More than 68K nationwide are spending the holiday in immigration detention
Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23RD
>>>> [THOUSANDS WILL SPEND CHRISTMAS IN IMMIGRATION DETENTION]More on ONE MAN’S STORY next. But first... the headlines…#######
WE ARE IN FOR A WET CHRISTMAS.
FORECASTERS EXPECT FOUR DAYS OF RAIN BEGINNING TODAY (TUESDAY). WITH POSSIBLE FLOODING AND THUNDERSTORMS TOMORROW (WEDNESDAY).
TRIPLE-A SPOKESPERSON ANLLEYN VENEGAS (ANNE-JANE VEH-NAY-GUS) SAYS THEY’RE ANTICIPATING A RECORD NUMBER OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIANS TO HIT THE WET ROADS FOR THE HOLIDAYS.
ALMOST 9-MILLION DRIVERS.
TRIPLE-A IS EXPECTING ABOUT 200-THOUSAND CALLS FOR ROADSIDE SERVICE STATEWIDE.
TRAVEL WX 2A :07 Traveling in bad weather conditions can be challenging and dangerous, especially for those who are not used to driving when it rains.
SHE ENCOURAGES DRIVERS TO MAKE SURE THEIR TIRES ARE PROPERLY INFLATED AND THEIR WIPERS ARE FRESH.
THE RAIN SHOULD STOP BY SATURDAY. LEAVING COOLER WEATHER IN THE 60S.
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IN THE LAST COUPLE YEARS, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF TALK ABOUT WHAT SOME HAVE CALLED A MASS EXODUS FROM CALIFORNIA
WELL I HAVE SOME NUMBERS FOR YOU THAT PUSH BACK AGAINST THAT NARRATIVE
THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE SAYS THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA GREW BY ABOUT 19 THOUSAND PEOPLE IN THE 2025 FISCAL YEAR
THIS IS THE THIRD YEAR IN A ROW THAT THE STATE’S POPULATION HAS INCREASED, FOLLOWING TWO CONSECUTIVE YEARS OF DECLINE DURING THE PANDEMIC
MEANWHILE SAN DIEGO IS THE SECOND MOST POPULOUS COUNTY IN THE STATE…
THERE ARE OVER 3 POINT 3 MILLION PEOPLE HERE
THAT'S ROUGHLY 11 THOUSAND RESIDENTS ADDED SINCE 20-24 FOR THE COUNTY
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POWAY'S CITY COUNCIL SET A DATE TO HOLD A SPECIAL ELECTION
IT WILL BE HELD ON JUNE 2ND THE SAME DAY AS THE STATE PRIMARY.
THAT WILL SAVE POWAY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ACCORDING TO ESTIMATES
AND WILL DRAW MORE VOTERS BECAUSE OF THE ALSO STATE PRIMARY
THE SPECIAL ELECTION IS TO FILL THE NOW-VACANT DISTRICT 2 SEAT PREVIOUSLY HELD BY TONY BLAINE
BLAINE RESIGNED SOON AFTER VOTERS RECALLED HIM
BLAINE IS CURRENTLY FACING FELONY CHARGES LIKE SOLICITING BRIBES AND PERJURY
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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MORE THAN 68-THOUSAND PEOPLE NATIONWIDE WILL SPEND CHRISTMAS IN AN IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTER.
REPORTER GUSTAVO SOLIS SAYS AMONG THEM IS AN UNDOCUMENTED SURFER WHO’S BEEN DETAINED IN OTAY MESA FOR MONTHS WITHOUT A BOND HEARING OR COURT DATE.
XMASDETENTION 1 (gs) 1:16 SOQ
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On August 24, Tambra Sanders-Kirk got a voicemail. It was her boyfriend of 18 years – Hagop Chirinian.
PARTNER 00:01:29:15“He said I got picked up by ICE I need to talk to you. I waited and waited by the phone all night and he didn’t call back until the next day.”
U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement agents arrested Chirinian at Camp Pendleton. He’d gone on a surf trip and accidentally wandered onto a beach within the military base.
It’s been more than 120 days since Chirinian’s arrest.
