Free lawyers for people in immigration court
Good Morning, I’m Matt Hoffman, in for Debbie Cruz….it’s Tuesday, November 14th.
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The county has the first program in the nation to offer free lawyers to people in immigration court. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
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The weather is expected to be dry and warm today in all parts of the county, but that won’t last long.
Two atmospheric rivers are headed for the coast of California and Mexico, and that means San Diego is expected to get its first rainstorm of the season this week.
Atmospheric rivers bring dense tropical moisture from the pacific ocean to our coastline that falls as rain and snow.
Alex Tardy with the National Weather Service says San Diego County can expect 1 to one-and-a-half inches of rain this week, mostly tomorrow (Wednesday) and Friday.
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If you haven't filed your taxes, there’s still time.
You now have until Thursday to file your tax returns and pay any remaining federal income taxes owed for last year.
The I-R-S extended the deadline for those living in counties impacted by this year’s storms, including here in San Diego County.
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After a loss at Colorado State, where the SD-SU football team's late comeback fell short, coach Brady Hoke announced yesterday (Monday) that he’s retiring.
The news was a surprise, even with a disappointing season.
Some students on campus said they think it’s time for a culture change.
Like Noah Lyons, who says the football program has gotten predictable and other teams are capitalizing on that.
“I don't think it's anything personal. I think it's just needing the team to succeed and try something new.”
Hoke will finish the season with the last two games, this week at San Jose State, and next week at home against Fresno State.
SD-SU is expected to start the search for a head coach immediately, in hopes of hiring one by next month when the recruiting period starts.
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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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San Diego County is the first in the country to offer free lawyers to people in immigration court.
Border reporter Gustavo Solis says the program is making a big difference.
Imagine standing in front of a judge and having to represent yourself in court – in a language you don’t speak and under a legal system you know very little about. What’s at stake? Your right to continue living in this country. That’s exactly what immigration court is like for thousands of people facing deportation. Shows like Law & Order give us the basics on our criminal justice system – defendants get a free lawyer, and everyone is presumed innocent unless they’re convicted. But those rights don’t exist in immigration court. BARDIS “These are life or death proceedings of tremendous gravity done in this crazy sort of fast food setting where you don’t get a lawyer you don’t get right to access evidence; Bardis Vakili is a civil rights and immigration lawyer. “You have to go up against an immigration lawyer from ICE … So, the chips are stacked against folks.” Vakili says deportation cases are very difficult – especially if a client is locked up in a detention center. BARDIS “From within the prison, the ICE jail, there Is no access to the internet so you can’t gather information about your case, you don’t get appointed a lawyer, you can’t work and make money so you can’t really hire a lawyer.” But there’s a county program that’s trying to make immigration courts fairer. San Diego County’s Immigrant Rights Legal Defense Program uses taxpayer dollars to give immigrants access to free legal representation. The program started last April and costs about $4 million a year. Data shows that it’s having an impact. The number of people with legal representation has more than doubled since the start of the program. And immigrants who have lawyers are five times less likely to be given deportation orders – compared to people who had to represent themselves. For immigration lawyers, like Lauren Cusitello, that stat is kind of obvious. “Well, let’s start with language. Any evidence that you present to an immigration court has to be presented in English and any application or form that the court generates is written in English and has to be completed in English.” Imagine doing all of that without an attorney. And that’s not even mentioning the legal argument you’d have to make.“The burden is on that applicant to prove that they’re eligible. So unlike a criminal court where we all know the government has the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, in immigration court it is almost always the other way around.” In October County Supervisor Joel Anderson tried to place limits on who could be eligible for legal representation. Saying people with convictions should be excluded. ANDERSON “We’ve got to be thoughtful in our approach and we have to draw definite lines. All I’m asking today is that we have guidelines .” But dozens of advocates opposed his plan. Arguing in a county meeting it would violate the spirit of universal representation. Paulina “Many of these individuals have lived in San Diego for most of their lives. They have jobs in the community, family, friends, and people who support them.” Anderson’s proposal failed. Paulina Reyes i s a lawyer with the Immigrant Defenders Law Center. She says there’s a misconception that people facing deportation aren’t members of our community. “For us San Diegans, this is my neighbor, this is my fellow church member that is going through this process, and it affects everyone.” Reyes says deportations tear families apart. And that impacts all of us. “We’ve seen it too, on so many cases where one of the parents might be deported to other parts of the world completely and then that leaves a single parent alone with their children.” And Vakili argues that giving free legal representation can directly benefit U.S. citizens. BARDIS “The other thing I don’t think people understand is that sometimes whether the person is even an American is in question. There’s cases were sometimes they detain people that they think are a U.S. citizen and that person is a U.S. citizen.” So far, lawyers in the program have been assigned 868 cases. Most of them are still going through the court process. About 10 percent of the completed cases ended in deportations – much lower than the national average. Gustavo Solis, KPBS News.
