People are being detained at green card interviews
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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25TH>>>> [ICE IS NOW DETAINING PEOPLE AT THEIR GREEN CARD APPOINTMENTS… ]More on that next. But first... the headlines….#######
AFTER BEING TURNED AWAY TWICE LAST MONTH, THE FOUR DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS OF SAN DIEGO’S CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION WERE FINALLY ALLOWED TO INSPECT A FEDERAL DETENTION CENTER ON YESTERDAY MORNING
THE CENTER IS IN THE BASEMENT OF DOWNTOWN’S EDWARD J. SCHWARTZ FEDERAL COURTHOUSE.
THE REPRESENTATIVES SAY THEY WERE FOLLOWING UP ON REPORTS THAT MORE THAN A HUNDRED PEOPLE WERE HELD THERE AT TIMES, AND THAT CONDITIONS WERE SUB-PAR.
AFTER THEIR INSPECTION, THEY SAID THEY ONLY SAW THREE PEOPLE BEING DETAINED. THEY SAY THE FACILITY WAS CLEAN, BUT STARK AND COLD. REPRESENTATIVE JUAN VARGAS SAYS THEY TALKED TO ONE MAN, A PLUMBER, WHO SAYS HE WAS ARRESTED WHILE HE WAS WORKING.
DETENTIONS 2A :11
“He’s really disoriented at the moment because he was just arrested. He went to work. He has two children. He had to call his wife and say ‘Hey I’m arrested.’”
VARGAS SAYS THE MAN BEGAN CRYING AFTER TELLING THE DELEGATION HE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO HIM.
THE REPRESENTATIVES SAY THEY’LL BE BACK FOR FUTURE OVERSIGHT VISITS.
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THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, THERE’S A NEW PASS THAT WILL GRANT YOU ACCESS INTO SAN DIEGO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, WITHOUT A PLANE TICKET
IT’S A FREE, ELECTRONIC PASS CALLED A ‘SAN PASS’
YOU COULD GET ONE TO SAY GOODBYE TO SOMEONE DEPARTING OR WELCOME SOMEONE WHO IS ARRIVING AT THE AIRPORT
THOSE INTERESTED CAN APPLY FOR A PASS UP TO SEVEN DAYS IN ADVANCE AT S-A-N DOT ORG AND SEARCH ‘SAN PASS’
PASSES ARE LIMITED AND ISSUED ON A FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED BASIS
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IMAGINE BEING AROUND SO LONG, THAT YOUR AGE CAN ONLY BE ROUGHLY ESTIMATED
THAT WAS THE REALITY FOR GRAMMA, A GALAPAGOS TORTOISE BELIEVED TO BE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-ONE YEARS OLD
SHE PASSED AWAY LATE LAST WEEK WITH A GROUP OF WILDLIFE CARE SPECIALISTS AT HER SIDE
ACCORDING TO THE UNION-TRIBUNE, ZOO STAFF HAD BEEN CLOSELY MONITORING AN ONGOING BONE-CONDITION RELATED TO ADVANCED AGE, AND ULTIMATELY MADE THE DIFFICULT DECISION TO EUTHANIZE GRAMMA
THE ZOO SAID SHE QUOTE “...QUIETLY TOUCHED THE LIVES OF COUNTLESS PEOPLE OVER NEARLY A CENTURY”
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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ICE AGENTS IN SAN DIEGO ARE ARRESTING PEOPLE AT THEIR GREEN CARD INTERVIEWS. REPORTER GUSTAVO SOLIS SAYS THEY ARE MOSTLY F PARENTS AND SPOUSES OF U.S. CITIZENS. PEOPLE WHO HAVE JOBS, PAY TAXES AND DO NOT HAVE CRIMINAL RECORDS.
GREENCARDS 1 (gs) 1:07 SOQ
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This year the Trump administration has targeted groups of immigrants who – under previous administrations – were not enforcement priorities. From revoking student visas to arresting people in immigration courts.