KPBS spoke with Chirinian earlier this month. He describes the Otay Mesa detention Center as a dark and depressing place.
SURF 00:15:09:17“ICE did not talk to me for the first two months. Nobody came and said a word for me for two and a half months actually.”
An ICE spokesperson did not immediately respond to a KPBS request for comment.
Chirinian says he came to the country legally more than 50 years ago from Lebanon. He was a permanent resident until 2005 – that’s when he lost legal status because of a felony drug conviction.
So, for the past 20 years Chirinian has checked in with ICE agents every year. He says he has a work permit, pays taxes and hasn’t gotten in any more trouble with the law. Here again is Sanders-Kirk
PARTNER 00:19:00:03“He’s done everything they’ve asked.”
She won’t be able to see Chirinian on Christmas Day.
Gustavo Solis, KPBS News
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AFTER RECENT ANTI-SEMITIC ATTACKS ON JEWS IN AUSTRALIA AND HERE IN CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGANS FROM DIVERSE COMMUNITIES CAME TOGETHER YESTERDAY (MONDAY) TO SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH JEWS IN THE COUNTY.
REPORTER JOHN CARROLL SAYS THEY LIT A SIX-FOOT MENORAH IN FRONT OF THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING.
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THE EVENT WAS ORGANIZED BY SAN DIEGO COUNTY ASSESSOR JORDAN MARKS, WHO IS JEWISH. FAITH LEADERS STOOD BESIDE ELECTED OFFICIALS TO DECRY ANTISEMITISM, AS WELL AS HATE DIRECTED AGAINST ANY MINORITY GROUP. MARKS SAYS FBI STATISTICS SHOW THAT, ALTHOUGH JEWS ONLY MAKE UP TWO-PERCENT OF THE AMERICAN POPULATION, THEY’RE THE TARGET OF 70-PERCENT OF HATE CRIMES ON A RELIGIOUS GROUP. MARKS SAYS THAT MADE THE SUPPORT OF DISTRICT ATTORNEY SUMMER STEPHAN AND SHERIFF KELLY MARTINEZ ESPECIALLY MEANINGFUL.
“It was invaluable to our community, to me and my family. As you think about dropping them off for a celebration, I worry a little less. I get to celebrate a little bit more Thanks to the community leaders and the elected leaders of San Diego County.”
HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR BEN MIDLER WAS ALSO AT THE EVENT. HE ECHOED THE WORDS OF SHERIFF MARTINEZ AND D-A STEPHAN IN URGING PEOPLE TO CONTACT LAW ENFORCEMENT IF THEY HEAR OR SEE SOMEONE TALKING ABOUT PLANNING AN ATTACK. JC KPBS NEWS.
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THE SOUTH BAY UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT HAS OFFICIALLY SELECTED TWO MORE SCHOOLS TO PERMANENTLY CLOSE IN THE COMING YEARS. THE DISTRICT HAD ALREADY IDENTIFIED ONE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TO CLOSE AT THE END OF THIS SCHOOL YEAR.
REPORTER JACOB AERE SAYS THE SCHOOL BOARD’S RECENT DECISION WAS MET WITH SIGNIFICANT PUSHBACK.
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Facing a 40 percent decline in enrollment over the past 15 years … and the loss of state funding that comes with it … South Bay Unified School District has added Sunnyslope Elementary and Berry Elementary to the list of schools they will permanently close in the near future.
In May, the district said Central Elementary School would close at the end of this academic year.
The district says it will help to deal with ongoing financial pressures.
Vanessa Barrera is the president of Southwest Teachers Association, who represents educators for the district. They're opposed to the closures.
“Closing two additional schools is going to have a very negative impact on not just our students, but the community in general.”
Sunnyslope is expected to close at the end of the 2028-2029 school year … and Berry after the 2031–32 school year.
South Bay Unified declined an interview and did not immediately answer specific questions about the school closure plan. JA KPBS News.
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NAVIGATING STRESS AROUND THE HOLIDAYS CAN BE CHALLENGING– ESPECIALLY WITH ADDED FINANCIAL PRESSURES.
