enormous number of undocumented coming in.

i live in houston. i have lived here for many years. i have already noticed how houston is rapidly changing. it already has over half a million undocumented people in houston. if title 42 is lifted, we are going to be overrun. host: if title 42 is a pandemic related restriction, how long she did stay in place considering where we are with the pandemic in the united states? caller: until congress does something about immigration control. that border has to be secured. we cannot possibly afford the poor of the world. if people travel to some of these countries and notice the poverty and populations where there is tremendous poverty all over the world, are we going to

change america to a third world country? is that the intention of the democratic party? host: that is irene in texas, many of you calling us in this first half hour. ac/dc pandemic your restriction under consideration by the biden administration for removal in late may. we are asking you if the policy should remain in place, be removed, or if you're in a border state you can give us your perspective. if you say the policy should stay in place, (202) 748-8000 is the number to call. (202) 748-8001 if you say it should not stay in place -- if you say it should be lifted. (202) 748-8000 if you say now. -- if you live in a border state, (202) 748-8003. a caller earlier referenced dr. fauci? recent statements -- dr. fauci's

recent statements. this was picked up by news nation, saying he changed his tune -- changed his tune on where the u.s. stands in the pandemic, walking back comments where he said the u.s. was out of the pandemic phase, saying by no means was the pandemic over. he said tuesday the country had finally moved past the pandemic stage after more than two years, pointing to the current rate of infection and deaths from covid-19. we are certainly in this country out of the pandemic phase, he said. he then walked back comments wednesday, saying we are in a different moment of the pandemic and we have now decelerated into a more controlled phase, telling the associated press by no means does that mean the pandemic is over. those are the comments from dr. fauci. that pandemic state is one of the reasons title 42 was put in

place in the first place. in washington state, we will hear from mary. caller: good morning. i do not know guest: that much about title 42 -- that much about title 42. the thing i am thinking about is not just people from south america but we have the ukrainians who are going to be coming in. we have too many people here that are illiterate or do not have places to stay. we have people in the streets. i do not know if it is true but they were saying people were russian and in san francisco i believe they just go in and take whatever they want. host: you called about title 42. you say it should not be lifted. caller: i do not believe it should be lifted. they should get a group together

and this is my opinion. i think they should take some of the money out of their pockets and realize we have a way of living here and i some with eyes with all the people that are stuck but singapore is shut down because of the pandemic. something is coming our way and we do not know but the hospitals are overrun. they may not say it on tv. they have things one way or the other. the american people should all know about these things. host: let's hear from joel, who says the policy should be lifted. he is in arkansas. caller: how are we doing this morning? i think the title should be lifted. these people need a place to live and joe biden has come up

with $140 billion to help with this crisis that we got. back in the 1960's when these immigrants came into our country they was required to serve in the military, so maybe we could institute that policy again, if you come here in our country and everything then you would provide two years of service. host: because the title is a penta mac related title, do you think the pandemic is controlled enough in the united states to lifted? caller: yes, i think we should lift it because we need these people. the whites and blacks are not going to go back into the fields and pick these crops and we need to eat. we have to provide food and everything. caller: -- host: let's hear from legislators, several tweeting their thoughts in recent days,

this thing asylum is a human right. the american dream should be achievable to everyone. refugees and asylum-seekers make up the fabric of our nation and must be welcomed here. it is time to reform our broken immigration system. and this saying it is time to boost our economy and keep families together. this is from representative veronica escobar, talking about this issue, saying everyone is looking for an easy solution to irregular migration. title 42 has not done anything to end migration. he says title 42 should not be used as a substitute for real immigration policy. he says the bravo administration continues to dismantle the security of our border. my colleagues and i demand the secretary mayorkas take action or tender his resignation to make way for someone who will. buddy carter says if you will not secure the southern border we need a dhs secretary who will

and senator marsha blackburn saying over 2 million illegal aliens have crossed our southern border since joe biden took office and secretary mayorkas has the nerve to say they have effectively managed the border crisis. that hearing you can still find at our website. if you wish, you can also go to our c-span now app and find it there. we stream several programs and keep them online for a short period, so if you want to view them again if you go to the c-span now app -- secretary mayorkas will appear before the senate side -- the house judiciary committee at 10:00 today, talking about the issue of title 42 and other related matters. you can see that live coverage at 10:00 today on c-span3 and our c-span now app. let's go to charles in dallas, texas.

caller: thank you for taking my call. if you are an arbiter of honesty, you will know this is a complicated issue. we need our people that are in our government to be mature and govern. i can see both sides of the issue. on one hand, immigration is an awesome thing. people come over here and contribute greatly to the country. on the other hand, in some instances it can be bad. the other caller from texas referenced individuals that come here just for medical. i live in dallas. the hospital where john of kennedy passed away, if you go there right now you cannot get in. there are so many undocumented people that will be in front of you trying to get care.

and then crime. in dallas, a person can commit a crime, like kill you while they are driving intoxicated, and they will go back to mexico. host: when it comes to the title 42 issue, where are you on that? caller: for the pandemic, it should stay in place because we do not have a handle on this thing and we do not have a plan to take on a stream of more undocumented people, so it should stay in place and congress should get busy legislating and fixing our broken immigration policies. host: mark in georgia, you are next. caller: i say they should not be here. we have a lot of people waiting in line. they are undocumented. they do not have food. they are sleeping on the streets.

we are not having much of the state where i live, but it is getting closer. how are you going to keep bringing people in when there is nothing to feed them, no places for them to stay? and we keep patting our food banks and they keep going out and getting food. let's get a plan. i say no. host: if you go to border report , which reports on immigration issues, they have a story online , talking about specific areas of the country preparing. they highlight san diego, saying the san diego county board of supervisors voted to prepare the county for the influx of migrants once title 42 is lifted. the motion will appoint a subcommittee to look into how to provide other needs required by asylum-seekers expected to arrive in the country. title 42 has given u.s. customs and border protection agency's

authority to return migrants to mexico or their home countries almost immediately after being apprehended without giving people a chance to ask for asylum, this sang the trump administration used it as a way to prevent covid-19 out of a fear migrants might be giving the virus to the u.s. customs and never proven and largely debunked by the medical community, this adding san diego's efforts and other areas of the country and how they are preparing. we have about 18 minutes left that you can comment on where you are as far as the lifting of the policy, if you want to see it lifted, if you want to see it stay in place or perhaps you are from a border state and want to give perspective. you can pick the line that best represents you. robert says when it comes to lifting the policy that should happen. caller: good morning. these guys replace the slaves.

they have done a superb job of replacing the american slaves these same guys go out here every day and do the same job slaves did. they make money for these greedy people so they can have these businesses and these people with the businesses are making the same kind of money they made with the slaves. host: as far as title 42, why do you think it should be lifted? caller: the whole thing is, pedro, excuse me for laughing. these people -- what the government does, the government allows these people to make money for these corporations. host: but specifically to the

policy, why should it be lifted? caller: it should be lifted because they are doing the same job slaves did. host: we will go to robert in kentucky on our no line. caller: i do not believe it should be lifted because of the pandemic. that is the only reason that is there and these people claiming we have too many people, that was not the reason for 42. it was the pandemic. what is happening is the biden administration does not want to stem the flow. they want to be able to process all of them and you cannot people here in the u.s.. they have to be vetted in the country they came from because you want to know things like are they criminals and all we can do is check our own records and maybe have a few broken records from where they came from. host: you related this to a

pandemic issue. do you think the pandemic is not controlled yet? caller: he told us we are still in a pandemic, so that is a moot question. host: he revised some of those statements, so what you think about the pandemic in the united states? do you think it is not controlled enough to keep from lifting the policy? caller: he's latest thing is he said the pandemic is still going on so title 42 must remain in place. host: we will hear from a border state resident. this is dave in san diego, which we just talked about in that story. caller: it is a hot issue. 42 should stay in place. as just mentioned, the pandemic is under control in the u.s. and to a point but that is not really the question.

is it controlled in other countries? there are a lot of different issues on this but it comes down to our system is broken because politicians are dragging their feet. the gentleman from texas is right. it is up to the politicians to do their job and it is up to the media to tell the truth. you guys are doing a great job, don't get me wrong. it is one of the few -- few places we can get good news. kusi in san diego gives a different perspective. host: i told people a story about leaders in san diego approving a temporary shelter policy. what you think of that move? caller: our taxes are going

through the roof. i am all for it, legal migration. it is a great thing. my girlfriend's a migrant. it is a new world. the system is just overwhelmed and needs to be updated. that is the bottom line. host: that is dave giving us his thoughts particularly from the local level where he lives in san diego. one of the people speaking at the hearing yesterday was a michigan democrat. she took task with both parties on the issue of immigration in light of discussions of title 42. here is part of the exchange from yesterday. >> maybe it is because i am just coming from the second -- funeral of secretary madeleine albright, who was a refugee to this country fleeing persecution in europe and coming here. it is hard to listen here and on

the aisle are when it comes to the border. i think the answer is, whether it is this administration or the last or the ones before that, our immigration system is broken. democrats and republicans own that. right now, democrats have the house and senate and the white house and have done nothing to get comprehensive immigration reform. four years ago, the republicans had the house, senate, and white house and did nothing to do comprehensive immigration reform. in congress, we are more culpable than anyone because we set the laws. as a cia officer and pentagon official by training, if we are dealing with security issues on the border of our country we have failed. our policy is failing. that is the place of last resort to protect ourselves, not the place we should be metering out for outcomes into our country.

