Biden signs executive order closing asylum for some migrants
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Wednesday, June 5th.
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President Biden signs an executive order to stop asylum for migrants coming to the country illegally. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
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The M-L-B has issued a rare life-time ban to a San Diego Padres player after determining he gambled on the sport.
The league says its investigation reveals Tucupita Marcano placed nearly 400 bets on games over several months in 20-22 and last year.
Marcano was playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates during that time.
This season he rejoined the Padres for his second term in San Diego.
The M-L-B says the outcomes of games were not compromised.
While sports betting is legal, the league has strict rules against the activity.
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The county Board of Supervisors appointed a top finance official to the role of chief administrative officer yesterday (Tuesday).
Ebony Shelton is the county’s chief financial officer and a deputy chief administrative officer.
She’ll assume the county’s highest role a week from Friday (on June 14th).
Shelton thanked the supervisors after the vote.
“You have my commitment to do my absolute best to advance San Diego County for all residents as well as all of our workforce. I love everything about this county, and I am completely committed.”
Shelton began working for the county in 19-97 as a payroll clerk.
She’s worked in various human resources and finance roles, including the director of financial planning.
Shelton is the first Afro-Latina to serve in the role.
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As the weather heats up this week, an Excessive Heat Warning will be in effect from 10 this morning (Wednesday) to 9 P-M Friday in the county’s desert areas.
The National Weather Service says temperatures can reach up to 113 degrees in those areas.
The county’s inland areas are also expected to warm up starting today (Wednesday) through Friday… but not as much.
Temps in the inland areas today will be in the high 70s, in the mountains, it’ll be in the mid 80s, and by the coast temperatures will be in the high 60s.
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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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President Joe Biden signed an executive order closing asylum to migrants entering the country illegally.
Border reporter Gustavo Solis says critics on both sides of the political divide are unhappy.
Local Republicans criticized Biden’s executive order before it was even published Tuesday. County Supervisor Jim Desmond says QUOTE “We need urgent, comprehensive action, not more political theater.” END QUOTE. Meanwhile, advocates say Biden’s order is straight out of the Donald Trump playbook. Here is Margaret Cargoli. She’s the directing attorney of policy and advocacy for the Immigrant Defenders Law Center. ImmDef “The Biden administration promised to restore asylum and has moved completely in the opposite direction.” The executive order temporarily shuts down asylum requests once the average number of daily border encounters nationwide reaches 2,500. And the border won’t be reopened until the number drops to 1,500. The Associated Press says the average number of encounters hasn’t dropped to 1,500 since July 2020. ImmDef “We cannot place numerical limitations on someone’s safety.” The daily average is already above 2,500, meaning the shutdown will go into effect immediately. The ACLU has announced plans to challenge Biden’s order in court. California’s Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat, says the order undermines American values and abandons obligations to provide people fleeing persecution with an opportunity to seek protection. Gusatvo Solis, KPBS News.
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A former associate director of the nonprofit that manages a community farm in City Heights has testified that its president targeted two Black refugee farmers for criticizing the nonprofit during a lease dispute.
This is the latest in an inewsource investigation into how the City Heights Community Development Corporation dealt with concerns when farmers found out it did not have a valid lease for New Roots Community Farm.
Kyra Seay, who is Black, says C-E-O Alexis Villanueva, “villainized” the farmers “for simply speaking up” and made derogatory statements about Black people.
Villanueva denies the allegations.
Here is one of the farmers, Sahar Abdalla.
“This narrative that she has carried out in response to us simply challenging their authority and wanting to stand up for ourselves…has caused a lot of trauma.”
For more on the story go to inewsource-dot-org.
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Many college students in the state are leaving nearly 300-dollars of monthly grocery help on the table.
Reporter Katie Hyson spoke with a researcher, who says that money could be the difference between getting a degree and dropping out.
Jesse Rothstein is the faculty director at the California Policy Lab. He wanted to know how many students are eligible for CalFresh – California’s food stamps – but don’t apply. There are many students for whom financial aid . . . It might cover tuition, but it doesn't cover the costs of rent and food. What he found surprised him – about 93,000 University of California and community college students received CalFresh in Fall 2019. But about 235,000 were eligible and didn’t apply, missing out on benefits that could have paid for their groceries. I don't think it occurs to them to apply. And then if it does occur to them, it's not that easy to figure out how to navigate the process. Rothstein says the findings should compel CalFresh to coordinate better with financial aid offices to send letters to students who might be eligible. And to simplify the application process. Anything we can do to help students get through college is important. And if students are having trouble paying for groceries, that's a pretty strong reason to stop college and go get a job. He plans to extend the research to the Cal State system next. Katie Hyson, KPBS News.