JACOB SADAN [SUHDAN] IS A THERAPIST AT SHARP MESA VISTA…HE JOINED MIDDAY EDITION HOST JADE HINDMON TO SHARE HIS THOUGHTS ON MANAGING OUR MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.
HDAYSTRESS 1 (midday) (4:03) SOQ: “be really helpful.”
A big theme this holiday season is expectations. Uh we might have a a very specific idea of how we want this time of year to look and to go. Uh but is that something that's that's come up a lot with the the client you work with? Yeah, absolutely.
[00:17]
Expectations about what the holidays should look like, what they have looked like, and what we think that they should look like this season, uh really get into people's heads and in the way of them experiencing an authentic and good holiday season. Uh, often times people come in and and they're stressed out about the way that things have been in the past, family roles and dynamics, especially when they think about going home to visit loved ones and the different things that that can bring up and that can really really cause them trouble.
[00:45]
And so what we often try and do at Sharp Mesa Vista encourage them to pause and ask themselves, what do I want this holiday season to look like? And then again, what do I want this holiday season to look like really? And and that moment where they ask themselves, what do I really really care about, what do I really value, what do I really treasure and want to experience during this time, can bring a lot of clarity and can start to just um shed some of those shoulds that they may have placed on themselves or that have been placed on them by other people. Hm.
[01:41]
Well, now financial stress is also a major factor here, especially in San Diego where, you know, the cost of living is is so high. how has that come up in conversation for you and your clients? Yeah, it relates right back to expectations, um, things that we think that we should purchase for others. uh money that we think that we should spend is really a big problem for many people. We encourage people to kind of sit down and ask themselves what matters most um in my personal life.
[02:10]
If I think back to the gifts that have been most meaningful to me, it's been something small, usually insignificant, but that really says that the person knows me and and understands me. And so often times people People think that we have to go out and buy these lavish gifts for people and that this is going to show how much I care about them and and that's that's not always the case.
Yeah, it's it's not so much about the commercialization, right, of the holiday. You know, let's let's talk through some possible scenarios here. Starting with the holiday party. Say someone feels overwhelmed with all the small talk, what should they do? It's a great question. question.
[03:30]
Um, let's imagine that we're going to a holiday party and we're feeling anxious beforehand. First, we want to give ourselves a moment to pause and ask ourselves, what's coming up for me? How do I feel about going to this event? Uh, and even that that pause beforehand where we can check in with ourselves can really start to reduce the anxiety. People often assume that if I focus or pay attention to whatever is bothering me, it's actually going to make it worse.
[03:56]
And what we find in psychotherapy and what we we see at Sharp Mesa Vista, Is that when we look at the issue, it actually becomes a lot more manageable. And so when people think about going to these holiday parties, we want to pause and we want to ask ourselves, what am I thinking about as I go into this? What kind of experience would I like to have? Are there things that I may have done in the past or ways of interacting in which that didn't feel comfortable for me and no longer work for me? And what would I like it to look like this time?
[04:24]
And then scheduling some time to debrief afterwards, finding somebody who's safe, whether it's your therapist or a best friend or a confidant who we can debrief with afterwards, process the experience for ourselves and then kind of figure out what worked and didn't work.
Yeah, well, okay, so here's another one. There's also this, you know, the the dreaded conversation at the dinner table for some folks, you know, maybe you have some relatives whose opinions you disagree with. How do you navigate that delicate social situation? Yeah, uh this brings up a lot lot of anxiety for a lot of folks.
[06:14]
Something that can be very helpful is kind of kind of having our nos and our yeses ready. An example of that would be I'm not going to be talking about politics this year, but I would love to hear about your kids' soccer. And so having a a couple of responses ready about hey, you know, actually I don't want to talk about that, but I would love to hear about this.
[06:40]
So I'd still love to have a great connection with you and a conversation station with you, but these topics, you know, they're not going to work for me. And so that that kind of one two and having that ready can be really helpful.
TAG: THAT WAS THERAPIST JACOB SADAN, SPEAKING WITH K-P-B-S MIDDAY EDITION HOST JADE HINDMON.
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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!
