San Diego’s Democratic congressional delegates call on congress to rein in ICE
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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28TH>>>> [SOME LOCAL DELEGATES SAY THAT RECENT ACTION FROM D-H-S IS A CALL FOR CONCERN… ]More on that next. But first... the headlines…########
THE PUBLIC FACE OF ICE OPERATIONS IN MINNEAPOLIS GREG BOVINO WILL SOON RETURN TO HIS PREVIOUS POSITION OF LEADING EL CENTRO’S BORDER PATROL SECTOR IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
OUR NEWS PARTNER K-G-T-V SPOKE WITH ERIC SWANSON [SWAWN], A RETIRED U-S BORDER PATROL AGENT WHO WORKED CLOSELY WITH BOVINO WHILE THE TWO WERE BOTH ASSISTANT CHIEFS IN WASHINGTON
SWANSON SAYS BOVINO IS RESPECTED WITHIN THE AGENCY DESPITE THE RECENT CONTROVERSY
"The thing about it is, there's different sites on Facebook that the retired agents can go on. And everybody there is saying all the sector chiefs, all the 20 sector chiefs, should be like him. They praise him, he's a hero and why is he getting so much slack."
BOVINO’S DEPARTURE HOWEVER DOESN’T MEAN THAT ICE’S MINNESOTA CAMPAIGN IS OVER…
IN BOVINO’S PLACE, THE WHITE HOUSE IS SENDING BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN [HO-MIN] WHO WILL BE TAKING OVER AS LEAD
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THE SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL YESTERDAY (TODAY) VOTED NO ON A PROPOSAL TO CHARGE CITY RESIDENTS AN ANNUAL FEE TO PARK ON SUNDAYS
THE PROPOSED FEE FEATURED A DISCOUNTED RATE INTENDED ONLY FOR RESIDENTS LIVING IN UPTOWN, DOWNTOWN AND MID-CITY
COUNCIL PRESIDENT JOE LACAVA CONSIDERED THE PROPOSAL TO BE TOO "BROAD"
...ADDING THAT RESIDENTS IN MORE AFFLUENT AREAS LIKE BANKERS HILL WOULD BE PAYING THE SAME PRICES AS OTHERS IN LESS AFFLUENT AREAS LIKE CITY HEIGHTS
THE UNSUCCESSFUL PROPOSAL WILL NOW HEAD BACK TO CITY STAFF FOR REVISIONS AND REWORKING
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FORECASTERS SAY TEMPERATURES WILL BE FAIRLY COOL TODAY
HIGH'S FOR OUR DOWNTOWN AREA ARE EXPECTED TO LAND AT AROUND 70 DEGREES
SKIES WILL REMAIN PARTLY CLOUDY WITH WIND GUSTS THROUGHOUT THE DAY
WARM TEMPERATURES ROUGHLY TEN DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR ARE EXPECTED TO BEGIN GRADUALLY MOVING IN AGAIN ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
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’S DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATES ARE CALLING ON CONGRESS TO PASS LEGISLATION TO REIN IN ICE.
REPORTER ALEXANDER NGUYEN TELLS US…THEY SAY RECENT D-H-S ACTIONS SHOW THE URGENT NEED.
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ICETACTICS 1(an) trt: 1:04 SOQ
On Tuesday … Outside the federal courthouse in Downtown San Diego …
Representative Sara Jacobs called ICE a rogue paramilitary force.
“We need to dismantle and overhaul Ice. They've lost any mandate for immigration enforcement, and they've lost all trust of the American people.”
She joined San Diego’s other congressional Democrats in supporting
The STOP EXCESSIVE FORCE IN IMMIGRATION ACT.
The bill would set a higher standard for D-H-S use of force and set strict limits on the use of tear gas and flash bangs.
Scott Peters introduced it last November after the violent immigration crackdowns in Southern California.
So, what’s changed? Representative Juan Vargas says the murder of U-S citizens.