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Bill Nye the Science Guy once said, “To leave the world better than you found it, sometimes you have to pick up other people’s trash.”
KPBS’s Amita Sharma spoke recently to a local retired science teacher who started a volunteer program doing just that… cleaning up others’ litter.
AMBI: of him picking up trash and making comments… sometimes when you go through a field like this and it looks clean, you can find a bandage or a hair tie, and you kind of wonder, you know, what athlete was here and what happened to loosen it. But it's still litter. “My name is Gary Bloom. Career wise, I've been doing real estate for the last 30 years, but I started an altruistic conservation project.”“The name of the project is the Total Altruism Project. It's about making it more convenient for people to pick up litter in a park and express their altruism nature. I started it 2017.” “....A person, if they're walking in the park, they can pick up one of these litter grabbing tools. They can pick up litter and put it in the net. When they come to a trash can, they can deposit it.”“The idea for the total altruism project came after 23 years of an issue I was trying to deal with” “That the issue in my life is much the same that everyone deals with. It could be substance abuse. It could be a relationship situation. Abuse of relationship could be just weight loss or health issues. Just things that weigh on your mind all the time. In this case, it was an issue I had with my parents, okay? And I had a close relationship, and it just dragged me down for 23 years until I had to clear everything out. So. But like I said, it's an issue that everyone has in their life, a big problem that they have and have to overcome. And I followed a process, and I overcame it. And within, like, a day or so, this idea came to me. And because I was looking at gratitude, and everything happens for a reason and following my heart, that's what I did. And there has not been one barrier on this whole project. Doors open. I mean, it's not easy to get involved in a park, right? To get into it, but that was just so easy to do. Everything's just. It just works out. When you apply your skills for the benefit of others, it just works out.” “....I was walking in the park one day with my dog. I picked up a piece of litter, and when I went to throw it away, somebody thanked me for it. And that's when I thought to myself, wow. Made me feel good…How can I replicate that so that more people feel good?” “The total altruism project station is a city regulated type of a sign. It has, you know, their conditions with slats in it. And then I hang up these litter grabbing tools in the slats.” “I usually have about four per station to allow other people who are walking through the park to hang them up on the extra ones. And people just walk around with these things and hang it up when they're done, and they're usually very close to a trash can to make it very easy to do.” What I'm hoping for when somebody walks by this sign is they'll stop and read it, and they'll try it out. And that makes me feel so good, because I've seen it. I have these grabbers right now in four city parks in this neighborhood here. And I have permission to put them in many more parks.” ”....There are some people who might have that attitude that it's not my trash, I'm not going to pick it up. But in a community, most of the people have their heart in the right place.” “....What also feels great is hearing people on, like, next door talk about it and say, did you see what's going on in the park with these litter grabbing tools. And so it's spreading word of mouth.” “What I was really hoping to accomplish from the total altruism project is for people to realize that an individual person can really make an impact on the world by following their heart and doing good things. The smallest act of kindness, picking up a piece of litter is having a ripple effect “My goal is to have it spread throughout the world for any area that needs it.”
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Barrio Logan is well known for its vibrant arts and culture scene.
Reporter Jacob Aere says now there’s a new addition to further honor the Latino community – a Piñata Art Fest.
Inside Border X Brewing in Barrio Logan … a brewery has been transformed into what feels like a pinata museum – featuring dozens of professional works from local artists. It's part of the two-week-long Border X Piñata Art Fest … which also features vendors, live music and pinata workshops for the public led by artists, says festival curator Andy Gonzalez. “We didn't want them to bring us pinatas you can find at a grocery store. Definitely out of the box pinatas, so they got the assignment and they did it – you can see some of them are just amazing, some of them are crazy.” This is the first annual pinata festival and the event runs through June 9. While it's at a brewery, it's still a fiesta friendly for the whole family. Jacob Aere, 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. Join us again tomorrow for the day’s top stories. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Wednesday.