i guess it just feels like whichever party is in power is going to be -- should be responsible and whoever is not in power is going to be criticizing the other side, but until we get at the root problem we are going to have year after year of these horrible pictures of our border officials having to be overwhelmed and migrants seeking a better life living in bad conditions. two years ago, we all come everyone of us on this committee , voted on a $4.5 billion supplemental. we sent active duty military to the border in addition to the guard and put people in cages and separated them from their children to make border policy something different than it was. now we allow people to come into the country and they go off and we have no idea whether they are ever going to show up in a courtroom again. neither of those policies makes sense. it is broken, but every single

person here along with the secretary owns part of that responsibility. if you're going to criticize what is going on at the border, put forward a piece of legislation to make it better, don't just use it as a political cudgel, democrats and republicans. host: other legislators giving their thoughts, steve daines saying it would make joe biden's border crisis even worse. the president knows this, he just does not care. a representative saying shame on the house republicans for their fear mongering. the bottleneck is a root -- as a result of trump's policies. congressman fred keller saying in fiscal year 2021 customs and border control took 11,000 pounds of fentanyl at the border, enough to kill 2.5 billion people. if washington democrats are

serious about addressing the open your crisis they could -- they should get serious about the southern border. and democrats ran on a platform committed to reversing president trump's policies. we should deliver an end to title 42 restrictions to restore access to asylum for everyone who comes to the u.s. seeking freedom and safety. gary is next in indianapolis. caller: i am calling you about one thing no one has even spoken about on your program. i am a retired police officer, 29 years. they have not checked them out. i have one living next door to me that was in a gang in venezuela and he has been arrested here in indianapolis six times in and out of jail. he is mentally ill. he is 26 years old and at

current i have $22,500 of damage to my home. he goes out. he is a schizophrenic and he goes off and he tried to beat his mother up because -- host: how does that relate to title 42 specifically? caller: i do not think we should bring people into this country until we know more about them. in my for instance, i have had to get a lawyer because they have no place to put him and no hospitals so here i am, 80 three years old, trying to live out my retirement, and i'm stuck in the middle. host: frank is next. go ahead. you are on. >> i have worked with hispanic people for years.

i do not want title 42 to be lifted. because of people that are coming over legally. we let them come over from about one million a year. i love hispanic people. i think most of them are wonderful, christian people. they are wonderful people, but you have some bad people also coming across illegally, ms 13 gangs, fentanyl pouring across the border illegally. i'm talking about illegally. host: how to title 42 factor into that? caller: title 42 is keeping a lot -- you do not know what kind of diseases they are bringing over, the covid.

they are bringing covid over. you are stopping airplanes and everything and yet you are letting people just for across the border, not checked. they are not vetted. biden set it up that way. i think all these people bringing this fentanyl and child molesters and stuff -- the wonderful christian hispanic people, i have worked with them for years. they are wonderful people coming across illegally and i have relatives that live there at the border. host: pbs highlights an interview they did with a representative in mexico about these issues. he does not hide his preference for democrats when it comes to u.s. politics. he has a bobblehead of former president bill clinton and drink coffee with a mug printed with

president obama's portrait but they are less than pleased with how the biden ministration is communicated policy. at least when trump was in office, we knew what we were getting. he went on to say that president biden's handling of the policies known as remain in mexico puts tijuana in a bad spot. both positions limit access to people seeking asylum in the u.s. and migrants are stranded in mexican border cities as a result. he says that biden campaign rhetoric promises to overturn president trump's anti-immigration asylum policies and is to blame frame makeshift migrant camp that emerged last year. the policy -- migrants hoped he would open the asylum process. more on that if you want to read that interview and get that perspective. let's hear jerry in alabama.

he hung up. let's go to tom in maryland. you are next. caller: i think there is a lot to do with this title 42 business, kind of like posture. if you come to this country and you are not likely to be allowed to stay current you will not stay. same thing when you're talking about kids be separated from their parents. if i were going to leave america and go to mexico, i would not go to mexico and bring my family in case i'm going to get separated. it is a lot about the mentality people have and how america is going to treat you when you get here. host: we will hear next from paul from alexandria, virginia. caller: it is multifaceted. i like title 42.

i think it is a salvation for us, the only thing holding the line, but i wanted to talk about fairness. we have an affinity for people from latin america. they are wonderful people. but there are thousands of people in ghana, bangladesh who also want to come here and these people are educated, phd's in many instances, and there are also non-educated people. when you oversupply low income labor to a market, wages do not go up. they stay down because there is an inexpensive supply of low wage labor. what does that mean? that means american labor, people currently here will not see wage increases. they will see depressed wages. that is counterintuitive to what biden is saying he is doing. secondly, the cost.

our public schools, our roadways come or hospitals. are we doing them a favor? host: if title 42 is a pandemic euro policy, what justifies keeping it in place in your opinion. caller: i love you because the question is structured as a false premise. they are connected, but it is a misnomer to suggest it is covid-19. this was trump's play to stop the border. host: it was administered to the cdc, so that is the question. caller: to your point, there is an -- ambiguity now in regards to whether the pandemic is over or not, like we touched on earlier. could you repeat the question again? host: if title 42 is a cdc pandemic era thing, what justifies it staying in place in your opinion? ? caller: it is a smokescreen.

title 42 is a smokescreen to control the border. it is the only thing that is going to help us maintain this situation without having 100,000 people at the border every month like last year. host: dan in to upper lake, new york, hello. no ahead. caller: can you hear me? host: go ahead. caller: i feel they should leave title 42 in place. i know it is a covid era law. if they lifted title 42, just the covert part of it, it would be good. it is an acknowledgment that we beat the pandemic. but what i am not hearing from all of these people who call in and say no, to just let anybody come in, we are a country of

immigrants paired my own ancestors are from arlen. however, they came into ellis island, like many, many people. they assimilated, they naturalize. there is a system we have in place. it should be followed. my heart goes out to the border patrol and law enforcement of our country. you have to be an absolute patriot to one to go into either of those professions today my hat is off to them. host: thank you for all of you who participated in this first hour of the program. we will shift topics earthly for one segment, talking about events in russia and ukraine. running us is the former nato secretary-general to talk about the current efforts of nato, russia-ukraine. we can talk to him in the next segment, coming up. later, we have a member of the congressional hispanic caucus. we will earn about their meeting earlier with president biden on

topics like immigration and student loan forgiveness. first, i want to show you a portion from madeleine albright's funeral at the washington cathedral yesterday. you will hear president biden paying tribute. pres. biden: there are just so many things that i remember. she was always interested in argentina, not only because they were always a very strong ally of the united states, but because when i went on a state visit there and she went with me , i went with hillary and we went into a dance hall in downtown but osiris. there was madeline, dancing a mean tango. [laughter] lots of us were looking for lessons. she was looking for the dance floor. she was always a step ahead on a lot of these things.

i am saying this all because she was a really, fully developed woman. her life was sort of a microcosm of the life of the 20 century american. her family was thrown out of her home first by hitler's, then by stalin. she came to america still not knowing the true story of her family and what they had done to survive. after she was secretary of state, she finally learned that she was actually raised jewish and had three of her four grandparents die in the holocaust. but somehow, in the middle of all of that, we gained a distinguished diplomat -- we gave a distinguished diplomat

and his family a chance to come to america as refugees. their daughter wound up becoming ambassador to the you in and secretary of state. in doing lots of other good things. she made us laugh, she made us cry, some of us she made mad. but she had a full, hopeful life because she knew what she believed in, she knew what she was for, she knew what she was against. she wanted other people to feel the same way and then talk about it, instead of kill each other over it. that is basically her simple political philosophy. today, we see in ukraine, all too tragically, what madeline always knew, that the advance of

freedom is neither inevitable nor permanent, and that in politics, the allure of power is strong and the temptation to abuse it is often resistible. there are no permanent victories or defeats. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are joined with the former nato secondary who served from 2009 to 2019. thank you for joining us mr. secretary-general. we have had many weeks now between russia and ukraine. was your assessment so far from what you've seen, particularly from nato countries? guest: i am encouraged by the unity and determination of the nato countries. putin has achieved the opposite of what he wanted paired he has strengthened nato. at the same time, i think we have overestimated the strength of the russian military.

they have failed to achieved their goals -- to achieve their goals. they will focus on eastern and southern ukraine now. host: do you believe any of the nato countries currently are under direct threat from vladimir putin and russia? guest: no. he knows that if he attacks a nato country, he would be faced with a determined military response from nato. in that matter, obviously, nato would be the winner. he knows that. host: direct attack aside, yesterday it was announced that as far as: mo garriott is concerned, natural gas is being cut off. is this another form of attack yes -- attack echo guest: yes. we have always known that putin uses energy as a weapon. europe is reliant on russian oil

and gas. putin now has inadvertently paved the way for an energy embargo. the next step against russia will be an oil embargo. that would really hit putin's war machine. that is the best way we can put a quick end to the war, to stop financing putin's war machine. that is why i think the european union, as soon as possible, should introduce and embargo on oil and gas from russia. the next step will be oil. host: when it comes to pollen and bulgaria, if they are being cut off, do nato countries come to the assist as far as supply, or are they able to supply their own needs of natural gas? guest: poland, for instance, is

able to provide gas itself. they have storage they can use and they have plants so that they can get liquefied natural gas as well. bulgaria is in a bit more of a complicated situation, so they will be helped by neighbors. during recent years, the european union has made a lot of gas into connectors, which allows free flow gas across borders. that is an efficient weapon against putin's attempts to blackmail individual countries. so, other eu countries will help bulgaria. host: our guest with us until a: 30. if you want to ask questions, it is (202) 748-8000 for those of you in the eastern and central times on. (202) 748-8001 for the mountain and pacific time zones. if you want to text us, you can do so at (202) 748-8003.

