I'm proud of our relationship with our neighbors right next door in Mexico. I don't talk about building walls, I talk about building bridges and increasing that communication, increasing that flow, and that's really what defines our border region in San Diego.
We have a great, positive relationship with Mexico. The Tijuana mayor crosses into San Diego, we talk all the time and vice verses. It's about neighbors working together, and that's my very clear message about a bi-national region that works. That's a competitive advantage.
When bureaucrats talk about increasing our 'access' to x, y or z, what they're really talking about is increasing exponentially their control over our lives. As it is with the government health care takeover, so it is with the newly approved government plan to 'increase' Internet 'access.'
My total focus was on building up our military, building up our strength, building up our borders, making sure that China, Japan, Mexico, both at the border and in trade, no longer takes advantage of our country.
I truly believe that building bridges, not building walls and not giving into fear, will make our communities better.
I think our immigrants are a strength for us in San Diego. I think it's a strength in our communities in California. Our immigrant community in San Diego has been part of the fabric of our city for decades, and it's one that I'm proud of.
There is San Diego - this retirement village, with its prim petticoat, that doesn't want to get too near the water. San Diego worries about all the turds washing up on the lovely, pristine beaches of La Jolla. San Diego wishes Mexico would have fewer babies. And San Diego, like the rest of America, is growing middle-aged.
The San Diego region in many ways is defined by our relationship with the ocean. It's our front yard and a beautiful playground for families and visitors. It should be clean, safe, and inviting.
In the 20th century, we built a lot of walls - we endlessly tried to build walls between us and people we perceived, correctly or incorrect, as our enemies. In the 21st century, because of the advent of networks, the free movement of goods and people across the globe, we need to build security by building bridges instead of building walls.
A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be - and not building bridges - is not Christian.
A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel.
A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel.
Some of us may just, in one-on-one conversations with our family, with our friends, over the back fence with our neighbors, talk about the reality of our lives and realize that we're not alone, that we have a right to be physically safe and emotionally safe in our own homes.
Of course, San Diego chooses not to regard the two cities as one. Talk about alter ego: Tijuana was created by the lust of San Diego. Everything that was illegal in San Diego was permitted in Tijuana. When boxing was illegal in San Diego, there were boxing matches in Tijuana; when gambling was illegal, there was always Tijuana.
If we were building our navy, rather than reducing our navy to pre-World War I levels, China would not be thinking about increasing its navy to take over the South China Sea.
We are a nation that does not build walls. We do not believe in building walls. And that defines who we are. We are South Africans, and we do not subscribe to the building of walls.