Tijuana migrant shelters brace for impact after asylum limits
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday June 10th.
Why migrant shelters in Tijuana are expecting an influx of people.
More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
The San Diego City Council is expected to vote today on putting a proposal for a municipal utility on the November ballot.
The nonprofit Power San Diego gathered more than 24-thousand signatures prompting the City Council vote.
The ballot initiative seeks to replace San Diego Gas and Electric with a municipal utility provider, similar to ones in Los Angeles and Riverside.
Power San Diego believes a municipal utility will help lower customers’ rates.
San Diego Community Power has revealed two new electricity rates it says address affordability and sustainability.
One is for businesses and the other for individual households.
Community Power says both offer clean, renewable and carbon-free power.
The household plan offers a slight discount and similar amounts of renewable as S-D-G-and-E’s default plan.
Customers must contact San Diego Community Power to check their eligibility and opt in.
The new rates start July 1st.
THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LAST WEEK [THURSDAY] ISSUED A REPORT ON THE STATE'S NINE COURT PROTECTION ORDERS AIMED AT PREVENTING GUN VIOLENCE.
IT SHOWS AFTER DECLINES IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE SEEKING THOSE ORDERS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THERE HAS BEEN A SUBSTANTIAL YEAR-OVER-YEAR INCREASE.
THE REPORT ALSO SHOWS OF THE NEARLY NINE-THOUSAND GUN VIOLENCE RESTRAINING ORDERS...KNOWN AS G-V-R-O'S…ISSUED BETWEEN 2016 AND 2023...44 PERCENT CAME FROM SAN DIEGO AND SANTA CLARA counties.
G-V-R-O’S CAN BE SOUGHT BY LAW ENFORCEMENT, INTIMATE PARTNERS, FAMILY MEMBERS AND EMPLOYERS TO SUSPEND A PERSON'S ACCESS TO FIREARMS BECAUSE THEY'RE A SIGNIFICANT DANGER TO THEMSELVES OR OTHERS.
CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL ROB BONTA SAYS THE INCREASE IN ORDERS IS CORRELATED WITH A REDUCTION IN GUN VIOLENCE.
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
OPERATORS OF MIGRANT SHELTERS IN TIJUANA ARE WORRIED THAT PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN’S LATEST EXECUTIVE ORDER WILL CREATE MORE CHAOS ALONG THE BORDER. BORDER REPORTER GUSTAVO SOLIS SAYS THE ORDER SEVERELY LIMITS ASYLUM TO MIGRANTS WHO CROSS THE BORDER ILLEGALLY.
As news of the executive order spreads throughout the border region, People who operate migrant shelters in Tijuana are scrambling to understand how it will impact them. The order has effectively closed the border to asylum seekers crossing illegally and fast tracks deportations. Jose Maria Garcia Lara runs the Juventud 2000 migrant shelter just 100 yards from the San Ysidro border crossing. “Podria ocacionar una crisis migratoria.” It could cause a migrant crisis - he says. Garcia Lara is worried that more migrants will be deported to Tijuana - and the ones already there will have nowhere to go. This could create a bottleneck that leads to overcrowding and - possibly - outdoor encampments throughout Tijuana. Gustavo Solis, KPBS News
AS THE NOVEMBER ELECTION APPROACHES, MORE POLITICIANS ARE TALKING ABOUT THE SITUATION AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER. HERE’S REPORTER GUSTAVO SOLIS AGAIN. HE SAYS POLITICAL RHETORIC AROUND IMMIGRATION IS GETTING MORE EXTREME.