secretary-general, the ukraine and president himself is still pushing for the possibility of ukraine entering nato. is that a possibility? guest: not in the short term. i think the very interesting proposal from zelenskyy was saying, "we are willing to accept membership of nato, but status as a neutral country, but in exchange, we demand security grants in another form, another kind of security guarantee equivalent to what we could have gotten through nato membership." in that case, it would be up to the united states, the u.k., france, turkey, and other countries to deliver low security guarantees that ukraine otherwise would have gotten through nato membership. if putin really has the will to

achieve a peace agreement, he could have described that as a victory. he prevented a ukrainian nato membership, he ensured neutral status, and the ukrainians could depict it as a victory because they got their security guarantees in another way. but i think, for putin, this is not a real negotiation. he has no real will to obtain a peace agreement. it is a trap. host: another perspective on ukraine membership in nato came early this week from senator rand paul. he was questioning the secretary of state antony blinken about ukraine entering nato. i want to play you a portion of what he had to say and get your perspective on it. [video clip] >> why was it so important last

fall, before this invasion, to continue agitating for ukraine's admission to nato? >> thank you, senator. not a question of agitating for admission, but first any of the basic principles that we strongly adhere to that there should be and will be an open-door policy when it comes to nato memory ship. these are sovereign decisions for european countries to make and of course a decision for the nato alliance to make, in terms of making sure that a country that wishes to join actually adds value to nato. this close to the heart of the international system and order, part of that is the basic principle that one country cannot dictate to another the choices it makes about with whom it allies. it is foreign policies. its decision or not to try to engage with the european union tornado. >> as we speak, we see destruction ukraine paired we also hear announcement from

president zelenskyy saying that maybe they would consider neutrality is a possibility. there could have been voices before this invasion, instead of agitating for something that we knew our adversary absolutely hated and said was a redline, and as recently as last september, before you sign the agreement, once again agitating for nato, russia said it was a redline. there is no justification for the invasion. i'm not saying that. but there are reasons for the invasion. had ukraine been in nato, as you advocated for, and many others have advocated for, we would not have traipse -- troops in ukraine. we would still have distraction, but troops in ukraine. if it is your policy that you want them in now, that means american troops go. the one good thing about them not being in is that most of our members here are not advocating for u.s. troops right now. that is a good thing. we have not had advocacy for u.s. groups -- u.s. troops because they are not part of nato. had they been or are to become

part of nato, that means u.s. soldiers will be fighting in ukraine and that is something i very much opposed. host: mr. secretary general, what do you think of that exchange? guest: very interesting exchange. it tells a lot about an ongoing discussion in the u.s.. but i can say that i am hundred percent in agreement with secretary blinken. this is not a question of us agitating for ukraine number ship to nato. it is the fund mental principle that obviously all countries have an inherent right to decide their lives themselves. it is not for putin to dictate to his neighbors whether they want to join nato or the european union. that is their decision and in collaboration with nato and the eu, we will take those decisions. it is not for putin. could we accept that putin dictates that finland and sweden

are not allowed to join nato? obviously not. it is a ridiculous idea. i really agree with antony blinken and i would caution against this movement in the u.s. that rand paul represents, which is an isolationist take view -- isolationist view that will end up becoming the u.s. retreating from the world. we know from history that once the u.s. retreats, you will leave behind a vacuum internationally. that document will be filled with the bad guys -- that vacuum will be filled with the bad guys. that is exactly what the presidents of russia, china, and north korea have done in the previous years. we need a determined american global leadership. host: our first call for you

comes from robert in new jersey. you are on with the former nato secretary-general. robert, go ahead. robert new jersey, hello? caller: hello. host: go ahead please. caller: i'm not a voted for republican, but i must say that i completely a glue -- i completely agree with senator rand paul's assessment in the exchange. there were talks about the fact that russia should not be allowed to dictate whether or not ukraine can be neutral or not. however, we know that the united states has done this time and time again. right now, you have a conflict brewing because the solomon islands in the pacific ocean signing a pact with china. the united states just said, and anyone can read this, that if the solomon islands does this pact with china, military action is not off the table.

this is just the common way in which words can differ based on which country is saying it. russia should have security on its border just like the united states should. if nato forces are going to put more weaponry on ukraine, i see that they are logical in taking action against it, although the lives that are in the mix should not happen. all the deaths should not happen. nato is constantly agitating this and fighting for the last ukrainian. host: that is robert new jersey. guest: there is a difference ideologically between china and the u.s. china is a dictatorship, the united states is a democracy. i support democracies. that is why, of course, we have now to strengthen the voice of the worst democracies.

as regards russia, actually, we have not in any way threatened russia. to take russia's security concerns into account has been done so many times. russia is not a victim. we have reached out to russia on several occasions. each and every time, we have reached out to russia beforehand . that can 1997, we offered russia a permanent representation in the midst of nato headquarters in brussels, to tell them you can watch, you can see what is going on. nato is not directed against you. it is our acceptance of eastern and central european countries who want to join nato. time and again, we have reached out to russia and taken there

considered -- their security concerns into account. there is no justification whatsoever for russia's unprovoked attack against ukraine. host: the news reporting a couple of days ago that the kremlin was basically saying by supplying weapons from the last -- from the west, it is an escalation or at least aggravation and a threat toward the soviet union. would you accept that? guest: no, not at all. what we are doing is on request of a legitimate ukrainian government. we help them with weapons, economically, and in many other ways. we haven't put nato troops on the ground in ukraine, so we are not part of the war, but obviously we will support a democratic ukraine against an autocratic russia. host: this is stephen and

connecticut. you are next up. go ahead. caller: good morning. to that caller from new jersey, did you see what the russian army did to the civilians? it was outrageous, sinister, people what they did to those people. the videos out of their are disgusting. i would say that was the point, because i read a lot of journals and newspapers, that many said enough is enough. for the first time, they started sending heavy weapons. i just want to ask you, mr. secretary-general, ukraine is on vesely need of artillery. putin needs and offramp. we can't push him totally back against the wall.

it is hard to forecast the future, but what is the way out of this? guest: that is actually a good question. that's a really good question. what is the way out of it? i described a moment ago how i could see a way out of it, namely zelenskyy has offered neutral status for ukraine, no nato membership, but in exchange, he wants security guarantees. i think those security guarantees from the community should be supplemented by a robust ukrainian defense, so that the ukrainian military is capable of defending ukraine against new russian attacks. also, saying he would apply a peacekeeping force in eastern ukraine to monitor the peace agreement. i could see elements in the solution.

but putin does not want a peaceful solution to this. he thinks he can win militarily, that he cannot and he should not be allowed to win. i think strategically, it is of utmost importance to make sure that the ukrainians when the battle in eastern ukraine. that would determine the future of the world order and the future of the security architecture in europe. we would need to deliver all of the weapons and all other kinds of assistance that ukrainians need, and do it quickly. host: this is someone off of twitter, saying that with some of the european borders, i'm afraid that we are one mistake away from military strike to a nato nation. if this happens, what should the

nato response be? guest: if a nato country is hit by russians, there will be a determined military response. but i think it is part of a credible deterrent that you are never too specific in advance about how you will react. if russia attacks a nato ally, and also goes if putin uses weapons of mass destruction, technical or -- tactical nuclear weapons, biochemical weapons in ukraine, there will be a response. but we should not tell putin in advance how we will respond. in general, i think, nato leaders should be a bit more cautious not to exclude any action. i think too many leaders have been too eager to tell putin that they don't want to do this and that. that leaves putin bigger room to

maneuver because he knows exactly where the red line is. we should never, ever find clearly where the redline is and we should never, ever tell him in advance how we will respond, but he should know that we will respond. i think that is part of a credible deterrent. host: our next call is from william, also new jersey. you are on with our guest. go ahead. caller: good morning. is your secretary-general, maybe you can clear some things up. there are a lot of people that are making the connection between the brigade and nazis. you have been in europe for a long time. what is the actual -- is there any idea of how many nazis actually are in ukraine? and what is your reaction to that? thank you. guest: thank you. that is one of the myths come out one of the lies, on which putin has built his invasion of

ukraine. but it is not true. there aren't many, if any, nazis in ukraine. the president, by the way, has a jewish background. the jews in ukraine have publicly declared that they have never, ever had such conditions to operate as they do today. they are a respected community in ukraine. it is really a lie upon which putin has legitimized his attack against ukraine. host: here is mark in fort lauderdale. hello. caller: hello and good morning. as always, thank you for c-span. i'm sitting here listening while

i'm on the phone and a lot of these calls make me kind of want to talk about something different than i ritually called about, but i will stick with my original plan. going back to the rand paul video, talking to blinken. my question, the last statement, and really perhaps what happened to mr. blinken yesterday, a lot of times diplomats get too wordy and too long, and go on and on and on. rand paul's question was basically, did russia attack ukraine because nato is trying to claw up next to russia? you would hear from a number of people. at the time you are the head of nato, was the process for nato to go to countries and say, "hey, do you want to join us?"

