In the News

America has always been a sanctuary for people fleeing persecution, violence and famine. President Joe Biden was following this noble tradition of refuge in overturning the Trump administration’s policy of summarily rejecting unaccompanied children when they presented themselves for asylum at our southern border. Many of these children are fleeing for their lives and have a right under both U.S. and international law to seek asylum and have their cases adjudicated.

U.S. Reps. Raul Ruiz, D-Palm Desert, and Juan Vargas, D-San Diego reintroduced a bill this week that is aimed at cleaning up the New River, a highly polluted waterway originating near Mexicali, Mexico that flows north, emptying into the Salton Sea.

Local elected representatives will gather Friday morning to discuss the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) agreement and how funding for the pact will impact pollution in the Tijuana River Valley.

U.S. Reps. Mike Levin, D-Oceanside, Susan Davis, D-San Diego, Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, Scott Peters, D-San Diego, Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer will discuss the $300 million in the international agreement to fund the Border Water Infrastructure Project (BWIP) to address pollution in the Tijuana River.

Members of the San Diego delegation began to embrace or reject the plan for a presidential impeachment inquiry along party lines.

Democratic Reps. Juan Vargas and Mike Levin quickly issued statements following Pelosi's announcement to express support for the inquiry, saying the probe is necessary to uphold the rule of law.

Rep. Juan Vargas will be on the dais at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday morning as President Obama addresses what has become a must-attend event for many politicians.

For the San Diego Democrat, though, it's so much more. The former Jesuit missionary has barely missed the weekly prayer meetings held by members of Congress since he was elected, and Vargas says he's excited to bring so many people together in prayer as co-chairman of the event.

Last year, for the first time in more than 2,000 years, there was no church service in Mosul after a radical Sunni Islamist terrorist group known as the Islamic State expanded its control into northwest Iraq. Christians living in their historic homeland in the Nineveh Plains were warned to either convert to Islam, pay a cumbersome tax or be executed.

When Rep. Juan C. Vargas attends Pope Francis' address to Congress next week, it won't be his first time in the pontiff's presence.

The California Democrat arranged to meet briefly with the pope in August 2014 in Rome and a photo from their encounter serves as the background on Vargas' cell phone. The two men also share a deep bond: Vargas is a former member of the Society of Jesus, a Catholic order whose members include Francis.