Latest news with #JimDesmond
E&E News
6 hours ago
- Politics
- E&E News
California sewage crisis bubbles up in key House race
A cross-border sewage crisis affecting Southern California could play a role in a prominent congressional race, where a Republican challenger has become a national figure on the issue. Jim Desmond, a San Diego County supervisor, has been sounding the alarm recently on Fox News and other conservative outlets about the untreated sewage that's been flowing from the Tijuana River in Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, contaminating the water and sickening residents. At the same time, he's seeking to unseat Rep. Mike Levin, accusing the Democratic incumbent of not doing enough to protect residents. 'We need to put more leverage on Mexico,' Desmond said in a recent interview. Advertisement Levin counters that Desmond is a Johnny-come-lately on the matter, though he has praised the Trump administration for taking action.
Fox News
6 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
LIV Golf star Phil Mickelson adds his reaction to deepening sewage crisis in San Diego
LIV Golf star Phil Mickelson reacted on social media as a local California lawmaker talked about millions of gallons of sewage being dumped from Mexico into the water near San Diego. San Diego County District 5 Supervisor Jim Desmond spoke at a recent meeting about beaches around the historic Hotel Del being closed during Memorial Day weekend. He also mentioned Navy SEALs and other towns being affected by the sewage crisis from Mexico. Desmond said in the meeting that the only solution is for Mexico to build and maintain a treatment facility. "Over Memorial Day weekend, beaches near the Hotel Del were shut down—again—because Mexico is dumping up to 10 million gallons of sewage into our waters every day," Desmond added on X on Tuesday. "Our Navy SEALs are getting sick. Imperial Beach has been closed for three years straight. We're paying 80% to treat Mexico's sewage while they ignore decades of agreements and do nothing to fix their infrastructure. "I introduced a common-sense proposal to apply pressure—including restricting border activity during health emergencies—until Mexico takes responsibility. Unfortunately, my colleagues voted it down, not wanting to pressure Mexico. San Diegans deserve better. I'm not backing down." Mickelson appeared to have his antenna up on the issue as well. "Something about this doesn't smell right," he wrote in response to Desmond's post. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said last month the U.S. and Mexico were on the verge of a deal regarding the sewage issue. "This week, EPA transmitted to Mexico a proposed '100% solution' that would PERMANENTLY END the decades-old crisis of raw sewage flowing in to the U.S. from Mexico. Next, technical groups from both nations will be meeting to work through the details necessary to hopefully reach an urgent agreement," Zeldin wrote on X in May. Zeldin visited San Diego in April, where he announced talks with his government counterparts in Mexico to end the decades-long issue. The problem, blamed on outdated wastewater infrastructure, has persisted for decades but has spiraled in recent years as Tijuana's population skyrocketed. In February, the Department of Defense's inspector general released a report finding that the Naval Special Warfare Center reported 1,168 cases of acute gastrointestinal illnesses among SEAL candidates between January 2019 and May 2023 that were attributed to the contaminated water. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Desmond asking county to support requiring ID to vote in California
Above: Nexstar Media Wire video on how states know if you're eligible to vote. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Supervisor Jim Desmond is set to ask the county of San Diego to back efforts looking to require voters show some form of identification in order to participate in elections. The supervisor on Tuesday will present a board letter proposing the county support legislation to overturn a California law that standardized signature verification to confirm a voter's citizenship and bars local governments from compelling production of ID at the ballot box. It is already required to present some form of ID, such as a driver's license, when registering to vote in the state of California. More than two-thirds of states have laws going beyond that requirement, mandating a form of ID to be produced when casting a ballot. How the House's requirement to prove US citizenship could affect the ability to register to vote The proposal comes as a growing segment of Republican lawmakers have turned to ID laws as a means of combatting what they have described as widespread fraud in elections — something experts say is exceedingly rare — and restoring confidence in their operations. 'While an ID is needed to register to vote, you do not need an ID to cast a ballot. This is a vulnerability in our election system,' Desmond said in his board letter. 