Now, ICE agents are arresting people at their green card appointments.
“These are people who have been vetted and that are in a different position than most people – I would say a better position than most immigrants. They are clearly eligible for lawful permanent residence.”
Tessa Cabrera is an immigration lawyer in San Diego. ICE arrested her client – the father of a U.S. citizen with special needs – on November 12.
“...He has U.S. citizen children, specifically a 17-year-old who he’s the primary caregiver of who has autism and really depends on him physically, mentally, emotionally. And they just didn’t care. They just took him.”
Cabrera says this new tactic is particularly disturbing because these people have already gone through background checks and extensive vetting.
“So it really is shocking and horrifying that this is the next level that we’re getting to.”
In a statement, ICE ignored criticisms about the necessity of these arrests. Instead the agency said it is committed to enforcing immigration law.
Gustavo Solis, KPBS News
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THE EL CENTRO POLICE DEPARTMENT HAS RELEASED NEW INFORMATION ABOUT A POLICE SHOOTING THAT TOOK PLACE LAST MONTH. WHEN OFFICERS SHOT AND KILLED FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD MIKEY JIMENEZ [hee-MEN-nez] OF BRAWLEY.
IMPERIAL VALLEY REPORTER KORI SUZUKI SAYS MIKEY’S FAMILY IS CALLING FOR A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FROM OUTSIDE THE IMPERIAL VALLEY TO INVESTIGATE THE SHOOTING.
AND A WARNING, THIS STORY CONTAINS MENTIONS OF DEATH AND POLICE VIOLENCE.
ELCENTRO (4:28) SOQ
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CHANTING SOT
It’s raining in El Centro on Saturday. As family and friends of Mikey Jimenez gather in the parking lot outside Volcano Asian Restaurant on East Main Street. The place where police officers shot and killed Mikey last month.
Mikey’s family members share happy memories. His sister Julissa says he played a lot of Fortnight and loved cooking seafood.
“My last memory with my son it was before he went out the door.”
Alma Ureña is Mikey’s mother. She says he spent a lot of time with his family. On the night Mikey was killed, they were at their home in Brawley, watching a movie on Netflix with his baby brother.
“We were just right there playing around, tickling each other, you know, just playing around like a family. And maybe like 30 minutes later he went out the door to go spend time with his friends and not even an hour later he died.”
Most of what we know about what happened next comes from a highly edited compilation of body camera footage from two officers. That was put together by the El Centro Police Department.
It was Sunday, October 5th. Mikey had ended up in El Centro. He was behind the wheel of a white Hyundai, in a parking lot behind the restaurant.
In their video, El Centro police say their license plate reader surveillance system had flagged the Hyundai as stolen. Here’s Deputy Police Chief Rene McNish, talking over the video.
“Mark police units moved and positioned themselves in the driveway with their red and blue light bar illuminated. “
In the edited footage, you can see two police cars pull up outside the restaurant. Three officers block the exit from the parking lot. The white Hyundai comes around the corner and moves towards them. Within seconds, the officers start shooting.
Police argue the officers were trying to prevent the car from fleeing. They also say Mikey accelerated towards the exit with two officers in his path. McNish again.
“In this still frame image from one of the body worn camera of the officers, you can see that an El Central Police Department officer is directly in the path of the vehicle.”
Mikey’s family and their lawyers see the video differently. They argue Mikey was moving to surrender — and was already slowing down when police opened fire. They say officers fired 29 shots at the car.
Marcus Bourassa [BRR-uh-sah] is one of the family’s attorneys.
“A 14-year-old in a panic state had the wherewithal to make the right choice and turn himself in. And doing so meant that the officers had an easier shot. That is the tragic irony of this shooting. The young man made the right choice and the officers killed him.”
The El Centro Police Department did not agree to an interview by KPBS’s deadline.
Mikey’s family is Mexican, making him one of a disproportionate number of Latino people seriously injured or killed by police in California.