was the process for the countries to approach nato and say, "hey, we would like to go with you guys because you could help defend us?" if the countries coming to nato, what is the problem with that echo -- that? nato is not seeking member to try to overwhelm russia, is it? host: thanks, mark. guest: that is a good question. it is the latter. countries in eastern and central europe requested membership of nato. they asked us, "couldn't we join nato?" back in 2008, already we had a heated discussion at a summit in nato on wishes from ukraine and georgia to join nato. we discussed whether they should be granted so-called membership action plans.

we cannot agree on that. instead, we agreed a statement at the summit said ukraine and georgia will become members of nato. based on work on that -- we have based our work on that ever since. it is not us campaigning for countries to join nato and european union. actually, many of them think that nato and the eu are too enlarged. it is because those countries requested membership and we handled that according to all of the well-known principles. host: the president announced earlier this week that diplomats will be returning to ukraine. his intention to nominate bridget brink, the current ambassador of slovakia, go to ukraine, what do you think of

these efforts, as far as diplomatically? is it far past diplomatic efforts or still a possibility that diplomacy could work? guest: we should always keep diplomacy at hand, obviously. it is a very good signal to both ukraine and russia that diplomats are returning to kyiv. secretary blinken and secretary alston visited kyiv recently. it is a clear signal to russia that we are expecting the ukrainians to actually win this conflict. all those gestures, where european leaders have visited kyiv and met with president zelenskyy, are very important both to encourage the ukrainians

and to discourage the russians and send a clear message to putin that we expect the ukrainians to be the winners. host: let's get one more call in. this is debbie in rhode island. caller: good morning. i have a question. it was highly publicized in the news and otherwise that mr. putin was targeting children and civilians. the concern i had is, for a few days, they were televising the drama school with children, some said hundreds or up to thousands of people in there, in this building. on either side of this building were large signs that said children. if putin was targeting civilians, why would they advertise? a few days later, it showed the same building, but of course it was targeted. as a mom, as a parent, it broke my heart because i thought, "what was that done?"

can you explain why they would advertise that they were in that building? thank you very much. guest: i don't know the background for any announcement of their presence, but with -- but what we can conclude is that the russians are committing war crimes in ukraine. of course, they should be held to account. that is a complicated process. but i think for a lot of reasons , we have to consider those attacks against civilians, both children and adults, are a clear war crime and should be treated as such. host: that is the former tech -- the former secretary general of nato. thank you for giving us your time today. guest: it was a pleasure to be here.

thank you. host: coming up, we will talk to two legislators today. first up, a member of the congressional hispanic caucus to talk to us about the meeting earlier this week with president biden and what they discussed. then, we will hear from a republican representative from california. we will talk about of a response, and congressional news of the day. those stories and more coming up on "washington journal." ♪ >> c-span's "the weekly" podcast brings you over 40 years of recordings from our video library. president biden is set to appear at the white house correspondents dinner on saturday. the first presidential appearance to the dinner since 2015. on this special comedy addition, we look at past media dinners, jokes told about joe biden, jokes told by joe biden.

>> all this change hasn't been easy. change never is. so, i have cut the tension by bringing a new friend to the white house. he is warm, cuddly, loyal, enthusiastic. you just have to keep him on a tight leash. every once a while, he goes charging off in the wrong direction and gets himself into trouble. enough about joe biden. [laughter] >> you can find "the weekly" on c-span now, our free mobile app? -- our free mobile app, or wherever you get your podcasts.

>> "washington journal" continues. host: serving the 13th district of new york, a democrat from that state, also the second vice chair of the congressional hispanic caucus joining us now. thank you for your time, sir. guest: thank you for having me. host: the caucus met earlier

this week with president biden. what was the goal of the meeting echo -- meeting? guest: i think the goal of the meeting was to catch up on several issues, not just immigration, but also infrastructure, student loans, and a host of things i think are important to the american people. the caucus is not just immigration focus. host: according to reporting, title 42 and immigration issues or the large part of the meeting? guest: it was. during the meeting, of course, the court decision came through, so we were pretty -- privy to that information. but we did discuss issues regarding potential executive orders and to respond. host: when it comes to title 42, what is the caucus'stand on its

removal or planned removal later this year? what is your personal take on it? guest: first and foremost, title 42 is a cdc mandate. it pertains to the cover 19 pandemic and it was used by the previous administration to circumvent immigration laws and really implement it as an immigration tool. that was a mistake. of course, the cdc has already issued an opinion that things have changed regarding the pandemic and that it should be eliminated. this is a public policy that is based on science and medical opinions. we should follow it. host: when it comes to the lifting of it, what makes it justifiable, as far as the conditions here in the united states? why do you think it is ready to be lifted? guest: the conditions, although

the pandemic is still very much alive, it is not at the same level that it was in the past. we all know that. of course, there is no evidence that migration will fuel an increase in covid-19 cases. as such, it should be eliminated . whatever measures we should take regarding immigration should be done particularly and exclusively within that worm -- that realm, not using public policy that pertains to the cover 19 pandemic as a tool to enforce immigration law. host: one of your caucus members earlier this week on "the sunday show" talked about his concerns about the lifting of it, saying that if you talk to people on the ground there, there is another situation that should keep it in place at he also cited that the administration rolled out a plan to deal with what happened after title 42 was lifted. what you think about those concerns from a member of your caucus? guest: i think she made those

comments -- a six-point plan has been issued. it will increase the number of a border patrol, increased transportation, like nonprofits at the border. a host of issues. it would stiffen penalties for smugglers. also, this is a new six-point plan that has an issued since she made that statement. in addition to that, the president's budget has a requested increase of $621 million for the immigration courts, a $6.3 billion increase for the refugee center, as well as funding for case log and -- case law and backlog support. a lot is on the table.

host: our guest is with us until 9:00. if you want to ask questions, it is (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8000 for democrats, then (202) 748-8002 for independents. you can text us at (202) 748-8003. is there a plan to put that in motion, see if it works for couple months before lifting title 42? guest: i think we should lift it and implement the plan. that is the american way. we are still a nation of immigrants. folks have the right to seek refuge. that has been a long-standing tradition of america, whether you come from ukraine or one of the tribal countries. if a mom is coming with her 12-year-old or 13-year-old child , this person to recruit them, that mom should be able to come to the border and make a case to see whether or not we will allow her as a refugee. we will take it case-by-case.

i think that is the american way. that is the way it has been all the time and we should not divert around very core values. host: you have a background in legal issues. when it comes to immigration cases, are you concerned about the current amount of backlog in immigration court, and what do you think the administration is doing to alleviate that? guest: yes, i am very concerned. president biden has asked for $621 million to increase immigration courts. the administration has also requested some hundred $65 million specifically for case law and backlog reduction. in addition, we feel very strongly and have discussed with the president that the petitions that are put forward by families to reunite with their loved ones should be expedited. many people wait for a decade or more before they are finally reunited with their families there are 4 million people

abroad to reunite -- waiting to reunite with their families. we should expedite that. a united family as a stronger family. stronger families make a stronger america. we should also invest money in that. host: we have seen only in this administration, but in previous ones as well, dealing with where to house people as they wait for how these things play out. given those issues and problems we have seen, as this been resolved? guest: one of the things being asked for is greater transportation from the administration. the unaccompanied minors -- there was issues of trouble connecting them with their parents. some of them were on the east coast and they were all the way out in arizona or the west coast. all the way on the other side of the country. we are investing for transportation money to try to connect and reunite family

members, particularly children and parents. host: our guest is with us until 9:00. lisa is in oklahoma, start us off on our republican line. you are on the line with the second vice chair of the congressional hispanic caucus. good morning and go ahead with your question or comment. caller: good morning. i was calling about title 42. i noticed a lot of people were talking about the fact that we are being overrun. i agree. but it's not really title 42. i do not think it should be lifted right now and the reason is that we just got covid under control. i think that if we lift it right now, we are going to bring in a bunch of people with covid and it's going to spread all over again. i really think that title 42 should just a right where it is and allow the american people to

get over this covid. i think it is just too soon to allow a lot of people to come in. that are infected. host: that's lisa in oklahoma. representative, go ahead. guest: thank you, lisa, for your opinion, but there's no verifiable information to show that covid-19 has been filled by migration patterns. in fact, it is fueled by our lack of taking measures to prevent the pandemic from spreading. not vaccinating, not taking the tests that we need to take to determine whether we are positive or not. in fact, the migrants that are coming in our mandated to be vaccinated once they come in. i don't see how that will lead to a spread of the pandemic. most people think that the pandemic is decreasing. i believe that it is and there is no evidence whatsoever to show that migration patterns have contributed to the growth

of the pandemic in the past. host: we will hear next from peggy on our line for democrats. she is in washington state. go ahead. caller: hello and good morning. i think my question might have been answered about covid being vaccinated. i know we have a lot of covid vaccines that are really close to expiring and stuff, so i was wondering why couldn't they be fully vaccinated? two doses of vaccine, plus a booster before anybody is legally allowed to come into this country? guest: i agree. in fact, i came as an immigrant to this nation. i remember as a little boy being vaccinated for regular doses of vaccines that were given to anybody that came to the country. there is no reason why we should not continue to do that. in fact, we used to joke about it and our house.

