San Diego loses 3 immigration judges after Trump’s return to office

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday, March 24th.

Immigration judges are getting fired or resigning -- including some in San Diego. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

If you want to vote by mail for the District 1 Special Primary Election, today (Monday) is the last day to register to vote.

If you miss the deadline, you can still cast a ballot. But you’ll need to go to a vote center to vote provisionally.

Vote Centers will open March 29th. They’ll close at the end of Election Day — April 8th.

This election is to fill the District 1 County Supervisor seat. Go to KBPS dot org slash Voter Hub to learn more about the candidates.

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s office is sponsoring two California bills aimed at cracking down on human trafficking.

One would ban loitering with the intent to commit prostitution.

The other would establish a fund for community organizations that support victims of sex trafficking. It also would ensure the crime of purchasing a minor for sex applies in any case where the victim is 18 or younger.

Gloria’s office says these bills are in response to the unintended consequences of SB 357. This 2022 bill decriminalized loitering for the purpose of prostitution. Officials said SB 357 made it harder for police to investigate suspicious activities.

Supporters of SB 357 said the bill was aimed at stopping discriminatory policing.

San Diego hotel room taxes will increase starting May 1st.

City officials said the transient occupancy tax — or TOT — will generate about 82-million dollars in fiscal year 2026. The revenue could be used for street repair, alleviating homelessness and improving the city’s convention center.

Three “tax zones” with corresponding rates will be created. Hotels closest to the Convention Center will have the highest taxes at nearly 14-percent. Properties further away from the Convention Center will have lower tax rates.

Currently, the TOT is just over 10-percent.

From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need.

ALMOST 50 IMMIGRATION JUDGES NATIONWIDE HAVE RESIGNED OR BEEN FIRED SINCE PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP TOOK OFFICE. IMMIGRATION LAWYERS TELL BORDER REPORTER GUSTAVO SOLIS THAT SAN DIEGO’S COURT IS ALREADY IMPACTED.

“I have seen from some judges, a sense of urgency about having cases resolved quickly.” David Landry is an immigration lawyer here in San Diego. He’s worried about recent firings and resignations prompted by the Department of Government Efficiency. San Diego had 11 immigration judges before Trump took office in January. Now that number is down to 8. And along with judges, the courts have lost support staff … like IT professionals. “So when the judges have problems with technology – and they do almost every day – there’s no one to turn to.” Matthew Briggs is president of the union that represents immigration judges. “That first round of firings just sends a message to the immigration judges that hey your job’s not safe.” Fewer immigration judges – ironically – will make it harder for Trump to achieve his mass deportation goals. “Where the Trump administration says they’re trying to solve this problem on the one hand … they’re making it more difficult to solve that problem on the other by firing these judges and support staff.” The Department of Justice – which oversees the immigration court system – did not respond to a request for comment. Gustavo Solis, KPBS News

A NEW RULE PROPOSED BY THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WOULD REVOKE HEALTH INSURANCE ACCESS FOR DACA RECIPIENTS. HEALTH REPORTER HEIDI DE MARCO SAYS IT ALL COMES DOWN TO A SIMPLE BUT SIGNIFICANT CHANGE. EXCLUDING DACA RECIPIENTS FROM THE DEFINITION “LAWFULLY PRESENT” MAKING THEM INELIGIBLE FOR THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT.

Ali Torabi is a DACA recipient and medical school graduate. I had my Achilles rupture last year, and unfortunately, I was not covered. I didn’t have health care at that time. He starts his residency in a few months. Nothing crazy happens and I'll have access to health care soon. In November, a Biden administration rule expanded Affordable Care Act health insurance access to DACA recipients. Now, the Trump administration wants to reverse that. Alor Calderon is director of the Employee Rights Center in San Diego. He says the proposed change is creating confusion. If you had coverage, you still have coverage. If you already submitted an application for something is still going forward. Nothing has been stopped. Studies show uncertainty around DACA is taking a toll on recipients' mental health, including Torabi. I'm at a place now where I have to start considering my mental health, my personal well-being, and the safety of myself and my family. Public comments for the rule change are open until April 11. For now, future health care access for DACA recipients is uncertain. Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.

ACROSS THE COUNTRY, APPROVAL FOR DEMOCRATS IS VERY LOW. PUBLIC MATTERS REPORTER AMITA SHARMA SPOKE TO OUR LOCAL CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION ABOUT HOW THEY ARE TRYING TO REACH VOTERS.

