What happens when Title 42 is lifted?

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday, May 1st.

There’s no clear plan for processing thousands of migrants once Title 42 is lifted.

More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

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A San Diego judge last week ordered to unseal videos of the alleged gang rape of a teenage girl by members of the S-D-S-U football team.

A teenage girl accused star punter Matt Araiza… and two others … of raping her at a house party near SDSU in October 20-21.

Araiza’s (Ah-rise-ah’s) attorneys sought the release of the videos because they say it proves their client’s innocence.

The attorney for the now 18 year old woman opposes the decision.

The judge’s ruling was stayed for two weeks to give the city attorney time to appeal the decision.

The videos being unsealed, does not automatically mean the defense can use them in the civil trial.

The judge in the case will make that determination.

Last December … the D-A declined to charge the men accused of any crimes … citing a lack of evidence.

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The San Diego County Board of Supervisors plan to discuss how to fill Nathan Fletcher’s seat at tomorrow’s board meeting.

Fletcher plans to resign on May 15th, following a lawsuit accusing him of sexual misconduct.

The board members will decide whether to appoint a candidate to serve out the three-and-a-half remaining years of Fletcher's term, hold a special election or appoint an interim supervisor until an election takes place.

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The city of San Diego has reached a tentative agreement with labor unions representing more than 60-percent of the city’s workforce.

The agreement includes pay increases over the next three years, equity adjustments, special assignment pay and more.

According to Mayor Todd Gloria's office, the agreement will become final once the unions' membership approves them, and the City Council gives its final approval.

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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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Title 42 is the controversial public health order that allows officials to turn away asylum seekers at the border.

It is set to be lifted May 11th.

But border reporter Gustavo Solis says no one knows exactly what will happen once Title 42 goes away.

There are roughly 16,000 vulnerable migrants in Tijuana waiting to enter the United States once Title 42 is lifted. We are 11 days from the official end of Title 42. But Tijuana officials don’t know how the U.S. plans to process all of those people. No one from the federal government has shared their plan with Tijuana. Enrique Lucero, Tijuana Migrant Affairs Department “Si temenos un plan en mente. Pero va depender mucho en lo que estados Unidos informe.” That’s Enrique Lucero. He’s head of Tijuana’s migrant affairs department. He says Tijuana has a rough plan of what to do on May 11. But a lot of it depends on logistical questions like how many people will be allowed to cross the border and where. And right now, he doesn’t have those answers. Lucero is preparing for the worse. Enrique Lucero “Se van a salir los migrantes de los albergues y se van a querer formar a la garita. Y esperar su turno.” On May 11, he expects thousands of migrants to leave their shelters and form a long line outside the port of entry. Enrique Lucero “Se van a queder alli, dormir alli, comer alli hasta que sean atendidos.” They will eat there. They will sleep there. They will live there. Lucero says that if the U.S. only allows a couple of hundred to enter each day, it will be chaos at the border. Tijuana’s migrant shelters are already at capacity. And they expect even more people to come to the border once Title 42 is lifted. Pastor Albert Rivera, Agape Migrant Shelter “Basically we are getting prepared, we are constructing to be able to receive more people. Pastor Albert Rivera runs the Agape migrant shelter in Tijuana. ‘We do know that a lot more immigrants are going to come now that title 42 is going to be taken away.” About 650 men, women and children live in the shelter. Children play soccer while parents cook and get ready for a shot at asylum in the United States. Rivera says migrants think that their journey is over once they enter the United States. But that won’t be the case. More than half of all asylum claims are denied, according to federal data. So he’s trying to help them get ready to fight for their case in immigration court. Pastor Albert Rivera “We focus on evidence, documentation, help them with all of that. We tell them, do you want to do things legally, do you want to win your case, focus on the evidence be a little bit patient.” Once Title 42 is lifted, migrants will go through the expedited removal process. Under expedited removals, migrants are given a credible fear interview. Those who pass are allowed to pursue asylum claims and those who fail are deported. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, American Immigration Council “The Biden administration has said it’s going to be surging asylum officers and other resources down to the border to carry out these interviews.” Aaron Reichlin-Melnick is policy director at the American Immigration Council. A pro-immigration thinktank. He’s been following the Biden administration’s transition away from Title 42. He says the plan is for Latin American countries to stop migrants from reaching the border in the first place. So U.S. officials will open processing centers in Colombia and Guatemala. These are places migrants can go to see if they are eligible for asylum in the U.S. without having to go to the border. But one major question  remains. “For the ports of entry, the big question is what things are going to look like once Title 42 lifts.” Title 42 essentially shut down the asylum process for three years. Migrants haven’t been able to walk up to the border and request humanitarian protection since March 2020. “That means that asylum seekers really don’t know what the situation is going to look like after Title 42 is over on May 11. And crucially, the U.S. government hasn’t indicated what they are going. KPBS plans to be at the border on May 11 to find out what happens. Gustavo Solis, KPBS News.

