Sen. Darrell Steinberg
California Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and a delegation of state lawmakers returned this week from a 10-day trip to El Salvador, Panama and Guatemala. They met with government officials to understand the economic and social conditions contributing to the recent influx of unaccompanied minors attempting to cross into the United States. Sen. Steinberg shares his thoughts with Scott Shafer about immigration reform and public policy to help address this growing problem.
Panel Discussion
Last month President Obama acknowledged that the tens of thousands of unaccompanied, undocumented minors trying to cross the U.S.- Mexico border constituted an "urgent humanitarian situation." The minors, who are mainly from Mexico and other Central American countries, pose legal and political challenges to the administration, as public opposition to detention centers to house them grows. Thuy Vu moderates a panel discussion about the impact in the Bay Area, where some of these children end up..
Guests:
• Judge Dana Marks, San Francisco Immigration Courts
• Debra Saunders, San Francisco Chronicle
• Ian Gordon, Mother Jones