my siblings and i, we would say, "i use -- i still have the mark from the vaccine. it is my passport." host: representative, you serve as an appropriate are on the appropriations committee. the administration is asking for close to $100 billion in 2023 on immigration-related issues. as an appropriate are, what do you think of the request and where do you think it will go? guest: i think it's a good request, a real request. i think it answers many of the questions that the callers may have. and that the americans have concern with. i think we should care for any migrant, including working with countries to make sure that we discourage migration and get to the root cause of the migration in countries like el salvador, guatemala, and honduras. host: the administration sent the vice president to deal with

these. has anything come out of that? guest: job creations is one of the issues we want to support. i think that countries should be given the opportunity to produce goods and services that are needed by america. we don't really have to go across the planet to asia or another continent to get those goods and services. i think they could be produced right here. when you create jobs, you create conditions for folks not to consider migrating to the united states. you may know that a good number of migration no longer comes from mexico. in fact, there is a pattern going back to mexico, because there are economic opportunities in that country. host: from linda in florida, independent line, you are up next. hello. caller: hi, i have a couple of points. we have 11 million or whatever illegal immigrants in this country and it doesn't make sense to deport them.

so, maybe we should limit the number of people we can accept realistically in a week. a system that can process in a week what we can afford and what is realistic. how many judges and staff do we need to process -- we can take in 1000 a day. once they are here, we cannot deport them. we just bring in more than we are able to process. secondly, i wonder what the effect this has on the decline of democracies around the world. you have democracies because you fight and stay in your country to make the country you have better.

being able to just leave instead of staying in your country and fighting to make it a better country, i think immigration has contributed to the downfall of democracies around the world. host: linda, we will leave it there and let our guest respond. guest: thank you for the question. the biden administration has said the nation refugee resettlement cap is 125,000 for 2023. there is an actual number. she is right. it has been set by d biden administration. with regards to democracy, i think that in many ways, when you come to the united states, you have taken democratic values this country has -- this country stands for, then you go back to

your country of origin, you have a positive impact on democracy there. the way it works for my family are the values and work ethic that we developed here, we often try to pass on to our family members back in our country of origin. i think that it strengthens the world for folks to come to america and see how the system works here, and pick up democratic values that are prevalent in our country. host: our guest is with us for about 15 more minutes. before we let you go, i also want to ask you another part of the conversation you had with the president. student loans specifically coming up. what was the request from the caucus? guest: all of us want student loans forgiven at one level or the other. i think everyone in america understands that. first and foremost, student loans have long surpassed credit card debt and our nation. that is the magnitude or volume of it.

some folks, latinos, after 12 years still owe 80% of their student loans. that is how heavy a loan it is on working-class and middle-class families peered we know that that is a real problem for a young family, a young couple starting out. they are shadowed with student loans that may be around for over a decade. to have a very tough chance at moving forward in starting their family. certainly, there should be a level of forgiveness. i think the president understands that. he may understand what the load experience is. i think we should be waiting to hear from him soon about that. host: did he suggest a specific level to you or the caucus about what he is considering? guest: we didn't discuss the actual level, we just discussed the fact that we feel student loans should be forgiven at some level. host: to what level would you

like to see it in the current? guest: 50%. i think it should be both public and part of it colleges as well. host: how did you come up with that figure? guest: i think it is a fair, balanced figure that will ensure that people get relief, but not impact adversely the economy. host: you have probably heard criticism. one senator said that the debt president biden wants americans to pay -- guest: everybody understands that this is a runaway problem. as i said earlier, it has surpassed credit card debt. this disallows families for moving forward and reaching for middle-class. some family members may be in debt and permittivity. it may take them 20 years.

their children, the parents may decide they don't want them to go through the same thing they went through. they may be in debt indefinitely. it is not a good way for the economy to be moving forward. host: let's go next to eddie in new york, republican line. go ahead. caller: how are you doing? i'm interested in housing. i remember decades ago, the savings and loans fiasco [indiscernible] john mccain was accused of taking money. then, there was the 2006 1. harry took charge. it cost us hundreds of billions of dollars in housing. what are you going to do with up to 30 illegal immigrants here in america? how are you going to house them? guest: what i find is that when i walk around my district, small

businesses and other employers are concerned about having workers. if you look throughout history, you will note that no major crisis in our nation, economic crisis in our nation, has been resolved without the hands of immigrant labor. we need these workers. these workers will find things by themselves. believe me, they will be able to pay their rent and survive. they will move forward in america. i think we should give them the opportunity. i think small businesses are craving more workers. we have them right here. why not give them an opportunity? host: from jennifer in virginia, democrats line. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. my question is on how student

loans just proportionately affect latinos. could you talk a little bit more about that? guest: yes. as i said earlier, after 12 years of payment, it has been determined that latinos still owe 80% of their student loans. imagine that after a decade of paying student loans, e find out that you aren't even halfway there. you still owe 80% of it. that is devastating. of course, that will have a direct impact on the future of those families being able to reach the middle class or move forward. we must address this. host: represent of a question. one of the request from the chc was the extension of the public health emergency, if i have it correct. can you explain what that would do and why you think is necessary? guest: we know that our communities have been hit

disproportionately by covenant 19 and that -- by covid-19, and that in many places across the country, federally funded clinics even in rule areas across the country, we need that kind of help. we have disparities that showed up during the pandemic. people with diabetes, with asthma, high blood pressure, renal problems, cardiovascular problems, these are the folks that died. covid took them out. they died because of their conditions. these health disparities should not be dragged in perpetuity. we should address them. for that, we need to continue to fight for our hospitals and clinics, and make sure that communities that are facing these health disparities receive the kind of help they deserve. host: how do you explain the

extension of one covid policy, but the lifting of title 42, another covered policy? guest: happening at the border, we don't see the pandemic raging because of migration patterns at the border. but we know that communities across the country that have been, for many years, forgotten and might not have gotten the funding that they need to address problems suffered the cost of insulin for diabetes. that is horrendous, that people have to ration insulin. those people that suffer from diabetes have to ration insulin to survive. we want to cap it at, i believe, $35 per month. we get opposition from some members of congress. yes, this is a very, very serious problem in communities

like the ones that i represent. many, many folks are disproportionately suffering from diabetes. if we continue to provide funding to address the conditions that showed up during the pandemic, we would be able to do better for those folks that i represent. host: let's hear from grace in virginia, independent line. you are on. good morning. caller: how are you doing? one nation under god. one nation. everybody came from somewhere. my ancestors were from africa. i'm trying to help somebody else. [indiscernible] the 15th amendment states that anybody who comes to then i'd states [indiscernible]

it ain't right. thank you. bye. host: that is grace from virginia. guest: as i said, we have a long-standing tradition of immigration, of being able, as a nation, to hear from folks that are looking for asylum from a natural disaster or may be security issue in their country, or violence. we see what is happening in ukraine. there are folks coming in now seeking refuge from ukraine. we should hear them out. should provide on a case-by-case basis the kind of show support that they need to get. that is the backbone of this nation. it is the ability to do that. we should not divert from that practice. host: our guest not only serves

on the appropriation committee, but also the education and labor committee we have if you are on twitter who asked this question, saying, "if we can't cancel student debt, then restructure it, so becomes a small percentage. can we put an end to predatory practices? i doubt it under this capitalist system." guest: that's a good idea. i have a plan that means it should not be more than 5% of your income, that the first five years you should get a moratorium on payments, if you are young family or just out of college, you should have breathing room to morph -- to move forward. and for five years, if you provide a service like school teacher, police officer, in a depressed unity, you should get some sort of forgiveness. host: let's hear from one more pure. this is teresa in south dakota, democrats line.

we are running short on time, but go ahead with your question or comment. caller: i would like to know with the president or kings or whatever those people are called in those other countries, what are they doing and how is their lifestyle? why don't they support their own families and population? guest: certainly, there are issues in other countries across the world, not just in this hemisphere, that contribute to migration. migration is a planet wide, worldwide dynamic. people migrate from one country to another, seeking other opportunities or fleeing violence or depressed conditions. yes, there are conditions in countries that often force people to migrate to another nation. host: representative, before let you go, let me ask you, what is the likelihood that the democrats will not be in control

after the midterm elections this year? guest: i like our chances. i like being the underdog, having a little bit of a chip on our shoulder. i will fight and i think we have done a great job. we still have much more to do. our president, i think, is doing a -- a to minister. host: that was the second vice chair of the congressional hispanic caucus. we thank you for your time, sir. guest: thank you so much for having me. host: later, we will hear from a republican from california. he talks about not only covid response, but also issues regarding immigration and other issues. that is later in the program. but first, we will take a round of open forum for a half-hour. you can call in (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8000 for democrats, and independents at (202) 748-8002. we will take those calls and open forum when "washington journal" continues. ♪

