Immigration lawyers turn to law initially meant to protect against a king
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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17TH
>>>> IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ARE TURNING TO A LAW THE FOUNDING FATHERS ESTABLISHED TO PROTECT AGAINST A KING. More on that next. But first... the headlines…
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THE CONSERVATIVE MAJORITY ON THE GROSSMONT UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD DREW HARSH CRITICISM FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS AT THEIR MEETING THURSDAY … AFTER REFUSING TO CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AFFIRMING PROTECTIONS OF IMMIGRANTS.
STUDENTS, TEACHERS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS RALLIED FOR THE RESOLUTION. AMONG THEM WAS WEST HILLS HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR LILLIAN ZEHNDER.
GUHISSUES 2A (0:16) “The biggest thing for me right now is the needing for students here to be welcome and to feel safe, and I don’t feel like with the current mindset of a lot of the board members, that’s something that can be done without a little bit of pressure and influence”
THE RESOLUTION INTRODUCED BY TRUSTEE CHRIS FITE CALLED FOR DISTRICT-WIDE RESOURCES AND TRAINING ON IMMIGRANT RIGHTS. IT ALSO WOULD HAVE CREATED A SYSTEM FOR REPORTING ICE ACTIVITY.
FITE SAYS HE MAY TRY TO BRING ANOTHER VERSION OF THE RESOLUTION TO THE BOARD. BUT GIVEN THE CURRENT ATMOSPHERE, A DIFFERENT RESULT SEEMS UNLIKELY.
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ABOUT A THOUSAND BARISTAS ACROSS 40 CITIES INCLUDING HERE IN SAN DIEGO WALKED OFF THE JOB LATE LAST WEEK
THE BARISTAS ARE REPRESENTED BY STARBUCKS WORKERS UNITED AND THE ACTION WAS NAMED THE ‘RED CUP REBELLION’ BECAUSE IT LANDED ON RED CUP DAY
TYPICALLY, RED CUP DAY IS ONE OF THE BUSIEST DAYS OF THE YEAR FOR STARBUCK’S BARISTAS. IT’S WHEN CUSTOMERS CAN GET A REUSABLE RED CUP WHEN THEY ORDER CERTAIN HOLIDAY DRINKS.
THE UNION SAYS THE ACTION WAS SPARKED BY THE COMPANY’S REFUSAL TO OFFER NEW PROPOSALS TO ADDRESS ITS DEMANDS, INCLUDING HIGHER WAGES AND BETTER STAFFING
A STARBUCKS REP SAID THE UNION REPRESENTS 4 PERCENT OF ITS PARTNERS AND ANY AGREEMENT NEEDS TO REFLECT THE REALITY THAT STARBUCKS ALREADY OFFERS MORE THAN 30 DOLLARS AN HOUR ON AVERAGE IN PAY AND BENEFITS FOR ITS HOURLY WORKERS
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THE CALIFORNIA OFFICE OF TRAFFIC SAFETY IS GIVING THE SAN DIEGO POLICE DEPARTMENT A GRANT
ITS AIMED AT REDUCING THE NUMBER OF SERIOUS INJURIES AND DEATHS ON OUR ROADS
IT WILL SUPPORT D-U-I CHECKPOINTS, ENFORCEMENT OF CALIFORNIA’S HANDS-FREE CELL PHONE LAW AND OFFICER TRAINING
FUNDS WILL ALSO BE USED TO BOLSTER PROGRAMS FOCUSED ON BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN SAFETY
THAT INCLUDES COMMUNITY BIKE AND WALK “AUDITS” FOR STREETS WITH A HIGH RATE OF CRASHES
THE GRANT PROGRAMS RUN THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2026
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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AS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CONTINUES ITS MASS DEPORTATION CAMPAIGN, IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ARE INCREASINGLY TURNING TO A LAW THE FOUNDING FATHERS ESTABLISHED TO PROTECT AGAINST A KING. REPORTER GUSTAVO SOLIS EXPLAINS WHY THE LAWS USE, HAS SKYROCKETED IN RECENT MONTHS
HABEASONE (gs) 4:10 SOQ
Immigrant detention centers across the country are already overcrowded. And the Trump administration remains intent on meeting its goal of arresting 3,000 people each day.
“People are sleeping on the floor, there isn’t enough to eat, people with medical conditions aren’t getting the necessary attention.
That’s Cassandra Lopez – a San Diego-based immigration lawyer. One of her clients has a serious heart condition.
“…They don’t put him on a low-salt, low-fat diet. You know, these kinds of things that if he were out of custody he’d be doing for himself or his partner would be doing for him.”
Lawyers like Lopez say the U.S. immigration system has never been easy to navigate. But now something different is happening. People with no criminal records who would normally be clear-cut cases for parole or bond are getting denied.
They say it’s being done by design … part of a broader strategy aimed at boosting deportation numbers.
“They’re using detention to make it harder for people to fight their cases, to fight their deportation.”
