Pregnant Asylum-Seekers Denied Access To Court Hearings, REWIRED: Part 3, And Weekend Arts Events Preview

February 21, 2020 at 9:20 AM PST

Speaker 1: 00:00 Speaker 2: 00:54 Speaker 1: 02:14 Speaker 2: 02:20 Speaker 1: 02:46 Speaker 2: 02:51 Speaker 3: 03:55 Speaker 2: 04:13 Speaker 2: 04:58 Speaker 2: 05:53 Speaker 1: 06:24 Speaker 4: 06:36 Speaker 1: 06:38 Speaker 5: 06:53 Speaker 6: 07:36 Speaker 5: 07:43 Speaker 6: 08:04 Speaker 5: 08:16 Speaker 6: 09:06 Speaker 5: 09:18 Speaker 7: 09:37 Speaker 5: 09:43 Speaker 8: 10:09 Speaker 5: 10:26 Speaker 6: 10:29 Speaker 5: 10:32 Speaker 1: 10:36 Speaker 9: 11:47 Speaker 1: 12:02 Speaker 1: 12:49 Speaker 9: 14:12 Speaker 1: 14:25 Speaker 9: 16:08 Speaker 10: 16:08 Speaker 1: 16:26 Asylum seekers who are pregnant, risk being denied entry for their court dates and we can breathe you brings you intriguing new music. I am Alison st John in for Maureen Cavanagh. This is KPBS midday edition. Today is Friday, February the 21st a KPBS investigation has revealed a new twist and the situation playing out at the border. So I'm pregnant, asylum seekers sent back to Mexico under the romaine in Mexico program are being barred from entering the United States for their court dates. So why is this happening? KPBS reporter max riddle in Adler has been looking for answers and he joins us now. Max, welcome. Hi. So now start off by telling us the person that you featured in your story is a woman named Corina, right? What's her story? So Corrina, as an asylum seeker that, uh, came to Tijuana with her husband from El Salvador, they had been staying in Tijuana for quite some time because they were waiting on the unofficial list that's kept by Mexican immigration authorities along with asylum seekers themselves to limit the amount of people that enter the United States under the system we call metering. So she'd already been spending a considerable amount of time in Tijuana before she entered the United States after entering the United States. Um, you know, in August of this year she was sent back to the, to Mexico as part of the remain in Mexico program. So at the point she was only three months pregnant, she didn't know at the time actually, um, that she was truly pregnant until she got a pregnancy test at the port of entry itself. So she was brought back to Tijuana where she spent the next few months waiting for her court date in the U S under this policy. She was denied access to the bus that would take her to her court date based on her pregnancy. By the time that she showed up for her, her court date, uh, her most recent court date, she was already seven months pregnant, visibly pregnant, and the officers asked her whether she was pregnant and told her because she was pregnant, she could not go to the U S and the give her a new court date. That would be after she was due to give birth. So is there any official difference in the policy towards pregnant asylum seekers versus everybody else? No, there has been zero written directive as a instructing agents to monitor people who are either visibly pregnant or you know, give people pregnancy tests. There's no difference. And it's really unclear what is being decided when they don't have people come to their court dates because there are really adverse impacts. If you don't appear to your court date, your court case could be closed and your asylum case could be derailed. So you have not been able to establish if there has been a change in policy? No, I reached out to customs and border protection. They told me that all questions should go to the department of Homeland security. They themselves did not respond to request for comment. CVP did tell me that, um, you know, pregnant women can be enrolled in the program. Uh, that is something that advocates say per the directive of the program per the guidelines that pregnant, pregnant women should not be included because they are sensitive populations. Um, and to Quanta itself is a very difficult place if you are a migrant to give birth to a child and you find that Covino was not the only person who was in this position. Right? Yeah. So I spoke with at least a four separate people who face this, who showed up at the port of entry and were not, uh, allowed into, uh, the, the United States were given later dates. And this was a really adverse for several of these people, including, um, one of these women who still in Tijuana. Uh, as of last week, I spoke with her and her name was Sandra, and here's what she had to say. It's in Spanish, and then I'll translate [inaudible] normal [inaudible] display. So don't make me, don't [inaudible] you made it almost that I seek I yet we won't be [inaudible] [inaudible] so she's explaining there the process where she was turned away at the port of entry. When she came back for another date, they told her that her case had been closed and that she'd lost her case. So that's something that she's going to have to navigate while she's already pregnant. Um, this is going to be something that has driven other individuals to cross the border. Um, outside of the, you know, the official channel of using the bus of, of showing up at the port of entry on their court dates. Um, and there's been a sharp uptick in the amount of women who have given birth in CBP custody. As a result of that, your story mentions that they're all bad conditions that could be dangerous for a pregnant woman in hospitals in T Y. What evidence do you have of that? Um, so that's just from speaking with the advocates there and women. Um, one of the advocates told me last week that a woman, uh, gave birth in a bathroom. Um, migrants don't have equal access to healthcare as Mexican citizens do, especially if from central America. It's very difficult to navigate healthcare in Mexico. Um, the large public hospital in Tijuana is often overrun. A lot