'Ensuring elections are safe and secure, and free from fraud of any kind, help protect our democracy.' Should the proposal pass, the action would simply be a symbolic statement of the county's position on the topic of voter ID laws at large, not about a specific proposal currently making its way through the state legislature. During the current legislative session, at least two bills were introduced on the topic, including one by San Diego Asm. Carl DeMaio, but all have been hung up in committee. McCann, Aguirre locked in for Board of Supervisors District 1 runoff With the board's even partisan split, it is likely Desmond's proposal will befall a similar fate, as it will need to get at least one vote from the board's Democratic bloc in order to pass. Critics of voter ID laws, many of whom lean Democratic, argue the measures are needless and overly burdensome, effectively disenfranchising certain voters who are less likely to carry voter identification — such as older people, students and those from low-income communities. Those opposed to voter ID laws further contend that they could make the process of remedying ballots election officials are unable to certify without additional steps more difficult, opening up the possibility for legitimate votes to be thrown out. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sewage from Mexico to US ‘has to stop:' San Diego politician
(NewsNation) — Millions of gallons of sewage are flowing from Mexico into the United States, and the problem is so bad that beaches in nearby San Diego County have faced lengthy closures. 'This is an environmental catastrophe hitting the southern border,' San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond said on NewsNation's 'Elizabeth Vargas Reports' on Monday. Desmond, a Republican, has been documenting the crisis in social media videos showing piles of trash and sewage water flowing into the United States from Mexico. SDSU researchers ramp up border sewage, pollution survey Desmond said he would like to see the environmental concerns addressed as part of Mexico's tariff negotiation with President Trump. 'Make part of the deal that they have to stop dumping sewage into the United States,' Desmond said. 'This has to stop.'Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fox News
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Mexico to dump millions of gallons of sewage into Tijuana River, US continues to be a dumping ground: Official
Mexico is slated to dump around 400 million gallons of sewage into the Tijuana River, which will mostly likely flow into the United States, a decades-old problem that has posed environmental repercussions for beaches and communities, officials said. Crews are slated to perform maintenance on the sewer system in Tijuana, which sits across the border from San Diego, which continues to be a dumping ground for Mexico's pollution, San Diego Supervisor Jim Desmond told Fox News Digital. "Every time there's maintenance being done on their side of the border, instead of diverting it (sewage) to a treatment plant, it just goes into the river, the gullies and eventually ends up in the U.S., and into the ocean," he said. "They put it (sewage) into the big drainage ditch called the Tijuana River that flows downhill, and unfortunately downhill is the United States," he added. Instead of re-routing the sewage, Mexico has decided to make it a U.S. problem, Desmond said. Toxic waste and sewage runoff from the Tijuana River has persisted for decades, as much of it spills downstream into the U.S., resulting in beach closures. On Tuesday, Lee Zeldin, who heads the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said he plans to visit the border in San Diego to address issues pertaining to the "disgusting Mexican sewage" flowing into the U.S. Fox News Digital has reached out to the EPA and the Mexican consulate in San Diego. Mexican officials have no incentive to fix the problem, Desmond said, because the government there hasn't been held accountable. "I think it's really time for federal action," he said. "There needs to be some type of repercussions for those actions. Unfortunately, their lack of an adequate sewage system is our problem. It's not their problem." To convince Mexican officials to fix the problem, the U.S. could restrict the number of people coming across the border and visas, as well as other forms of leverage if beaches have to be closed, Desmond said. The Tijuana River flows right behind a shopping mall on the U.S. side of the border, which poses health risks for local residents, he said. In addition to beach closures, Navy SEALs and recruits train near the toxic runoff and children and some elderly residents on the U.S. side of the border have gotten sick because of the stench from the runoff, said Desmond. "We've got to have a better system here as opposed to just being a sewage collection for Tijuana," he said.