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in the first two decades of the century. including a look at the late 20th century -- president clinton. watch american history tv saturday on c-span2 and find the full schedule on your program guide or watch on line anytime at c-span.org/history. >> washington journal continues. host: you can text this at (202) 748-8003. that will take place in -- across this -- the country. it is the largest group and one that is a closely affiliated

with minority leader kevin mccarthy. the associated press reporting that it was yesterday that the court rejected the state's new congressional district maps which has been seen as favoring democrats. the court of appeal agreed with a group of republicans who sued saying that the founders had been unconstitutionally jerry moaned -- gerrymandered. it is out of albany. you can see it in other places as well. jonathan in ohio, democrats start us off. caller: i have a question. you know you play football and take a timeout? i think america needs to take a timeout. where is the fuss about all the millions of dollars going to ukraine for eight and no one is

saying anything about that but we are talking about illegal immigrants and one more thing. why isn't anyone talking about voting restrictions and these voting laws -- with the build back better? did they bring drugs over because they did a trade yesterday with them man from russia who had a hundred million dollars of cocaine and he -- from america. host: that is gerald. there was a question in the white house press briefing but we will hear from gerald in oklahoma. caller: yes. our problem with the border is -- all the big powers during the border so that wages are low.

all i have to say. host: joseph from maryland, independent line. caller: good morning. everyone. i was thinking a couple of subjects. one of them is, children at school with all the people -- teachers, from my experience, whenever you let your kids with adults, there needs to be supervision, whether it is the coach, the priest, any adult that is taking your kids to private is a very serious issue. in schools, it happens a lot. my next subject is the border. i understand we need people to work in our country and that is very important and that is what is this -- this is about. we need people in our country.

with that said, wrote developed was the first person to deal heroin. his family, i am not making these statements up. thank you very much. host: that is joseph. mbc reporting that the president is expecting to ask congress for additional aid in sanctions -- and sanctions -- oligarchs accountable according to the white house. going on to quote him and say oh -- "the package will establish new authorities for the forfeiture of property -- allowing the government to use the proceeds to support ukraine and further strengthen law enforcement stools." -- tools." you can follow on our website and the c-span app.

irene in colorado. caller: i watch all the democrats and republicans go back and forth and i will like to see marjorie taylor greene to see how tough she is. host: what would you like to ask her? caller: she has no facts to back up her opinions that she has. she is going on a whim and complaining about things that the democrats do. host: that is irene in colorado. a caller mentioned that earlier about the swap that took place the washington post said earlier that it was the biden administration said that the arrangement -- required president biden to make the decision to repatriate -- it was on that mr. biden was linked to make as health -- that was the question that was asked from the

white house press briefing. you can see the briefing on c-span. >> let me say it is a huge moment today that speaks to president biden's commitment to bring home americans held half -- hostage and he has been clear from the beginning that he is committed to doing exactly that, to bringing americans home. he has brought home americans from venezuela and today from russia. trevor's freedom is the result of hard work across the u.s. government. i will get your question. when you reference the tough decision in his statement, he was referencing the this is into commute the sentence of the russian parent -- question. he served the majority of his prison sentence and our priority was the return of trevor reed, knowing that had he been held

from -- against his will for too long but his health condition needed urgent treatment. he will be reunited with his family but receive the treatment he needed from the u.s.. our objective is to bring all americans who are detained away from their families home from overseas but i will not be able to preview from you what prophecies are approaches we will take moving forward. host: that is available on the website or the app. he'll reporting that the u.s. economy retracted slightly in the first quarter -- gross domestic profit. the gdp shrank at an annualized rate out 1.3% -- economist s -- expect the gdp to fall at an analyze rate -- an old aunt --

annualized rate at 1%. that spending helped certain imports -- both with -- which detracts she -- gdp. a drop in experts also push the economy slowly backward on a whole. -- exports all shows -- also pushed the economy slowly backward on the whole. caller: [indiscernible] -- mike we have always done before that. this nonsense. it is kind of like what people did across the border. they are fleeing from a bad place but then they are breaking drugs in. that is not right. everyone from texas to oklahoma to washington dc have been doing

drugs all the way through there for years. thank you. host: tennessee, republican line. teresa. caller: good morning. a coat -- code 597 makes it illegal -- that is what joe biden is trying to do with this extended loan debt. i watch the democrats on your show and on other channels paying off student debt and they say it is economic and social justice. they admit it is for black and brown voters. it is discriminatory, first of all, to say you are only give only black and brown democratic voters cash to pay off their student loans. i have 37 thousand dollars in medical debt that have been

paying off forever. i have the debt because how about -- i didn't and obama messed of the industry with obama kind -- obamacare. president trump is in offering me 10,000 voter -- $10,000 in cash because i voted for him. it is illegal. host: there's a story that you can find on the website saying a bipartisan contingent of lawmakers is -- baker face due to microchip shortages. a democrat from michigan is leaving the charge to release dealerships to attach the bill and a republican -- to a bigger package that could get to the president's staff. unofficial says it hopes it is added to eight package aimed at -- the measure is to resolve

differences between house bills. caller: i would like to talk about how the republicans and the democrats are changing -- stopping the politician. like the santos. --desantos. the republicans were not cooperate with each other, let alone the democrats. this is bad when you can go against density -- density -- disney because you don't like what they said. host: anna in delaware. republican line. caller: but i am going about is the -- i don't think it is fair.

i put three children through private schools and college and i said i don't get my money back. my children -- my daughter and my son, $32,000 plus a year and we don't get our money back. plus, and they are going to give these kids -- that just think that they can get loans and don't pay them back, that is not teaching them anything and if they are going to do stuff like that, and we borrow money for a house, and we should get our money back for the loan. i think if they want to leave them, they never could buy a house. host: anna in delaware. 15 minutes left in our open forward. (202) 748-8001 or republicans.

(202) 748-8000 four democrats. (202) 748-8003 --(202) 748-8002 four independents. -- then use the proceeds for humanitarian aid to ukraine. the u.s. has already seen millions of dollars of assets from wealthy russians. other governments are hoping that financial pressure on the individuals will translate to political pressure on putin. morph that if you want to go to the axios website. we will hear from thomas in raleigh -- raleigh, north carolina. caller: i had -- this will be a red wave come november. joe biden owns all of it -- was

look at the border. if donald trump and mike pence did not go to the border, the media would go crazy. kamala harris went one time. joe biden didn't went. the media will be going tray -- crazy if it was donald trump's administration. host: questions about the previous administration awarding loan belief by the new york times. the headline, "-- they say that 2.2 trillion dollar pandemic release package that congress had in 2020, including a pot of money -- companies that were critical to the nations security. the treasury department announced it was giving a 700 million dollar loan for the

trucking company which has changed its name to yellow. lobbyists for yellow were in close touch with trump officials. the white house chief of staff" a key actor". the report noted that the white house political operations was quote, almost giddy to assist with the application. more about that if you want to read that in the new york times. this report was released by the subcommittee for the coronavirus crisis, not the january 6 committee. caller: i, pedro. i appreciate you having the republican reading the whole article.

i will like to make a comment. jared kushner had $2 billion to one an investment form for the -- firm for the saudi it -- saudi arabians. biden's son had millions from ukraine and china. i haven't heard anyone all week that -- bring up the fact that jared kushner got $2 billion and he never managed a investment fund. i am sharing a piece of information to the session. host: william in north carolina leaking of president's son. -- speaking of president biden's son. the minority officers -- lane the crown work for a probe that

will get underway at the gop gains subpoena power by wresting control from democrats. topping the list -- some of which involve the state-controlled think of china and other companies try to the chinese public -- government and potential impact of -- on the government. eric in maine. caller: this is eric. i would all agree that the student loan should not be a profit incentive -- for the united states government and one thing is to take the interest rate and drop it to 2% and make it retroactive to go back as far as we can and refund the interest rates above the new interest rate to the folks that did borrow the money. paying off people student loan

debt, and does not teach them anything. if you enter into a contract as a student loan or a mortgage or a -- buying a new or used car. you are doing it with your eyes wide open. everyone is responsible for their actions. host: we told you about the hearing that featured the homeland security secretary -- one of the things to show you is an exchange he had with republican member dan fisher, talked about the border and in relation to drug smuggling and crime rates. >> what do you have to say to americans who will suffer crime by virtue of people being allowed in the country and released when you need not have done son? -- so? >> individuals who illegally cross country are place in immigration facilities. >> your answer to the americans

who will suffer crime is that people will have a silo. i will not you give you my time to make a long-winded answer. answer the question i am asking. >> let him answer it. >> it is my time and i will not let him filibuster me. >> here's trying to answer your question >>. >> i will answer him another question. do you have a message to americans who will be victims of crime because of your policy? >> we are taking a tougher stand on criminals who enter the country illegally and the data suggest that we are more focused on public safety threats to the homeland than the prior administration was and in fact, we have removed more aggravated balance -- felons in one year than the prior administration.

i think it is almost double. >> all of those individual categories, your numbers are lower you have a larger number overall. it is amazing. 100,000 americans died of overdoses last year and the dea says 95% of the fentanyl comes across the central border. do you feel remorse for americans who died because fentanyl came across the border that was fed by illegal immigration? >> be mourned the loss of individuals who lost their lives. in 2020, there was approximately 50% increase in opl eight deaths in the country over 2019? -- opioid deaths in the country over 2019?

