5 UC San Diego student visas revoked by US government
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Tuesday, April 8th.>>>>
The U.S. government revoked the visas of at least five UCSD students.
More on that next. But first... the headlines….#######
Today is the last day to vote on who will represent the first district on the county board of supervisors.
13 voting centers will be open around the district from 7 in the morning until 8 at night
The person elected will fill the seat left vacant by Nora Vargas.
District 1 stretches from the ocean to the Otay mountains, and from Barrio Logan to the border of Mexico. It includes Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and National City.
The outcome will sway the balance of power between Republicans and Democrats on the Board of Supervisors.
If no one gets a majority of the vote, the top two vote getters will move on to the general election on July first.
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China is hitting four San Diego companies with sanctions in the escalating trade war with President Donald Trump.
That’s according to the San Diego Union Tribune.
They include Cubic Corp and Firestorm Labs in Kearny Mesa, Solutions Intelligence in La Jolla and Kratos Defense in Scripps Ranch.
The companies are all involved in the aerospace and defense technology sectors, and are no longer allowed to do business with China.
This follows Trump’s across-the-board 34-percent tariff on Chinese goods that takes effect Wednesday, and China’s matching retaliatory tariff.
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Heat lovers rejoice – the National Weather Service expects warmer weather in the coming days . . . getting into the upper 80s and low 90s in inland areas.
In the county’s deserts it will be in the upper 90s to low 100s.
Meanwhile, marine layer clouds will help keep the coasts cooler.
Thursday and Friday will be the hottest days. Be sure to drink plenty of water if you’ll be outside.
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From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
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INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAVE HAD THEIR VISAS REVOKED IN RECENT WEEKS.
EDUCATION REPORTER KATIE ANASTAS SAYS THAT INCLUDES FIVE STUDENTS FROM U-C SAN DIEGO.
Five U-C San Diego students had their F-1 visas terminated last week. A sixth student was detained at the border and deported to their home country. That’s according to a message sent to students and staff on Friday. Chancellor Pradeep Khosla wrote that the federal government has not explained the reasons behind those visa terminations. Aryan Dixit leads UC San Diego’s Student Civil Liberties Union. He says the announcement has led to fear and paranoia among other student visa holders. “I was really shocked. And I responded immediately by asking all of my international friends whether they're safe, what their plans are going to be in the future, since a lot of them were planning to go back home for summer. Now, we're not sure if that's that's possible.” U-C San Diego students are planning a rally in support of international students on Wednesday. Katie Anastas, KPBS News.
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SAN DIEGO COUNTY SUPERVISORS WILL VOTE TUESDAY ON WHETHER TO EXTEND ITS DEADLINE FOR ADOPTING A BUDGET.
METRO REPORTER ANDREW BOWEN SAYS IT COMES AMID UNCERTAINTY OVER FEDERAL FUNDING.
The Trump administration has been threatening deep cuts to social services administered by the county government. County budgets are typically adopted by June 30, though state law allows a budget vote as late as October. Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe says the later deadline will give the county more clarity on funding for services like health care and food assistance for the poor and disabled. “All of these are federally funded. We do not know what's going to happen to them, and it is not prudent for us to move forward and adopt a full on budget for a fiscal year that we have no idea what the impacts will be.” Supervisor Joel Anderson is opposing the budget delay, saying cuts are inevitable and that the budget adoption should not be postponed. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.
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FEDERAL STAFF WHO OVERSEE THE HEAD START PROGRAM ARE SOME OF THE LATEST TO BE LAID OFF AS PART OF A WIDER EFFORT TO CUT GOVERNMENT SPENDING.
EDUCATION REPORTER KATIE ANASTAS SAYS ONE LOCAL HEAD START PROVIDER IS ALREADY SEEING CHANGES.
Head Start serves families living at or below the poverty line with kids aged 5 and younger. “It's more than just a preschool.” Alexis Aviña is the chief early childhood education officer for the Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee on Anti-Poverty. They operate Head Start child care centers throughout San Diego County. “We're offering health care, job training to parents. We're offering essential resources to break the cycles of poverty.” Last week, several regional offices that administer Head Start grants were closed. Aviña says it’s unclear who to contact now about grants, staffing ratios and other federal regulations. So if we submit our payment for our reimbursement and no one responds one pay period and two pay periods and three pay periods and four pay periods, we're now out of pocket multiple pay periods without anyone answering our emails or reimbursing us. The Head Start cuts were part of layoffs across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says it’s meant to realign the department with its core mission of stopping chronic disease. Katie Anastas, KPBS News.