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Teachers at the Gompers Preparatory Academy in Chollas View are preparing to vote on whether they will remain unionized.

Education Reporter M.G. Perez tells us why educators there are divided.

In 2019, the San Diego Education Association…which represents teachers in San Diego Unified…got enough support at Gompers Preparatory Academy to convince a majority of the teaching staff to join. Since then a group of teachers at the public charter school has been fighting for decertificaiton from the union…they say they were forced to join. The California Public Employment Relations Board…known as PERB…has now approved a vote starting May 10th by mail-in ballot. Mark Mix is with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation…supporting the decertification effort. “when a government agency steps in and says you will be represented by a union we will impose representation on you…even though you didn’t ask for it…didn’t want it…didn’t vote for it…that’s where they run afoul of individual freedom.”  The staff of 50 teachers at Gompers will have until June 6th to vote. Leaders with the S-D-E-A have not commented on PERB’s decertification decision. MGP KPBS News.

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Feeding San Diego’s food rescue program has a partnership with the world’s largest coffeehouse chain.

Reporter Melissa Mae tells us how it works and who benefits.

MM: Since 2016, Feeding San Diego says it has rescued over 3 million pounds of food from local Starbucks stores. MM: Carissa Casares from Feeding San Diego says over 200 stores participate in the Starbucks FoodShare program. “This partnership is just such a perfect example of why we cannot let food go to waste. It's bad for the climate, it's detrimental to the climate we're still in Earth month our last few days. We shouldn't be putting perfectly good edible surplus food in landfill.”  MM: Feeding San Diego says the partnership helps alleviate some of the pressing issues like food insecurity that are really affecting our community members. Melissa Mae KPBS News.

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Coming up.... The Padres are back at Petco Park tonight after a weekend series in Mexico City. We’ll have that story and more, just after the break.

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The San Diego Padres faced the San Francisco Giants in two sellout games over the weekend... at a stadium in Mexico City, packed with fans from both sides of the border. Reporter Jacob Aere was there.

It was a long way from Petco Park … in a number of ways … from the stadium at more than 7,000 feet above sea level to the food and culture of Mexico's capital. Among those in the majority Padre crowd was Oceanside resident Faviola Rodriguez, who says she feels proud.  “Even to try and get from the airport of Tijuana it was so packed and just seeing so many Padres fans, I was like ‘wow, this is amazing.’ The game-time atmosphere was thrilling – both on the field, with a barrage of home runs … … and in the stands, with sombreros, mariachi, luchador masks and loud celebrations. Mexico City resident and baseball fan Alex Garcia called it a big party. “So many people are dancing around all of the ballpark. It's like they put on a song and everyone is dancing and singing and things like that.” The series also attracted celebrities, including Chula Vista’s own WWE wrestler Rey Mysterio Jr. He called the Padres the team of Mexico. “So coming here and supporting my Padres, my home team, who I saw play when I was a kid, my dad used to take me all the time – it's very emotional. It's very very cool. It's a dope feeling.” Reporting from Mexico City, Jacob Aere, KPBS News.

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Actress Rachel Weisz was a fan of David Cronenberg’s film Dead Ringers.

She saw the story of twin brother gynecologists as ripe for a gender flip.

Film critic Beth Accomando was surprised by the results.

As a fan of David Cronenberg and his 1988 film Dead Ringers, I approached the new Prime Video remake with trepidation. But to my surprise and delight, the Dead Ringers show conceived by star Rachel Weisz and showrunner Alice Birch is exactly what a remake should be – a bold reimagining that reveals a new perspective. The body horror is still there but now it’s about making women’s bodies visible in new ways. Birch says you’ll see graphic images of women giving birth and being cut open for C-sections. I've never really seen that on screen. We see violence all the time. We see death all the time on screen. It’s how we all arrived into the world and we never, ever see it. And I find that very interesting. Playing twins in the lead role gave Weisz a challenge to sink her teeth into. The characters were written on the page with such psychological complexity and depth and humanness. They were flawed and brilliant and they were both completely different to the other and yet totally dependent on the other. So it was very rich food and brilliant writing for my imagination. All six episodes of Dead Ringers are currently streaming on Prime Video, and well worth checking out. Beth Accomando, 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 Monday.