the number of opioid deaths have grown each year year in and year out prior to this administration and what we have to do in this country is address the cost which is demand. -- cause which is demand. the great majority is through the points of entry. >> funds have been diverted to processing illegal migrants. i have 30 seconds left. host: that was a portion of the hearing featuring the homeland security -- security secretary. this will be before -- the -- you can see this on our app. this is at 10:00.

the secretary of state anthony lincoln will appear in front of a committee. we will go to scott in tampa florida. caller: i will like to make a few comments about the student loan debt forgiveness. in this country, there are socialist ideas -- ideals and at the very top of that is burning sanders, elizabeth warren. with the socialist ideals, from a great president from our past, he said in his inauguration speech, that is not what your -- ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. for student loan death -- debts, why is no one talking about

community service to pay off the debt by these individuals? i paid off my student loans and i worked my ass off while i was in school and i am retired and i am doing community service for free. host: let's hear from ted in florida. caller: it is overrated. the bottom line is -- number two, immigration. americans need to get a life because number one, you need employees and therefore people need to come and we have all kinds of people from all over the world and right now, our

population is going down because of certain situations. therefore, need to open up the borders and help people because they are suffering all over the world. stop the politics. host: we will hear from roger. republican line. caller: i watch her show -- your show pretty often and i remember when donald trump was president. there were a number of shows people -- and people making accusations and several people who wrote books about donald trump and the lincoln project. there was a form for people to take shots and i contrast that with the hunter biden story. i don't think we have ever focused on the hunter biden,

although the new york times have acknowledged -- it looks like hunter biden was selling influence to certain countries to get joe biden to influence them. he was in office for 50 years. it shows that president biden had meetings with hunter biden's business partner and he claims he didn't know anything about this and then you see $5 million unaccounted for in his finances that showed up and no one knows how he got that $5 million. he has been in government service but there are so many things swirling around. in washington, they show and i cannot believe you guys have done a full program or segment on the -- laptop from hell or hunter biden. host: let me point you to our

book tv, looking author from the last talk dealing with that. you can buy both of those on the website if you check it out. brian, virginia, democrats line. caller: i'd like to say that a lot of americans have a right with forgiveness --gr --gripe of forgiveness with soon loans but they don't have that with corporations. these last couple of years, they have been losing money and we have been subsidizing their costs and we have been taxing them and -- incentives for them to lower the prices of gas. they are not doing anything and americans are ok with it. they hate to accept the fact that we would rather help corporations than our own

american people. we have filled out corporations and businesses over again and we have yet to bailout the american people on student loans. host: writing -- brian in virginia finishing off this round. at legislator joining us at 10:00. we will heal from a republican of california and a member of the agricultural committee. that conversation coming up next on washington journal. >> c-span brings>> you an unfiltered view of government. our newsletter recaps halls of congress to daily press briefings to remarks from the president. scan the qr code to sign up for the email and stay up-to-date on everything happening in washington each day. subscribe today using the qr code or visit c-span.org/connect

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host: our final guest with the morning, representative doug lamalfa of the transportation and infrastructure committee. thanks for your time. it also says you are one of the few farmers on capitol hill. caller: there is a handful. we farm rice. host: i want to put you to a story about food prices in the united states and how they could go up in the future. what do you think is the resolve of the eyes stays to take care of the issue? caller: the resolve comes down to the government trying to act to the best interest of the people, not the green new deal or something like that. where i come from in california, water is in a sort -- short situation right now. we have had years of drought but

it is also a men mage -- a man-made issue of not managing our water well. very large lakes in my district were pretty much full and 2019 and 2017. you may recall the spillway crisis when the spillway broke. the lake was full and 2017, 2019. now they are running water to the delta to try to save fish or have issue with salinity in the delta. we are running out of water and hundreds of thousands of acres, millions even when you count them over time, are going to be idle, so we have a feud -- a food shortage there and with ukraine being a major exporter of different food products, that is going to affect the world market. when you squeeze the world market one way, it affects price and availability.

they are not going to export grain now because they are looking at the whole world. on the other hand, energy prices are making food expensive to produce. we are spring planting right now and our price of fertilizer has more than doubled this year. we have to make that up somewhere. if we do not, we could lose more rice farmers. if they do not make that up in price, they are not there the next year. the decisions we are making now, not getting water to farmers means we are not going to have those crops in 2023. next year with the shelves are shorter and food prices are higher, they cannot go back and make up for a crop you did not grow. you will have to replace it somehow. host: as far as the water you talked about, a delivery of water that is usually expected by farmers is not expected to occur this year. host: --

guest: it has been a tough year. the resource control board things the water should be going to fish and environmental purposes. in southern oregon, and 2021 and 2022, zero water. imagine trying to run a business with zero input for producing one of your products, and this case farming. in 2020, they started to pull water away but we were able to work with the trump administration to stop that and let them finish planting the crops they already had planted in the spring and at least give them enough water. they had already plowed the field and put the seeds of the ground and already started. unbelievable, what the government is doing to agriculture. it is like cutting our own throats by reason of environmental issues.

host: there is a story this morning in the papers about southern california being affected and a new water restriction for watering once a week. guest: california is leading in a lot of bad ideas. it is leading in the water shortage as well. agriculture does its part, but people in urban areas are doing a good job of conserving as well. it is basically people versus wrongheaded thinking. they want to pull down dams and such, so that means the grapes are going to suffer in that area. it means a lot of things. california is a leading producer of many crops, at least 12. what americans eat, 98% of those crops are grown in california. you will not have them if we do not grow them.

i do not even have the whole list, but so much of what america depends on is grown in california. it is a national problem when we do not grow it. import wheat from russia or ukraine. you cannot do that. import rice from somewhere else in the asian sector. we cannot just keep being in import country if we want to have the strategic ability to feed ourselves and take care of our borders and feed our military quit for example. if we cannot defend ourselves, and food is a strategic way of being able to have an economy and not be subject to what others want to put upon us with embargoes. there is a saying popular informing country. if you like important oil, you will love imported food. host: if you want asking questions, (202) 748-8001 for

republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can also text us at (202) 748-8003. to current events, there is a debate going on as of yesterday on capitol hill with the hearings with home unsecured he secretary about title -- with the homeland secretary about title 42 and where it stands in its future. what do you see happening if it is rescinded? guest: our border feels like a sieve. i have two of experiences. it is pretty impressive how much they have to screen here they are inspecting for people coming in. a lot people have work permits.

several of my college went to a particular area. that is just a freeway of the illegal immigration. you should see the stuff on the ground from pill containers and clothes and shoes they have taken off to leave behind. they have beauties they put over -- booties they put over their shoes so you do not leave footprints. there is another area where you can see them walking across a concrete structure next to a dam. they just walk right past us because they know is a free path. border patrol has been inspected to pick them -- instructed to pick them up and cut them loose. those guys are really demoralized by the policies of the ministry should that says it is a free-for-all. what does that mean? you add title 42 to that and you will have people with health

issues from countries that have known health problems. they just get rid of the mask mandate to get on airplanes because of a court decision, not a cdc decision. if that is a giant health issue, with people who would be seen as largely healthy, others coming across without covid tests since covid tests are the big thing in getting the injection -- that is complete lee counter to any kind of logic. -- completely counter to any kind of logic. we have a right to have sovereign control of our border. that is how you have any kind of structure as a country. otherwise we have the chaos we have that effect so much of our society, school attendance, health care facilities. it is just wrecking aspects of our society. we welcome illegal immigration. we welcome process. when you have giant holes in the

fence they know they can come through and we are basically inviting them, it does not make sense. getting rid of title 42 will balloon the disaster we already have. host: this is angela on our line for democrats. you are on with representative doug lamalfa, republican of california. caller: good morning, mr. representative. the people are coming to the border because of our asylum laws in the u.s., which states if you percent yourself at a port of entry or if you are caught crossing the border illegally, basically anywhere you are found you can claim asylum and the law states we have to let you go in the country until you are seen by an immigration judge. biden -- title 42 aside, biden is just enforcing our asylum laws. it is legal. the asylum law should probably be changed, that is correct.