“Breaking news on the border crisis. Right now there is an invasion going on in Southern California.” That is State Assembly Candidate Carl DeMaio in February (check) describing the situation at the border. And here is El Cajon Mayor and Congressional candidate Bill Wells a month later (check) doing the same. “What’s happening at our southern border is not just a crisis, it’s an invasion.” They’re not alone. Politicians – particularly Republicans – are using the word invasion more and more to describe immigration. “We are not going to let these people come in and take our city away from us and take our country away from us. It’s not going to happen.” And it will likely continue to ramp up as we head to the next election. Experts say that has big consequences. “We’ve identified over 165 members of Congress in their official capacity have engaged in invasion or other replacement theory type rhetoric. That is Zachary Mueller. He’s a senior research director at America’s Voice – a pro-immigrant advocacy organization. And I think that’s really telling and really concerning.” Why he is so concerned is because it comes from White supremacy ideology. “The language of invasion is inexorably tied to this idea of the Great Replacement Theory, which has inspired multiple domestic terrorist attacks over the last couple of years.” The Great Replacement Theory is a conspiracy. Claiming political elites are replacing the voting power of native-born Americans with non-white immigrants. Mueller points out that the gunman who killed 23 people in El Paso in 2019 specifically mentioned a quote Hispanic invasion unquote as a motivation. Mueller says that when high-profile politicians like Donald Trump use invasion rhetoric, they introduce racist ideas to a mainstream audience. “So when the leaders of the party embrace this sort of rhetoric, is it gives the permission structure not only for other Republicans to start embracing that rhetoric but also their supporters and // unfortunately and tragically it lowers the threshold for individuals to hear that, to think there is a real invasion because our elected officials are say that there is, and that they have hate in their heart and a gun in their hand and they act on it.” Wells and DeMaio did not respond to questions. Invasion rhetoric isn’t limited to the campaign trail. Lawmakers are increasingly adopting this language to push anti-immigrant laws. That’s according to Michelle Lapointe, the legal director at the American Immigration Council. “It is unfortunately coming up in legislative debates in other parts of the country including states far from the U.S. – Mexico border that are invoking the same dangerous and violent rhetoric to justify anti-immigrant measures at the state level.” In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott argued that Texas was under invasion while trying to pass a law that granted local police and judges deportation powers. Lapointe says a federal judge appointed by Ronald Reagan rejected the argument. “He started by looking at the natural dictionary definitions of the meaning of invade and concluded that it means entering a country with hostile intent – to assault, attack, plunder, and that it has to be by an organized essentially military invasion.” The Judge, David Ezra acknowledged that Texas is under pressure because of the influx of migration. But said he saw no evidence of any type of military invasion. Lapointe hopes cases like the one in Texas will shed a light on the inaccuracies of this political narrative. “This idea of an invasion aside from being just factually inaccurate is an incredibly dangerous way to describe the complex situation at the border and the immigration situation in cities and towns throughout the United States.” Gustavo Solis, KPBS News
TOMORROW WE WILL HEAR ABOUT THE HISTORY OF INVASION RHETORIC IN CALIFORNIA.
FORTY STUDENTS WERE ARRESTED LAST MONTH FOR TAKING PART IN THE GAZA SOLIDARITY ENCAMPMENT PROTEST AT UC SAN DIEGO.
REPORTER ALEXANDER NGUYEN SAYS SOME OF THOSE STUDENTS ARE NOW FACING A CRITICAL SITUATION … THEY MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO GRADUATE LATER THIS WEEK.
7 of students arrested were set to graduate this month, but they can't with the administrative hold UCSD placed on their student accounts, pending an investigation for violation of the student code of conduct. Friday … members of U-A-W 4811 … the union representing more than 48-thousand academic workers across the state…including at U-C-S-D held a rally in support of students' right to free speech. They have been on strike for several weeks over the issue. Maya (Ghost-till-ah) is a graduate student researcher at UCSD. “I think it's absolutely horrific that the university claims to be doing all these things to protect safety and protect education. Clearly, all of us here in this crowd today think that this is unacceptable, and they need to let these students graduate.” The school says the administrative hold is standard procedure. In a statement, the university says … "all students who are arrested on campus for violating the law must go through the applicable student conduct process.” The school says it can’t comment further because of student privacy laws. AN/KPBS
This might be the last summer to check out a State Library Parks Pass from your local library.
In Governor Newsom’s proposed budget, funding to renew the program was cut..
The program provides passes that allow visitors to park for free at any state park …There are 14 in San Diego County.
Rachel Norton, executive director of the California State Parks Foundation, said the number of passes were increased to 33-thousand last year because the program was so popular.
“But even beyond just it being a popular item that people check out from libraries. The survey data is showing us that it is primarily benefiting people who earn 60,000 dollars or less per year … many of the folks who have filled out a survey about their experience is checking out the past our black indigenous people of color.” You can sign a petition to support renewing the Parks Pass program at Cal Parks dot org.
The state legislature will vote on the final budget later this month.
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.