In recent months, the lawyers have started to fight back … with lawsuits that before this year were rarely used in immigration cases. They’re known as Writ of Habeas Corpus Petitions. Justin Brooks is a law professor at the University of San Diego.
“Habeas Corpus means release the body in Latin. The idea is when someone’s being unconstitutionally held in prison or incarcerated in any kind of facility. There is a petition you file in order to get them released.”
Habeas Corpus dates back to the Revolutionary period – when British troops conducted mass sweeps of people’s homes without probable cause and threw colonists in jail without granting them hearings for their release.
“Our constitution really reflects exactly what was going on in the colonies and the concerns that the Founding Fathers had about a new government having the same kinds of powers and not having restraints on them. Habeas Corpus is about that.”
And now – almost 250 years later, lawyers see these petitions as a last-ditch effort to free their clients in detention centers. They say they don’t really have any other choice.
Consider that in the U.S. District Court covering San Diego and Imperial counties, lawyers filed just one Habeas petition in January and one in February. But data show the same court received nearly FORTY petitions in September and more than SIXTY in October.
Nationwide, the number is over three thousand.
“So as far as other options on how to get our clients out, there really aren’t any.”
Narea Sholl-Woods is a San Diego-based immigration lawyer. She’s filed several Habeas petitions.
“Even though the judge issued the bond, my client’s family was about to go online and pay the bond. ICE can file this form to automatically stay the judge’s order and prevent my client from being released.”
People who follow the immigration court system – including retired immigration judge Dana Marks – say this is not normal.
“In 50 years, this has never occurred on this level.”
She says this speaks to how the Trump administration has re-written the rules of immigration detention. And made the system more unfair.
“It breaks my heart as a lawyer who believes in the rule of law that the law is being trampled and ignored and distorted and abused.”
KPBS reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice with questions regarding lawyers’ claims and the surge in Habeas petitions. A DOJ spokesperson responded with the following statement:
“President Trump and the Department of Justice will continue to enforce the law as it is written to defend and protect the safety and security of the American people.”
Gustavo Solis, KPBS News##########
THIS NOVEMBER IS THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH.
RUTH ANN THORN IS THE FIRST AND ONLY NATIVE AMERICAN BUSINESS OWNER IN THE GASLAMP QUARTER. SHE SAYS THE MONTH HELPS COMBAT COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT NATIVE HISTORY.
NATIVEHERITAGE 2A (:24)
“For 23,000 years, we bartered and traded with people from all over the world. We learned from their culture, they learned from ours, we took ideas from ancient civilizations, and we blended it within in our civilization. And so the idea that we just got discovered by somebody who got lost at sea and thought they landed on India, um it was really not accurate. “
ALL MONTH, EVENTS ACROSS THE COUNTY CELEBRATE THE DIVERSE CULTURES OF THE 18 TRIBES THAT CALL THIS REGION HOME.
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ALRIGHT SDNN LISTENERS, TODAY IS YET ANOTHER EPISODE OF THE ‘THE POD BEHIND THE PKG’
PKG IS NEWS-SLANG FOR A NEWS STORY. THE PREMISE FOR THIS SEGMENT IS SIMPLE: IDENTIFY STANDOUT PIECES AND STORIES FROM MY COLLEAGUES THAT SPARK IMPACT, INSPIRATION OR SOME SENSE OF FEELING!
JOINING ME THIS WEEK REGARDING HIS PACKAGE WITH THE HEADLINE “FROM HOUSEKEEPING TO HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS: UCSD HEALTH FILLS VACANCIES VIA PAID TRAINING PROGRAM” IS REPORTER JACOB AERE
(0:00) What's up airman? How you doing? Hey, I'm good. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Good. No problem (0:04) I'm excited to have you on here, man (0:06) I want to before we even get into your package. I want to talk to you just briefly about your career maybe before here, right? (0:13) Like you started off your career.
You spend some time as a sports announcer reporter now doing general assignment (0:19) And I feel like one of your standout pieces soccer alla franterra was sports focused and sports based (0:25) Is that by accident or do you kind of now as a general assignment reporter? (0:31) Find sports stories to kind of still cure that that love for sports. It's a good question (0:37) For me, I think sports has always been a passion (0:40) So I always try and find ways to weave that into my own reporting (0:43) I do try and go beyond the box score if you will with a lot of my reporting (0:47) So whether that's focusing on the culture of sports or maybe issues within politics gender (0:53) Health these kinds of things. That's where I'm really drawn to so yeah, soccer alla franterra was a a deep dive into the growth of soccer culture in our region (1:01) So on purpose definitely pursuing my passion (1:04) There and I'm happy that we were able to do some follow-up coverage on it as well (1:08) Yeah, talk to me about that when you talk to people in the region do they still seem like true soccer fans to you? (1:13) I think San Diego has its own unique thing.