of people are being treated in the waiting room, are spending considerable amounts of time in the waiting room. So, um, you know, somebody to navigate being pregnant Eve, you have even a minor complication and need assistance. I've heard of, uh, people, there was a Haitian immigrant, a Haitian migrant, uh, last month who had to crowd source, um, to get care for herself, to pay for private healthcare provider to be able to safely deliver her child. And coming back to Corina again, it turns out in your story, she was able to get into the United States eventually, right? Yeah. She was able to get in with the help of the organization. A little throw lotto. It's just lot of work with asylum seekers. At the port of entry, she spoke, she spoke with one of their lawyers. They took her to the port of entry. They explain the situation because this entire process is so ad hoc by customs and border protection and by the authorities there, um, it's, it's, it's depends on the day and who you speak with, whether you get admitted into the U S so she was admitted to the U S or she'll continue her asylum claim in the United States and she is due to give birth this week. [inaudible] well, thanks for that story, max. Thank you. I've been speaking with KPBS reporter max, Ritalin Adler [inaudible] rewired as a three part series from my new source investigative reporters, Jill Castellano and Brad Racino. Today. In the final part, Brad describes a confidential investigation into a UC San Diego oncologist and his experimental brain treatments. A quick recap. UC San Diego, Dr. Kevin Murphy modified an electromagnetic brain treatment called TMS, former Navy seal. John Surmont had a psychotic break following hundreds of those treatments. I just believed that, Oh, he knows what to do. That's doctor stuff. He knows how to do doctor stuff. Surmont later filed a California medical board complaint against Murphy over the episode in the final part of this series will break down in ongoing university of California investigation into whether Murphy used a $10 million research gift to enrich his private businesses. The levels here, the story begins where we left off with Murphy using his own version of TMS on patients in San Diego. It turned into a melee patients hearing about it, rumors about how good it was working people in the lobby saying, please treat me. One of his patients, philanthropists, Charles Kreutz, camp Murphy treated him to alleviate the mental fog associated with his chemotherapy. When the philanthropists died in 2015 he left $10 million to UCFD. A gift Murphy said was for him to do research on his version of TMS. That money started a storm and it's one of the best things and one of the worst things that's ever happened to me in my entire life. I would give that $10 million back tomorrow and say it's not been worth the pain and the suffering. Murphy claims UCS, DS, Moore's cancer center tried to take the gift and the doctor had to fight to get it back, angering a lot of people in the process. Then Murphy put together research trials to test his treatment on different conditions like opioid addiction and autism, but they never happened, which is a horrible shit. That's because a whistleblower in Murphy's department alleged the doctor was using crudes camp's $10 million gift to hire staff and by hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment to benefit his private TMS businesses. The allegation sparked an ongoing 18 month long investigation that has worked its way up to the UC president's office in Oakland. You see comment at this point, but said it. We'll share the findings and grant an interview once the investigation is complete. Murphy denies all the allegations and believes people are working against him because of his novel treatment. I'm on the bleeding edge of this and so everyone's shooting arrows in my back. One stop him. Stop his research. Whistleblower him. We want this so I'm naked. Look bad, whatever it takes. Murphy even made enemies with San Diego native David Wells, one of major league baseball's greatest left-hand pitchers. Wells donated $100,000 in 2018 to a nonprofit that dr established to treat veterans, but well said. He would not donate to Murphy again because the doctor repeatedly blew him off afterwards. No, and I would, I would not recommend anybody, anybody to do it. As part of our investigation, we also found Murphy plagiarized a competitor's data when he tried to start research at the San Diego VA. Murphy's explanation is at odds with his previous statements and UCS. D hasn't commented on the plagiarism. As for John Surmont, the veteran went through two years of court hearings following his arrest in 2017 due to his psychotic episode. Despite it all, he said he still thinks Dr. Murphy is onto something. I still love Kevin Murphy. I still get what he's trying to do. I don't think he's going to be able to get it done if he does it. Recognize the importance of people beyond being research subjects. Murphy, however, doesn't feel the same toward his patient. To just know that you're picking a psychotic for information for KPBS. I'm a new source investigative reporter Brad Racino. For more on this story, go to rewire.news source.org I knew source is an independent nonprofit partner of KPBS. You're listening to midday edition. I'm Alison st John in for Maureen. Kevin. Ah, we have a music field we can preview for you today with a string quartet performing a West coast premiere of a brand new Matthew Aucoin composition, a combination illustration and songwriter performance in Oceanside and a selection of world premieres by San Diego composers. Plus what's closing soon in San Diego? Joining me as KPBS arts editor, Julia Dixon Evans with all the details. Julia, welcome. Hey Alison. So now the renowned Brentano quartet is coming to town to perform