(NewsNation) — The debate over the border and immigration has become a key issue in the U.S. Senate race in California, where former Los Angeles Dodger Steve Garvey is running as a Republican.
A recent poll shows more than 60% of registered voters in the Golden State believe the border is not secure.
Garvey said Friday on "The Hill on NewsNation" that the United States needs to "close down the border."
"We (should) have a process that immigrants can start in their country and that process can take them to the United States and then a pathway to becoming citizens," Garvey said. "I think now we have to really focus on the real existential problems, and that's fentanyl and drugs, it's human trafficking."
As a Republican, Garvey will face an uphill battle running for a seat in a blue state that was held by the late Democrat Dianne Feinstein since 1992.
Feinstein died earlier this year, and Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Laphonza Butler to the post. Butler is not seeking reelection, and Garvey is facing off against Democratic California Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter, among other candidates, in the primary.
A recent poll from Emerson College shows Garvey in second at 18% behind Schiff (25%). In California, all candidates compete in a combined primary, and the top two vote-getters — regardless of party — advance to the general election in November.
The candidates recently squared off at a debate hosted by Politico, where Garvey refused to answer whether he plans to vote for Donald Trump or Nikki Haley in this year's Republican primary.
"It's a personal choice, and I've always taken it personally," Garvey said Friday on "The Hill." "I'm sticking to that wonderful currency of privacy of a vote."