A push to hire health workers at ICE facilities
Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH>>>> A PUSH TO HIRE HEALTH WORKERS AT ICE FACILITIES
More on that next. But first... the headlines….########
SAN DIEGO’S CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION IS SPLIT ALONG PARTY LINES ON THE SENATE’S PROPOSAL TO REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT.
THE SENATE REACHED AN AGREEMENT SUNDAY NIGHT TO FUND THE GOVERNMENT THROUGH JANUARY.
IT WOULD FUND FEDERAL FOOD ASSISTANCE THROUGH SEPTEMBER AND BACKPAY FEDERAL WORKERS WHO’VE MISSED PAYCHECKS DURING THE SHUTDOWN.
JARIELLE [JAR-ee-ell] TAYLOR WORKED AT NAVAL AIR STATION NORTH ISLAND UNTIL HER CONTRACT ENDED A WEEK AGO. SHE WENT TO A FOOD DISTRIBUTION EVENT AT VETERANS VILLAGE YESTERDAY [Monday.]
SHUTDOWN 2A [5s]
It's been affecting us a lot. Kind of just the fear of the unknown, not really knowing if we're going to get paid or not.
THE BILL WOULD NOT EXTEND SUBSIDIES THAT HELP MILLIONS OF AMERICANS AFFORD HEALTH INSURANCE.
SAN DIEGO’S DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATIVES SAY THEY’LL VOTE NO ONCE THE BILL REACHES THE HOUSE…. SAYING IT DOESN’T ADDRESS CONCERNS ABOUT HEALTHCARE COSTS.
REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN DARRELL ISSA SAYS HE’LL VOTE IN FAVOR OF REOPENING THE GOVERNMENT.
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VETERANS DAY THIS YEAR LANDS DURING THE LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IN U-S HISTORY
HOWEVER, THERE ARE STILL MORE THAN A FEW WAYS TO CELEBRATE AND HONOR THE SERVICE MEMBER IN YOUR LIFE
THE VETERANS DAY PARADE IS STILL ON
FIVE WORLD WAR TWO VETERANS WILL SERVE AS THE PARADE’S GRAND MARSHALS THIS YEAR AS IT MARKS 80 YEARS SINCE THE WARS’ END
IT STARTS AT 10 AM ON HARBOR DRIVE IN DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO
IN ESCONDIDO THERE IS ALSO A PARA DE. THAT ONE KICKS OFF AT 9:30 A.M. AND GOES AROUND GRAPE DAY PARK.
THERE IS ALSO AN ARMY AND NAVY ACADEMY CEREMONY IN CARLSBAD THAT STARTS AT 10:45 A.M.
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YOUR SAN DIEGO F-C SOCCER CLUB IS HEADING TO ROUND 2 OF THE M-L-S PLAYOFFS !
ON SUNDAY, S-D-F-C WAS ABLE TO BEAT THE PORTLAND TIMBERS FOUR TO ZERO TO ADVANCE IN THE BEST OF 3 FIRST-ROUND SERIES
THEY NOW ENTER THE WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS [SEMMY] WHICH IS A SINGLE GAME ELIMINATION
THEY WILL BE GOING UP AGAINST MINNESOTA UNITED AT SNAPDRAGON STADIUM ON NOVEMBER 24TH AT 7 PM
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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THE ICE DETENTION CENTER IN IMPERIAL COUNTY IS LOOKING FOR A DOCTOR. REPORTER KORI SUZUKI SAYS THE ANNOUNCEMENT COMES AS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MOVES TO HIRE MORE HEALTH WORKERS AMID THE GROWING NUMBER OF PEOPLE DYING IN FEDERAL CUSTODY.
ICEDOC 1 (1:05) SOQ
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The role, a part-time physician, was posted early last month by Management and Training Corporation, or MTC. That’s the private prison company that runs the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico.
The job posting raises renewed questions about the quality of medical care at the federal detention center. Just weeks earlier, a Chinese immigrant had a seizure inside the facility and died in custody.
“It's certainly in line with what we're seeing across DHS.”
Diana Shaw is a former assistant inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security. She says the hiring announcement fits into a nationwide push by DHS to hire dozens of health workers. As the federal government jails record numbers of immigrants in its detention centers.
Shaw says the additional personnel will help. But she says it won’t be enough to address growing health and safety concerns.
“It will address some of the concerns, but with populations of the size that we're seeing, it's going to require more than just additional staffing.”
The Imperial detention facility, in particular, has a record of violating ICE’s own health standards.
In a statement, MTC said they were committed to meeting the highest standards of safety and medical care.
Kori Suzuki, KPBS News.
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THE SIERRA CLUB IS SUING SAN DIEGO COUNTY OVER LAST MONTH’S APPROVAL OF THE HARMONY GROVE VILLAGE SOUTH DEVELOPMENT.
THE CLUB IS SUING UNDER THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT.
THE SUIT ALLEGES THE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CONFLICTS WITH THE COUNTY’S SUSTAINABLE GROWTH POLICY…
AND THAT THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS RELIED ON OUTDATED ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTS.
DAVE HOGAN IS THE SIERRA CLUB’S LEGAL CHAIR.
