Eight candidates vying to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom participated in a forum at the California Science Center on Saturday morning, where they answered questions about how they would handle United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement involvement in the state, Medi-Cal cuts and federal funding.

With Newsom termed out, over a dozen candidates have emerged in a wide-open race to become the 41st governor of California. Some of the candidates, including former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Congressional Rep. Eric Swalwell, attended Saturday’s forum, while others, like former Congressional Rep. Katie Porter, Fox News contributor Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, did not.

December preliminary polling from Emerson College showed Republicans Bianco and Hilton leading the pack, with 13% and 12% respectively. Swallwell and Porter were close behind, with 12% and 11% respectively. However, the largest group of voters, 31%, said they were still undecided and a large pool of Democrat candidates split the remaining votes. 

The forum was organized by the Empowerment Congress, a group formed after the 1992 L.A. riots to encourage civic participation among African Americans. According to a message played before the event, the forum’s goal was to advocate for accountability and transparency in politics, improve quality of life, promote social justice and pursue equity in resources. 

Seven Democratic candidates and businessman Jon Slavet, the sole Republican attendee, made up the panel.

Some would prosecute ICE agents

The recent highly publicized killings around the country by ICE agents, such as the killings of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis and of Keith Porter Jr. in Northridge by an off-duty ICE agent, prompted a question about how the candidates would handle violence by ICE. Most of the Democratic candidates agreed on taking some sort of legal action against ICE.

Democratic candidate Ian Calderon, former California State Assembly majority leader, said he would direct the state’s attorney general to file criminal charges against any ICE agent who comes into California and breaks state laws. 

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond agreed with Calderon and added that he would sue the Trump administration while working to keep ICE agents out of classrooms and hospitals. Swalwell said that he would tackle ICE by enforcing laws on battery, false imprisonment and murder as well as rescinding agents’ driver’s licenses. 

“My message as governor to ICE agents is this: If you harm a single Californian, hire the best lawyer you can afford, because I will bring you to justice,” Swalwell said.

However, Slavet took a different approach to ICE and said he would cut a deal with Trump that would involve ending California’s status as a sanctuary state, which means that it does not allow private immigration detention facilities and immigration-related arrests in or around courthouses.  

“Sanctuary state status is a moral hazard and encourages people to get coyotes[human smugglers who sneak people across the border] and to come and risk their lives. We should end it. In return, we will restore sovereignty for [the] state of California and return peace to our streets,” Slavet said.

Candidates tackle healthcare amid Medi-Cal cuts

In July, Congress slashed roughly $1 trillion from Medicaid, with the cuts and new restrictions on eligibility projected to push about 3.4 million Californians off of their medical coverage. At the forum, candidates were asked what they would do in response to Medi-Cal cuts and their positions on healthcare.

The singular Republican and seven Democrats disagreed on whether or not undocumented immigrants should have the right to healthcare.

Slavet said he believes that healthcare should not be funded for undocumented immigrants, and he would work to fund healthcare only for Californian citizens. On the other hand, the seven Democratic candidates said they would support universal healthcare, offering several different ways to secure funding.

Tom Steyer, a billionaire businessman, said he would take on special interest groups and corporations to raise revenue for healthcare, whereas Swalwell said he would work toward establishing research funds to invest in healthcare and therefore lower healthcare costs.

Thurmond said that he would support plans for universal healthcare by increasing taxes on billionaires in order to raise revenue.

Former California State Controller Betty Yee said she would ensure healthcare access by growing the healthcare workforce in California so that there are no healthcare deserts where people have to travel far in order to access hospitals, and by issuing state-independent audits for Medi-Cal. 

Ideas offered for securing federal funding

After the forum, the Daily Trojan asked Calderon, Slavet, Yee and Antonio Villaraigosa, former mayor of Los Angeles, about how they would deal with federal funding cuts to higher education. 

Throughout the past year, the Trump administration has threatened federal funding to universities, including a list of demands sent to USC and other universities in the October compact, which USC rejected. Accepting the compact would have reportedly given universities preferred access to federal funding in exchange for implementing policies like capping international student enrollment. 

Calderon said he would come up with creative ways to generate revenue such as new investment programs as well as building more colleges to make higher education more accessible.

“I don’t want to be under anyone’s thumb,” Calderon said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “I don’t want to be relying on the federal government, subject to their inability to reasonably govern.”

Slavet again said he would cut a deal with Trump when asked about funding for universities, saying he would eliminate sanctuary-state status in order to increase state sovereignty. 

“In return, we have sovereignty of our state, we run our state,” Slavet said.

In order to make higher education more accessible and affordable, Yee said that she would increase the amount of transfer programs in the state and advocate for service requirements to work down student loan debt. Yee also said she would continue to stand against Trump’s threats to higher education because of the importance of the exchange of ideas in academic institutions.