three pieces at the Conrad tonight. What are they performing? Well, they're doing a really traditional piece by Mozart, one of his many string quartets, not one of his more popular frequently performed pieces, but it's part of a series of quartets. The young composer dedicated to Haydn. He credits him with showing him that the quartet structure had these infinite possibilities and they're also performing a quartet by Ravel. Let's listen to a bit of Maurice Ravel string quartet inF major [inaudible]. This piece is really unexpected, which is par for the course for the French composer of it. This is the only string quartet he ever wrote. He wrote it when he was still a student and we just heard a clip from the second movement, which starts out really brightly, but it quickly delves into something a little more dark, a little more contemplated. Now there's a LA Jolla music society co commissioned a new work by Matthew Aucoin for the Brentano quartet to play. Tell us about that. Yes. This is pretty exciting because Matthew Aucoin is, he's a brilliant young composer and conductor. He guests curated last year's hearing the future festival for the San Diego symphony, so we got a little sense for his style and his work then, and this piece, which is his first string quartet. It's about human attention and obsession and it was written specifically for that Brentano quartet. Also. It's so new. It's only been performed a few times and there are no recordings, so if you want to hear that, you'll need to head out to hear the Montana quartet at the Conrad in LA Jolla tonight at 8:00 PM no. Saturday, the Athenaeum art center in the bread and salt complex and Barrio Logan is host to a showcase of experimental new compositions. Who are they? Composers? Well, the cool part about this program is that much of the work's being performed by the composers with their frequent collaborators, Christopher Warren, who curated the show while perform new work of his own along with the piece by Joe Garrison for solo bass clarinet and the duo Christopher and Dinah Apple. Tell us about that work. Well, they're all sort of themed around time, which is pretty important to music that Christopher Warren's piece, the six parallels, that fractured time. It's the six movement, composition, explorers. What might happen if you time travel through space, then return back only to discover that instead of everything being the way you left it, you've actually broken time. It sounds a bit terrifying, but the music's actually pastoral and lovely. Definitely feels new and Spacey though. Well, let's listen to a part of the, the six perils of fractured time by Christopher Warren [inaudible] [inaudible]. Wow. Beautiful. What else can we expect in this performance? So Joe Garrison, he's a prolific composer in San Diego. A lot of critics use words like reclusive and underrated. When they describe him, he'll be debuting a selection of new works. They're also world premiers. Christen Diana Apple have a collaborative composition. Christopher Apple is a stunning violinist and Dana is a dancer and choreographer, so she'll also dancing. So that's the visceral infinities that's taking place this Saturday at seven 30 at the Athenaeum art center in Barrio Logan. Now let's move on. The Hill street country club kicks off their first exhibition of 2020 with a solo show by a loafer LA Nick Gould on Saturday. Tell us about Hillstreet country club. Uh, it's an Oceanside nonprofit art space, not an actual country club. Their philosophy is that they're providing space for artists in a way that's free from their restraints of generational wealth. So it's a place for artists developing their work to show on a curated institutional level, regardless of whether they come from a place of privilege. What kind of work will the Luther Lani gold be showing? Oh, she is an Oceanside based artist and she draws on her black identity and the folklore of her Samoan heritage and creating these illustrations that are really comic inspired. They're intricate grids and panels and a lot of self portraiture and nostalgia. She's also a singer songwriter with this timeless other worldly voice, and she'll perform at the opening reception. Let's listen to her [inaudible]. Everything's boring. [inaudible] and yes, you can shoot a guy in crack. It goes, uh, who are shatter to that. The swelled, the battery's awry. That's the voice of Lofa Linea gold, who opens a new exhibition at the Hill street country club in Oceanside was an opening reception and musical performance on Saturday at seven o'clock and in the weekly KPBS arts newsletter, you always include a list of what's closing soon and tell us about that this weekend. Yes, it's your last chance to see abstract revelation, which is San Diego museum of art. Special exhibition of women in the abstract expressionism movement has works by a lot of great women, including Lee Krasner, who was married to Jackson Pollock and often lived and worked in the shadow of that reputation. But her work is phenomenal in its own right. The exhibition closes on Sunday. Well, thank you. So be sure to subscribe to the weekly kbps aren't newsletter to get stories, news, and events like these incentives aren't seen. You can sign up and find more arts events at kpbs.org/arts thanks very much, Julia. Thank you. I've been speaking with KP vis, arts editor, Julia Dixon Evans.

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In recent months, pregnant asylum-seekers sent back to Tijuana under the "Remain-In-Mexico" program have been barred from entering the United States for their court dates. Plus, in part three of REWIRED, inewsource delves into the confidential investigation into a UC San Diego oncologist and his experimental brain treatments. And, KPBS arts editor Julia Dixon Evans shares a music-filled weekend preview.