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MORE THAN FIVE YEARS AFTER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC BEGAN, MANY SAN DIEGANS ARE STILL LIVING WITH THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS.
HEALTH REPORTER HEIDI DE MARCO SAYS LONG COVID'S LASTING HEALTH IMPACTS ARE OFTEN INVISIBLE AND MISUNDERSTOOD.
Jason Rissman is lucky to be alive. After contracting COVID in December 2020, he spent 70 days in a coma. “I text my wife, I said ‘I've gotta go to sleep, for a while. I love you, or I'll talk to you when I wake up.’” Rissman is a special agent with homeland security. He got covid at work before the vaccine was available. “And as a result, I have some residuals that I'm still seeking treatment for.” There’s no clear number on how many people in San Diego are living with long COVID. Experts say it’s hard to track—many patients aren’t diagnosed, or don’t realize what’s wrong. “There's people who have cognitive issues where they're forgetting things. They have what they call brain fog. There's people who have endurance issues. There's people who have mainly respiratory issues. There's people who have cardiac issues.” Christopher Molloy manages the La Mesa Rehab in East County. He says they’ve treated more than 120 long COVID patients since the pandemic began. They combine pulmonary therapy and physical rehab. “People come in in tears saying, I just want to go back to work. But I'm not the same anymore. I don't have the endurance, I don’t have the strength.” Dr. Tami Peavy is the rehab’s clinical director. She says there’s no official test to diagnose the condition. Or a standardized treatment plan for long COVID, which can impact nearly every system in the body. She says too often, patients are referred to physical therapy without being properly evaluated for breathing issues. “So I think it's really important to send the message out to doctors that if a patient comes in with shortness of breath, do not be afraid to send them to pulmonary rehab.” La Mesa Rehab is one of only five clinics in San Diego County. “I think the saddest thing is there's only 300 clinics like this in the entire United States. We should be more prepared than that. And we should certainly be taking better care of the patients who haven't recovered from the Covid.” Deborah Franklin still deals with blurry vision, body pain, loss of taste and smell—and a relentless cough. “I have had long covid since December 2021. I have like three different kinds of inhalers.” Rehab helped her realize she wasn’t alone. “Cause I got to see other people with it. Because the doctors kept saying, ‘well, nobody else has this.’” Another challenge? Health coverage. “There’s been issues with people being denied workers comp.” California Senate Bill 1159 used to make it easier for people to get workers’ comp if they caught COVID on the job. But that protection expired in 2024. Now, workers have to prove they got COVID at work. Peavy says that makes it tougher for long COVID patients to get coverage for care. “We have to go back and ask for more visits. These are long-term patients.” Dr. Allen Lee is a psychiatrist. “There's another medication that my doctor once prescribed me. It's $3,000 a month.” He says even with his medical background, it’s hard to get care after being infected with covid in 2022. “One of the struggles is, of course, just working with insurance, to try to get things authorized, because these treatments can be expensive, and especially for a novel illness where a lot of the treatments are not yet approved.” After a heart rate monitor claim was denied by his insurance for not being filed properly, Allen says the company sent him to collections. “As you can imagine, being really tired and everything like that, it's really hard to take care of these kind of things.” Federal support for long COVID research is also dwindling. The Trump administration is planning to close the Office for Long COVID Research and Practice. Five years since the pandemic hit, research, recovery and treatment for long COVID patients remains uncertain. “But It’s just been a long journey.” Franklin might retire early. “Now I have to wear a pamper to work because my cough is so aggressive. I really have to figure it out if it's worth it” Rissman continues to fight for proper care. “I was too stubborn to die, and I'm too stubborn not to get treated properly.” Dr. Lee can’t work anymore. And now finds himself struggling to keep up with his kids. A few minutes on the playground can knock him out for up to 14 hours in bed. “Regardless of how tired I am, these moments, you know, you only have so long with your children.” With no clear roadmap, health experts say long COVID patients are left to navigate a system that is still learning how to manage this complex condition. Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.
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That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