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Many of California's local governments are at least thinking about staffing up for climate change related challenges.
Environment reporter Erik Anderson finds local staffing could be a key.
California’s municipalities are expected to play a critical role in the state’s decarbonization effort, but local governments are at various stages of readiness. That’s in a report from the non-partisan think tank Next 10. Founder Noel Perry says local municipalities will play an important role as federal funds flow to the state. Noel Perry, founder Next 10 “Really, so much of climate action happens at the local level, at a city, town and county level. And we understood that there’s going to be significant funds coming into California from the Inflation Reduction Act and the infrastructure law that President Biden instituted.” Researchers found only about half of the respondents to a statewide survey have or are working on Climate Action Plans. Poway is the only San Diego municipality without one. Erik Anderson KPBS News.
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Coming up.... How a new A-I tool can find and stop the spread of wildfires.
“It can give us information and time is fire, so as soon as we can get that information, the better our response can be.”
We’ll have that and more, just after the break.
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ALERT California is now using A-I to identify potential wildfires, and it’s been receiving national recognition.
Its tool was recently voted one of the top inventions of 20-23 by Time Magazine.
It monitors and analyzes data from over one thousand video cameras placed across the state.
The A-I technology was released this September, and is a collaboration between UC-SD and CAL FIRE.
The director of ALERT California, Neil Driscoll…. And Suzanne Leininger, who is an intelligence specialist with the San Diego Unit of CAL FIRE, joined my colleague Jade Hindmon to talk about the tool.
NEIL, congratulations on having Alert California make the list of Time magazine's top inventions. Can you help us understand the technology and why it is so groundbreaking?
How is artificial intelligence used in ALERT California? And how is machine learning playing into that?
And one of the groups involved with Alert California is CAL FIRE. SUZAN- Can you talk about how this new technology is helping CAL Fire?
Can you talk about the impact this technology has had in the field? Has the time to find potential fires gone down as a result of using it?
TAG: That was Suzanne Leininger with the San Diego Unit of CAL FIRE, and Neil Driscoll, the director of ALERT California, speaking with KPBS Midday Edition host, Jade Hindmon.
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Comic-Con Museum recently opened a trio of new exhibits.
One of them looks to The Godfather of Coloring, Steve Oliff and his 45-year career coloring comics.
Arts reporter Beth Accomando explains how the exhibit traces the evolution of comic book color.
“From Big Dots to the Digital Universe” is an exhibit celebrating the pioneering comic book colorist Steve Oliff. In simple terms, a colorist adds color to black and white line art. But Oliff says readers might not always appreciate the impact of a colorist’s work. STEVE OLIFF I call color the silent soundtrack, because you can tell the story underneath, and people don't even think about it. It's just like they're looking at the art, they're reading the story, but the color actually enhances the storytelling. Since the mid 1970s, Oliff has enhanced tens of thousands of pages of comics from The Incredible Hulk to Akira. He’s also seen the tools of his trade change as comics went from a 4-color newspaper press to digital printing. STEVE OLIFF My show is what I'm hoping is an educational show… It's the evolution of comic book coloring. Oliff’s career provides the perfect canvas for appreciating the art of the colorist and how the process of creating comics has changed over the decades. The exhibit will run through next August at the Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park. 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. Join us again tomorrow for the day’s top stories. I’m Matt Hoffman. Thanks for listening and have a great Tuesday.