I mean just where we are geographically here (1:18) of course, Mexico is very I mean we share a border with (1:22) Tijuana it's it's sister cities (1:24) So we have this kind of unique blend of soccer culture (1:27) That's both American and you could argue to some degree like European soccer culture (1:32) But then you have this uniquely like you know, Mexican (1:36) Soccer culture and they come together here in a beautiful way absolutely absolutely once again Jacob air with us (1:41) Transitioning now to your piece to me when I think about the package the first word that comes to mind is bootstrapping (1:46) And the idea that people throw this term around and they say like all just work harder, Jacob air (1:52) Just bootstrap, you know, why can't you if you're working 60 to 70 hours and in this in this hospital and you're the janitor (1:59) Why can't you just bootstrap and become a professional but to hear from people in your story say that those pathways (2:07) Don't have trajectory. They don't have the ability to then they're kind of stuck in there (2:12) I thought that was cool to see from a professional running a program and kind of engage with a program say like, you know (2:20) These pathways being a janitor you have people who are housekeepers food services workers (2:25) They does it does not have much upward trajectory, especially when we talk about hospitals, right? (2:30) Like the people who are doing medical get to the top quickest. Can you talk to me about when you even first found out about this program? (2:36) Yeah, so I actually found out about this program (2:39) Simply through an email that I received I got a little bit of background on it and it really peaked my curiosity (2:44) I mean the thing that really stood out to me was the fact that (2:48) Folks who are traditionally maybe lower wage earners in roles like you said, you know housekeeping janitors (2:54) There was a program that was actually paying them to potentially, you know, move up the pay scale (2:59) So I had some back and forth.
I had this vision (3:02) So, you know, these are people whether they're you know immigrants or whether they're just (3:07) You're typical everyday San Diegan who maybe doesn't have a college degree (3:12) finding a pathway (3:14) Partially through luck because they had had to have worked at UC San Diego health (3:18) But then you know, they applied from that point and they worked their way up from (3:24) housekeeping roles and now they have this (3:27) Pathway to actually earn a lot more money. Yes, they're making more money now, but the future is really what I was told (3:33) Was the the best part of this program for a lot of them? (3:35) You know, they can continue to step up one tier after another for future jobs, and you got to keep in mind (3:41) I mean this isn't like just pure altruism on the part of UC San Diego health. There's a benefit to them, too (3:46) They're looking for people who not only know the facility, but maybe have familiarity with (3:52) Similar tools or similar tasks.
So they weren't getting the applicants. They wanted they did have a shortfall for this sterile processing technician program (4:00) for these jobs that is (4:03) And they said why don't we actually you know take this opportunity to look within our own (4:08) Within our own facility within our own department within our own (4:12) Company here because there's people who probably are doing similar jobs that are qualified and sure enough (4:17) It's there's no guarantee when you join the program you'll get the job (4:19) But in that first cohort there was you know ten applicants (4:23) They all went through the program and every single one of them actually got the job at the end of it (4:28) And was there any examples of someone maybe who did the program was successful in it as part of the first cohort who wants to pick up some (4:35) Over time shifts still housekeeping. That's a great question.
Hustlers in the group. Well, so May the main character of the story (4:41) She was saying it's been great. She actually chooses to work nights now.
She says it's better for her her family life (4:48) She's able to kind of interact with her daughter more during the daytime and she's just clearly a hustler a hard worker (4:54) And then she goes to work at night (4:56) She says as the holidays are coming up because you know cost of living cost of goods now is quite expensive (5:02) We talk about things like inflation. She's planning maybe pick up some extra shifts around the holiday. She said (5:08) You know, she's working a lot closer to 40 hours a week (5:11) But maybe 40 to 50 is probably her standard week (5:14) But yeah, she did mention picking up some extra shifts as we head into the holiday season here (5:19) Did they mention any potential changes or improvements to the next cohort another great question? So (5:24) Yes, they they said that they haven't ironed out all of the details per se they they do have you know the next 10 people chosen (5:32) They potentially could be shifting where they do some of the training (5:36) So last year it happened at southwestern college.
They might actually be doing some of that classroom portion somewhere else (5:42) They're not sure yet. They'd also said that the (5:45) The in-person training which happens in that same lab or at least it did last year that might be happening at the Hillcrest site (5:52) They're not sure yet. It'll be at one of the UC San Diego Health medical facilities (5:57) So some changes there.
They've learned of course from their past experience, but it was largely successful (6:03) I mean they did graduate all 10 like I said no guarantees this next 10 group applicants (6:08) They might not all get through but they've made some tweaks along the way (6:12) But people are still getting paid in full and that's the main thing got you that's super important (6:16) And then maybe you know people from the second cohort cohort or third cohort would be trained by me (6:21) Maybe she'd be the one showing them. It's a great point. She'd be training the next person (6:25) That's a great point for the future groups once again.
This was Jacob air with us on SDNN's pod behind the package
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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!