The Imperial County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the shooting. And whether to bring criminal charges against the officers. But Mikey’s family is calling for a law enforcement agency from outside the Imperial Valley, like the California Attorney General, to do the investigation instead.
They say the DA works too closely with police in El Centro to independently investigate the officers’ conduct.
“it is no secret that all the law enforcement agencies here are not only collaborative partners”
Gilberto Manzanarez is an advocate with Valle Imperial Resiste and a former City Councilmember in Calexico, just eleven miles down the road. He says many law enforcement officers have close relationships here.
“Remember, we're a small community. All these people not only work with each other, but they live with each other outside of work. You see them in their own private houses, they invite them to their holiday parties, and meet their families.”
District Attorney George Marquez says the State Attorney General’s office has already declined to take up the case. He says his office hasn’t talked about transferring the case to another county.
Back outside the restaurant, Alma Ureña says her son might have deserved to face some consequences. But she says she doesn’t understand the amount of force officers used.
“He deserved to maybe get charges put against him or go to Juve or something like that, but he didn't deserve to die. He just did it. He was 14 years old. He was a little kid.”
If the officers don’t face criminal charges, Ureña and her attorneys say they’re planning to file a civil lawsuit against the city.
In El Centro, Kori Suzuki, KPBS News.
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POLITICAL ANALYSTS AND SAN DIEGANS HAVE TOLD KPBS OVER THE LAST YEAR THAT NO ONE LEADER, NO ONE INSTITUTION WILL RESCUE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. IT’S UP TO THE PEOPLE. IF THAT’S THE CASE, WHAT TRAITS MAKE AMERICANS GOOD CITIZENS?
AMITA SHARMA DECIDED TO EXPLORE THAT QUESTION AND JOINED DEBBIE CRUZ TO TALK ABOUT IT.
CITIZENSHIP (AS) (4:38) (....Amita, thank you. Thank you.)
Q. Amita, what are some key traits of a good citizen?
The traits go way beyond voting and apply to each of us, as community members - from natural-born citizens to green card holders to asylum seekers to children. Even if we can’t legally vote. The traits include what we learned in elementary school civics: mutual respect, resolving differences through compromise and empathy as well as accepting OUR differences. Good citizenship for Eleanor Roosevelt meant seeking knowledge, cultivating curiosity and critical thinking. And of course…responsibility. In fact, she quoted her uncle Theodore Roosevelt who said the blame for bad government does not solely rest with politicians but also on citizens who are too indifferent to “get better men in office.” And finally, Ben Franklin’s version of good citizenship was civic mindedness, joining groups to promote the common good. It’s that notion of public service that San Diego resident Justine Sullivan says is tougher in 2025 because it requires refraining from issuing purity tests to one another and taking risks for others.
Justine Sullivan/San Diego Resident[8:44] “....We have to find what unites us, across party lines, where possible, to look for coalitions of the reasonable, to look for places where there are shared values. Reaching out to people who must also be horrified about what's happening. It means engaging and not just keeping our heads down and saying, `Well, I'm safe now, so I want to hold on to what I have,’ but being willing to put more on the line because so much is at stake.”
And for Genevieve Thiel - another San Diego resident - good citizenship means political activism and forming strong connections with neighbors. She’s homebound because of a
disability. So she campaigns for candidates by mailing out postcards on their behalf. She got to know each of the 15 families in her apartment complex, after she handed out goodie bags to her neighbors during covid. These days she’s sharing instruction cards on interacting with ICE.
Genevieve Thiel/San Diego Resident (10:39] “....And so that, I think, also just allows people to know who I am as a person and what my values are and that they're safe with me.”
Q. Amita, the founders, believed an informed citizenry was essential to democracy. But faith in news outlets is declining, right?