i recall in 2017 when republicans controlled the house you voted on -- i do not know which you voted on, but two immigration bills in the republican controlled house were voted no on -- voted down. my question is, would republican voters be better served to hold their representatives accountable that they send to congress, that they give them majority to come instead of wasting time beating up joe biden for illegally enforcing our asylum laws? -- legally enforcing our asylum laws? guest: voters hold representatives accountable during the term between elections and such. you have a broken asylum system. it is being in a belated. -- manipulated. nongovernmental organizations are helping sweep people in. if we have the staff to finish building a fence, we could bring

people in an orderly process. it is not orderly now. there is no way to have tens of thousands of people coming across and possibly absorbed that, let alone the health checks they are required to do that these folks are not getting. we saw some of these folks and saw a family come through. he seemed like real nice people, but the signal we are sending to central america and others is come on income at we will give you everything you could ever desire. -- come on in, we will give you everything you could ever desire. it is make an chaos in our entire system of health care, education, and even employment when we do not have a handle on this. it is not an anti-immigration thing or anti-asylum. asylum is for -- what you see mostly as people are coming here for economic reasons, not asylum or being oppressed. you have an amount of that, but

the majority of the numbers are coming here for other reasons, especially when you see so many of them are adult males or the criminal part is kids being used as pawns by the cartels to bring families that are not really families together and then they recycle the kids and sneak them back and bring them through again. host: from john in new jersey, independent line. caller: i would like to touch base on the $1.2 trillion that we are going to spend on the infrastructure. every penny of that money is countable. this equals 1000 billion dollars and we do not have people to fill any jobs right now. i hope they are out there trying to get high school graduates to

become associated with a trade because we need wages for these people, so i hope all that money is accountable. why are we allowing china to buy in our country? guest: i appreciate that. i did not support the package because a lot of it was not what you would actually call infrastructure, which i would narrow down to being highways and bridges, airports, even broadband infrastructure, things like that. there were a lot of things that were not that, so it is hard enough to get in for structure voters focused into making our highways better and things like that. california, they are still chasing high-speed rail, which is about quadruple the cost from what was originally sold to voters 12 or 14 years ago, so there is not a lot of accountability. that is why i tend to say let's

take it more slowly and infuse dollars directly into infrastructure to have a greater amount of accountability. we did not get that here during the biden era with democrats controlling the house and senate , so i have to say no to that sort of thing because we are responsible for being stewards of tax dollars. this is not my money. it is the people's money and people work hard to keep that money. you're talking about employment. when government is handing out $600 checks and california's doing their own $600 checks -- california was even trying to -- to make up for the high cost of gasoline, which is higher than anywhere except maybe hawaii and california, they were not just stop the tax on gas for a while, which all you have to do is change the numbers at the pump for a period of time, instead they wanted to send out

everybody a gas card, even people with electric cars, like a rebate card so there is no accountability for that. i am appalled by what goes on here. your second question one more time? host: did not note it and he is not with us. apologies for that. let's hear from vicki, democrats line. caller: hello. good morning. doug lamalfa, i do not want to misrepresent your name. guest: it is italian, lamalfa. caller: i know after we passed the spending bill we have a serious race problem in this country. would you agree with that? i think you would. guest: it is exacerbated by hype in the media and people driving it. by a large cut the nature people in this country would like to get along and not have race

thrown in their face all the time. caller: i understand that and i am raising a biracial child in a state that is republican. it has been a nightmare for my son and i see that you say that it is not a government problem but our police and military -- guest: it is a nature of the heart. caller: our police and military are paid by the government and they are the ones in our government, some of them, when the police and military are racist people. there are some racism. host: let her finish and we will get your response. caller: i'm trying to finish but i can see he is not agreeing with what i say, but -- guest: you are saying things that are not fair and correct. caller: they are in my state.

you do not know my state and my son has been beaten up several times at school because of his race. guest: that is terrible. caller: it has been a nightmare for us and you say it is not a government problem. then whose problem and how do we fix it? you also say that racism will always exist in this country no matter what. host: we will let you finish and get his response. guest: race is an issue of the heart. it is -- government is here to provide laws that give equal opportunity, whether through education, employment, equal pay, things like that, but we cannot legislate what is in the heart. that comes from a lot of people, their background, their religious beliefs, and believing in something bigger than just what government can do. government is going to fail people in many ways because government is made of people. we have to have a higher

authority. god is a higher authority that will steer us in a good way and it is not going to come from the flawed way mankind looks at it. racism is a very ugly thing, but if allowed to work together and not see through a racial lens cut we are going to heal much sooner. george floyd, that was a terrible situation but the officers involved have been prosecuted, as per the law. if a process is allowed to happen, you are going to see equal pay in the workplace, see people punished for doing racist things in the workplace or out there in the broad public, so if rdas are doing their job and law enforcement is able to catch up to the bad guys and do this, -- yes, but to vilify law enforcement when 99.9% of them are doing their jobs and would rather have anything happen that have to do -- use their gun or anything else like that, that is a broad brush. that is unfair to the institutions helping keep our

streets safer and what taxpayers ask for. host: from debra in ohio, republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have two questions. why do we have tariffs? trinidad for fertilizer and other nations because we are going to need fertilizer. canada does as well. i am concerned about that and my second question has to do with the usda and why did we ever allow sugary soft drinks and candy to be put on snap? snap means supplemental nutrition. with people having diabetes at the united states at a cost of $300 billion per year in terms of medical costs, all of you as

elected officials could write one bill to say we are going to return snap to more compliance that is already in the code of federal regulations. no one would be hurt politically if everyone got behind the fact that we need to take those off of snap. guest: tariffs are generally used when dealing with countries that are not trading fairly or pricing things fairly with us. when you're speaking of fertilizer from those two sources, i cannot say off the top of my head why that tariff is in place. when we are at a shortage of it, we should look at setting that aside and getting whatever we can get in here because agriculture is running -- there were scrooges last year. there are shortages this year in every market possible. then aids to be looked at unless there is some factor i'm not aware of. as far as the sugar, that is common sense.

why are things that are not directly nutritional come the whole idea of the food programs is to put nutritional food grown in america on the tables of people and have them be going on a good way. i would invite you to watch the agriculture committee and review our hearings we had before the last bill, too. we talked to -- we had many hearings on snap to get a handle on how to make the program better and more focused, so we will have that hearing in just minutes today, so i invite you to watch that and send these concerns forward because there is a lot of weird stuff that goes on in this town as far as people lobbying and this and that over what should be in the program. i have never thought sugary drinks needs to be in there. it needs to be nutritious food that is strictly focused on the benefit to agriculture of using

cheese and products grown here that are nutritious for people and not have a card to buy whatever you want. there is constraints on the card some want, but people can get cashback. those are things to look at and making snap work better but i agree. the soft drink people are going to get mad, but that is not the focus. the focus needs to be nutritional food. host: you were reminding me of the question i have forgotten. he asked about china buying american farmland. guest: thank you. that seems to be a dangerous deal. we have rights and freedoms in this country to sell to who you wish to and people have an ability to buy things. we have not limited country by country what they could buy. 30 years ago, japan was by everything. japan is a friendlier ally than china so we have to do some

serious contemplating of how we limit who buys land. china owning it all is dangerous but we also have to look at the liberty issue of at what point does government say who can and cannot buy land. that will be something we would have to wrestle with, to say what is right and wrong. there are people concerned bill gates is buying all the farmland come as much as he can afford. he probably wants everyone to go vegan and stuff, so there's concerns like that, but we have to be careful on what government says about who can buy and sell, but i agree it is a grave situation with what china has invested. host: less than five minutes left until the house of representatives comes in. caller: i have a question on immigration and the policy.

it is always the undocumented immigrants. why aren't bosses coming out in handcuffs? that is just the operating cost until people go to jail. corporate america will continue to be one of the biggest human traffickers out there. you guys have a nice day and thanks for taking my question. guest: that is a question of enforcement as far as having legal appointment versus undocumented and illegal employees on hand. we tried to formulate legislation and we did pass it in the house to get a legal workforce for agriculture into the processing. we ran into union issues with processing on formulating the bill. we have many workers in this country who have been here for a long time and they almost become part of the farming families and such like that, so we try to

address how do we get them to a legal status without giving all the benefits of citizenship or easy access to everything? that was a narrow segment that we worked on, so it has controversy on the other cited the issue, so what we need to do is, if we can control our border , we can have people come in on visas as we see fit. we have that right is a sovereign country. it is not racist, not hateful. other countries do that effectively. there is no reason we cannot. it is a better status for the worker if they come here with legal status, whether as workers or becoming a citizen through all the process. it is better for them and having -- instead of having to sneak across. horrific things happen to people who try to come to this country

for economic opportunity. they are paying these coyotes and horrific things happen to women coming across the border. some of the things we ceiling on the ground at the fence are birth control pills and warning after pills because women are going to be so abused coming across. that is not compassionate, so we have a process here. legal workers and a legal process to emigrate to commit legal asylum, a process that is not clearly chaotic as what we have now, and it is. it is chaotic. it is more humane to have a clean process and people, once they are in this country with legal status, they do not have to worry about where they are going to hide their money and people here illegally. i do not understand why that is not common sense policies put forward a long time ago, but there are politics. host: there's a story looking at kevin mccarthy after the

recorded comments came out here in the story says he still has widespread support among republicans in the house. do you count yourself among that number? host: -- guest: there is spin to any story here. the conversations that were meant to be among a group of people answering questions on different scenarios, a lot of different scenarios and ways to look at that, when somebody does the classless thing of recording a conversation that was thought to be private and sticks it out on the airwaves, that is dirty business, so what he was trying to do i believe was have a frank conversation everybody, like here are the different scenarios and what could happen if the scenarios played out as they could and what would be best if it should happen but the scenarios did not play that way. host: we have seconds before the house comes in. lizzie from indiana, go ahead

with your question or comment quickly. caller: does this man believe in democracy or autocracy for our country? it sounds as if he still is going to work to bring in our defeated president last time. guest: we are a republic, not a democracy except on election day. we have representatives that do the job. host: doug lamalfa joining us on washington journal, thanks for your time today. do not forget several hearings are taking place. stay close to the website for that. president biden is expected to make an announcement later today regarding ukraine. you can see that on our website at c-span.org and follow along on our app. we take you now to the house of