HARMONYSUIT 2A (0:20)
The project, when it went through environmental review again between 2018 and now, for the new approval, they were required to consider current fire safety rules. They were required to consider current rules for calculating how far people are going to be driving, for commuting to jobs and the like those vehicle miles traveled, but they didn't do that.”
THE SUIT IS THE LATEST IN OPPOSITION TO THE HARMONY GROVE PROJECT.
THE SIERRA CLUB ALSO SUED IN 20-18 BECAUSE THE PROJECT DIDN’T HAVE A SECOND EMERGENCY ESCAPE ROUTE.
A COUNTY SPOKESPERSON DECLINED TO COMMENT BECAUSE OF THE ACTIVE LAWSUIT.
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BORREGO SPRINGS IS ONE STEP CLOSER TO GETTING NEW FIRE STATION.
REPORTER ELAINE ALFARO SAYS IT WOULD BE BUILT ON LAND RECENTLY DONATED TO THE COUNTY.
BORREGOLAND 1 (1:10) SOQ
County supervisors last week accepted a six-acre land donation in Borrego Springs to build a new fire station.
The plans fit into a broader vision dreamed up by local resident Bill Wright to create a central hub of services for the small town.
Here’s his son, Daniel Wright.
“My father was a true visionary. He was a, he was a 50,000 feet kind of guy. He saw things from a high elevation, and he… he had dreams about, making Borrego Springs a better village.”
Borrego Springs resident Jim Wermers says the new fire station is desperately needed.
“The current fire station, it's been in that location for decades, and it's quite, old, and it is no longer serviceable to the modern standards of fire stations”
County Supervisor Jim Desmond said the county is also looking into the possibility of an around the clock health care facility.
“Health care has always, has been an issue as well for, you know, for as remote as Borrego is.”
Desmond said it’s too soon to say when these goals will start becoming a reality. But accepting the land is the first step.
Elaine Alfaro, KPBS News.
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AN OCEANSIDE NONPROFIT THAT PAIRS SPECIALLY TRAINED DOGS WITH WOUNDED SERVICE MEMBERS IS SET TO LOSE ITS FEDERAL FUNDING.
HEALTH REPORTER HEIDI DE MARCO EXPLAINS WHAT’S AT STAKE FOR THOSE WHO DEPEND ON THE PROGRAM.
PTSDDOGS
CHRIS
I’m a machine gunner in the United States Marine Corp.
That’s Chris Rojas. He signed up for a 6-year contract, but he’s leaving the marine corps early.
CHRIS
I have been diagnosed with mental illness disorders and, and struggling on the transition to get out.
His doctor told him a service dog might help.
SOT: That's Lucy, Striker…
About a month ago he joined Freedom Dogs. It’s a nonprofit that pairs service dogs with veterans and active-duty military living with PTSD or traumatic brain injuries.
CHRIS ROJAS
Getting told you, you’re getting out and you have all these, you know, mental health, you know, disabilities and issues you have to deal with. I mean, it’s definitely like, heartbreaking and to think you’re broken and, and kind of get hopeless.
It will take about two years for Rojas to be matched with his own service dog.
CHRIS ROJAS
I think this place really give us or give me at least a lot of hope. In that I can be okay out here and I'm seen as a human and not a robot. You know, I'm not just a number anymore.
Today he's learning how to take his future service dog to a restaurant
SOT: It’s an alert dog.
Peggy Poore is Executive director of Freedom Dogs. She says the organization’s federal funding will run out in December.
PEGGY POORE
We had a grant this past year for about $247,000 dollars. That was 42% of our operating budget. So it's a significant impact.
the Department of Defense grant that funds the program and others like it across the country is not in the defense spending bill being negotiated by Congress.
Freedom Dogs currently serves about 25 participants this year. Poore says without the federal funding it could drop by half.
She gets emotional thinking about all the wounded warriors she won't be able to help without the funding.
PEGGY POORE
They already struggle with their sense of value. Everything that they have sacrificed, everything that they have lived for, comes down to a number. And now to pull the funding for the service dogs that is often their last ditch effort is devastating.
Poore says the dogs offer something medicine can’t.
PEGGY POORE
The dogs give us a window to form a relationship and start to build that trust.
Getting paired with a service dog feels like a second chance for Rojas.
CHRIS ROJAS
I'm not scared anymore to transition out. I have hope that I can be back to normal and integrate in becoming like successful and, you know, a good member of society again.
Since our interview in the last month, Rojas says two of his friends and fellow Marines have taken their own lives.
One had just begun the Freedom Dogs program.
Rojas says the loss of his friends is starting to hit him. But the program gives him a space to be heard and training with the dogs is helping him cope.
For Poore, it’s a painful example of what’s on the line.
PEGGY POORE
Finding joy again, living life without fear. If you could put a price tag on that, it's way more than what Congress is battling on approving for us.
The nonprofit is now asking local donors to help keep the program running if funding goes away.
CHRIS
Everybody comes here excited to learn. Excited to have a program that’s backing them up. It gives that hope as well that there's hope on the outside. We're not alone.
Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.
TAG: IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW NEEDS HELP, CONTACT THE 988 SUICIDE & CRISIS LIFELINE BY CALLING OR TEXTING THE NUMBER 9-8-8.
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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 Lawrence K. Jackson. Thanks for listening and subscribing by doing so you are supporting public media and I thank you for that. Have a great day!