Yes A recent Pew Research Center survey found just 56 percent of Americans say they trust national media a lot or somewhat. Americans tend to trust local news more. Also, a poll by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism in January of this year found that just over half of Americans reported getting news from social media and podcasts. Seven percent accessed news through AI chatbots. But Osita Nwanevu, author of the new book “The Right of the People” says it’s up to Americans themselves to find trustworthy news sources.
Osita Nwanevu/Journalist [11:30] “Being informed, paying attention to the issues, learning how to seek out perspectives that are different from your own. These things, I think people know they ought to be doing, but we live in a world where that seems increasingly hard to do. Social media, partisan media, on television, so on. It's really atrophied our capacity to do some of these things. But these are skills that are available for us.”
Q. But Amita, the American Dream - owning a home, getting a college degree, earning a liveable wage - is ever more unattainable. How do you convince people, who feel left out, to be good citizens against this backdrop?
It’s a tough sell. Evidence of unaffordability is everywhere. Only 13 percent of San Diegans can afford a median priced home of about $1 million. The cost of food, housing, medical care and childcare continue to go up. Nwanevu says the antidote is to get more involved, run for office, consider yourself a founder of a new democracy. UC San Diego Political Science Professor Emeritus Sam Popkin advises to also show discernment at the ballot box.
[00:24:52] “Never believe anybody who says it's easy and never believe anybody who has a dream without a plan. Ask people, what is the first step and what is the second step?”
Again, there’s more to good citizenship than casting a ballot. Given that, it does bear repeating that about 88 million eligible voters skipped voting altogether in the 2024 presidential election. That’s more than voted for either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump.
Amita, thank you. Thank you.
TAG: THAT WAS KPBS’S AMITA SHARMA SPEAKING WITH ATC ANCHOR DEBBIE CRUZ ABOUT THE QUALITIES THAT MAKE A GOOD CITIZEN.
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AMERICANS ARE HEADING INTO THE HOLIDAYS FEELING MORE STRESSED THAN LAST YEAR. THAT’S ACCORDING TO A NEW NATIONAL POLL FROM THE AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION.
HEALTH REPORTER HEIDI DE MARCO LOOKS AT WHAT’S DRIVING THE ANXIETY.
APAPOLL 1 trt: 1:15 soq
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In anticipation of the travel rush, family gatherings and credit card bills, some San Diegans are already bracing for a stressful season.
Anne Cusack is a psychologist at UC San Diego Health.
“The holidays can bring a totally added layer of stress because of the financial strain of the holidays, potentially grief of missing loved ones.”
A new national poll from the American Psychiatric Association shows nearly half of adults between the ages of 18 to 35 expect more stress this holiday season.
“And so that holiday travel is increasingly expensive and stressful, especially for a group that is more underemployed.”
Expected holiday stress has hovered around 30 percent since 2022. This year the number of people surveyed who expect stress around the holidays jumped to 41 percent.
The polls show two kinds of stress. Holiday-specific worries, like missing loved ones or affording gifts, and bigger-picture anxiety, like the economy and health care.
Cusack says both are showing up in her sessions along with political worries.
Heidi de Marco, KPBS
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SAN DIEGANS CAN EXPECT BREEZY, WARM CONDITIONS THROUGH THANKSGIVING DAY.
SEBASTIAN WESTER-INK IS A METEOROLOGIST FOR THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. HE SAYS A WEAK SANTA ANA EVENT WILL START THIS MORNING (TUESDAY)
SANTAANA 2A 00:10
“with the winds peaking sometime on Wednesday afternoon and then waning off into Thursday. The main impacts that we’re gonna see are along the mountain passes.”
WINDS COULD EXCEED 40 MILES PER HOUR IN THOSE AREAS.
THE SANTA ANA CONDITIONS WILL ALSO BRING WARMER WEATHER. TEMPERATURES WILL CLIMB INTO THE HIGH 70s ACROSS THE REGION BEGINNING TODAY (TUESDAY).
FORECASTERS SAY WILDFIRE RISK IS LOWER BECAUSE OF RECENT RAINFALL.
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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!