Congressman Vargas, a CNN poll found that only 29% of Americans hold a favorable view of the Democratic Party. I think an NBC poll showed those numbers at 27%. People believe the Dems have no fight. They have no gain. What's your take on these numbers? )I'm surprised it's that high. No, you know, the truth of the matter is people are angry right now, and they're angry at the Democrats. They don't think we're doing enough. We have to push back harder. But I think one of the frustrations that people have really, is with politics in general, and that is they don't feel like the politicians and government's doing anything for them. But one of the things I think, as Democrats, we have to do, we have to do a much better job, is listen to people. Go out there and listen to your constituents. You know, what they want, what they need, what their desires are. I think that that's important. Congresswoman Jacobs, the Trump administration, the GOP, with the help of the Heritage foundation, have Project 2025. Why doesn't the Democratic Party have a blueprint like that for its vision? If you're a millennial? We've lived in the shadow of the Forever wars our whole adult lives. We graduated college during the Great Recession, right as things were getting better, Covid happened. Of course, we don't trust institutions or people in power to look out for us, because that hasn't been our experience. And then what I hear from my peers is that they were given a choice of, like, okay, change everything. Maybe not exactly how we want, but at least some change or keep things the same. And it was hard for them to choose that. Right. And so I think what we need as a Democratic Party and what we need to do as leaders is put forward an affirmative agenda. Here's what we want this country to look like, and here's how we're gonna get there, and here's how it's gonna make your life better. Now, you've actually made a point to reach out to younger audiences. You've produced these Get Ready With Me Tik videos, which were the target of some mockery by Jon Stewart. What was the thinking behind producing these videos? And what kind of response have you gotten from the public? Yeah, and no offense to Jon Stewart, but he is not my target audience here. I'm happy to teach him how to do eyeliner if he would like. But look, what we found in a lot of the research around this election is right. If you watch cable news, if you read the newspaper, you voted for Democrats, even if you say you follow social media to get your news, it was like a tie. The people that we lost are the people who say they don't follow, follow politics at all. They don't feel engaged at all, and they don't want anything to do with politics. And so to me, as you know, one of the younger members, I'm trying to find new, creative ways to reach out to those people. Congressman Levin, you've been out there talking to constituents. You held a town hall. I know Congressman Issa has not held a town hall. Would you consider holding one in his district? I was shocked that the head of the Republican Congressional Committee told all the members don't do town halls, because at the end of the day, if you're not interested in listening to your constituents and showing up, I think you should find a different line of work. But would you hold a town hall in Congressman Issa's district? Well, I think plenty of my colleagues are going to do that. I'm going to stay focused on my district and doing the work that I need to do because I have a lot of very exuberant constituents that want to be heard from. Congressman Vargas, there is this perception effect feeling that the Trump administration and its agenda is unstoppable, even if laws and norms are broken. Is that a valid perception? No, I don't think so at all. In fact, one of the things I think you're going to see is that they're going to fall on their face pretty hard pretty soon. These guys don't know how to run the government. I mean, they got involved because they hate the government. And you're seeing that all over the place where they're closing things down. Well, people are going to understand pretty soon. Wow. I didn't know it affected my Social Security. I didn't know it affected my health care. Everyone's going to find out that these guys don't know how to run the government. Congresswoman Jacobs, if threatened, cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security go through, and curriculum in public schools is reshaped. What might life look like in six months or a year in San Diego and across the country? We're going to see a government that only works for some people and leaves so many people behind. But the thing is, like, I actually don't know what it will look like in six months or a year, because I don't think that they're actually going to be able to do it, because they aren't unstoppable. None of this is inevitable. Right. Part. They're trying to make us feel helpless. They are trying to make us feel overwhelmed. It's a strategy, but it's not working. And House Democrats have a four part strategy to how we're pushing back. We're pushing back with laws, we're pushing back with court cases, we're pushing back with our oversight job. But the most important part of the four part strategy is public pressure.

KPBS ALSO INVITED DARRELL ISSA AND SCOTT PETERS. ISSA DID NOT RESPOND. PETERS HAD A CONFLICT. KPBS RECEIVES FUNDING FROM THE GRANDFATHER OF SARA JACOBS.

MOST STREETS IN SAN DIEGO WERE DESIGNED A HALF CENTURY AGO WITH ENGINEERING STANDARDS THAT PRIORITIZED CARS OVER PEDESTRIANS. METRO REPORTER ANDREW BOWEN CONTINUES HIS SERIES ON STREET DESIGN WITH A CLOSER LOOK AT SLIP LANES.

Usually when you're making a right turn at an intersection, you have to queue with the rest of traffic and wait your turn. A slip lane is a one-way bypass that lets you skip the intersection without even stopping. Kind of like a freeway exit, but on a city street. In auto-priority zones where there's not a lot of pedestrian activity, it may be helpful to expedite traffic through an intersection. Eric Dumbaugh is a professor at Florida Atlantic University and associate director of the Collaborative Sciences Center for Road Safety. It also creates the problem where the pedestrian needs to worry about that right-turning vehicle coming up from behind them as they try to enter the slip lane. So it's undesirable in highly urban environments, it's undesirable where there's a lot of pedestrian activities. In other environments, it may be neutral. Dubmaugh says street design techniques like slip lanes were introduced in an era when traffic engineers weren't all that concerned with the safety and comfort of pedestrians. San Diego is preparing to update its Street Design Manual this year. A draft released in December makes no mention of slip lanes, meaning there's no guidance on where they're appropriate and where they should be closed. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.

WITH MORE THAN 800 EPISODES, DOCTOR WHO HOLDS THE TITLE OF THE LONGEST RUNNING SCI-FI TV SERIES IN HISTORY. THE COMIC-CON MUSEUM HAS JUST OPENED AN EXHIBIT DEDICATED TO THE BBC SHOW. ARTS REPORTER BETH ACCOMANDO GIVES US A PREVIEW.

Doctor Who is a Time Lord traveling through time and space in a TARDIS, which looks like an unassuming British police box. You can step into a TARDIS, which is famously bigger on the inside, at the Comic-Con Museum’s exhibit, Doctor Who: Worlds of Wonder Where Science Meets Fiction. The immersive exhibit features costumes from every Doctor from 1963 to the present, as well as screen used props and interactive stations. My favorite spot is the Monster Vault where you can find a weeping angel, an ice warrior and Daleks! Basically, they are small bubbling pots of hate. That’s Andrew Beech, a Doctor Who private collector who loaned a Dalek from his collection to the exhibit. They're an analogy to the Nazis in Nazi Germany, really. They just hate everything that isn't a Dalek. And Daleks are nasty green blob-like creatures that need a small traveling tank to get around and of course they have a weapon. Which is the strange egg whisk-like thing you can see on the front there and they set off to conquer the universe, but somehow the Doctor seems to manage to stop them every time, which is marvelous. You can operate a Dalek’s whisk-like weapon in the Monster Vault at the Comic-Con Museum through March 2026. Exterminate! I mean check it out. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.

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.