“Murder has changed. I mean, it's fascinating to me how things have changed. If you look at the administration right now, there really are backtracking because they're telling us not to trust our eyes. They're telling us, don't believe what you see.”
The Senate has to pass a federal funding bill by Friday to avoid a partial shutdown.
The local democratic congressional delegation says the issue is worth shutting down the government.
AN/KPBS
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FORECASTERS SAY SAN DIEGO WILL HAVE A BREAK FROM MONTHS OF RECORD-BREAKING RAIN NEXT MONTH AS DRIER AND WARMER CONDITIONS ARE ON THE WAY.
ENVIRONMENT REPORTER TAMMY MURGA HAS MORE ON WHAT THIS MEANS FOR WILDFIRES.
WARMWX 1 trt :53 SOQ
From Cal Fire’s San Diego headquarters in El Cajon, Fire Captain Mike Cornette looked at the mountaintops peaking over the building.
WARMWX 1 00:05
“We're seeing a lot of green grass on our hillsides and, new growth in our vegetation.”
Cornette says all of that moisture makes wildfires less likely to ignite.
WARMWX 1 00:10
“We want to try to keep that fuel moisture up as high as we can going into the summer, because the drier the fuel gets throughout the summer, is typically when we start seeing the larger wildland wildfires.”
The wet period during the holidays made all the difference. Since October, San Diego County has received rain totals nearly double what it gets on average by this time.
But the National Weather Service predicts a dry stretch of weather for the county into February and the foreseeable future.
Cornette says if there aren’t many Santa Ana winds, the recent rainfall lessens the threat of wildfires. Tammy Murga, KPBS News
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There's a renewed effort to suspend parking fees in Balboa Park for San Diego residents.
Metro reporter Andrew Bowen says the move would worsen the city's budget deficit.
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PARKING 1 (ab) 1:?? soq
AB: Since the start of paid parking in Balboa Park on January 5, there's been a significant backlash. Museums say attendance is down. Pay stations have been vandalized. And residents have complained about confusion with the online portal where they can purchase parking passes. Council President Joe LaCava is proposing suspending the parking fees for city residents, while fees for nonresidents would still apply. LaCava acknowledged the change would mean less revenue for city services.
JL: In the next few weeks, we will be discussing mid-year adjustments to keep us on track for a balanced budget. The cuts that will be announced soon will have to be deeper with the reduction in revenue if this proposal is ratified.
AB: Later on Tuesday, the full City Council retreated on another parking policy change: Charging at certain parking meters on Sundays. Independent Budget Analyst Charles Modica warned the council that would mean a lot of about $2.8 million each year in future.
CM: It is certainly council's decision whether or not to implement this fee. There are consequences to choosing not to implement it. And those consequences are the need to identify revenue elsewhere or to identify corresponding cuts.
AB: A vote to suspend Balboa Park parking fees for city residents is expected as soon as February 9. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news
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AN IMMIGRANT SURFER WHO WAS DETAINED BY ICE AFTER ACCIDENTALLY WANDERING ONTO A CAMP PENDLETON BEACH HAS BEEN RELEASED.
REPORTER GUSTAVO SOLIS SAYS A FEDERAL JUDGE RULED THAT ICE VIOLATED THE MAN’S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS BY DETAINING HIM INDEFINITELY.
SURFERFOLO (gs) 3:18 SOQ
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Hagop Chirinian spent four months in the Otay Mesa Detention Center. ICE agents arrested him in August after he accidentally wandered onto a Camp Pendleton beach during a surf trip.
Two days after Christmas, a federal judge ordered ICE to release him. The judge said ICE had violated Chirinian’s due process rights.
Chirinian says life in the detention center was depressing. Terrible food, men constantly crying, and lack of sunlight.
TAMBRA TWO 00:20:06:13“It’s hard to get sun. The only outside you see is maybe about a 50-foot-by-50-foot square area”
His girlfriend, Tambra Sanders-Kirk, visited him as often as she could. And she noticed the physical toll of his detention.
TAMBRA TWO 00:19:55:05“ Because he looked really pale when he was in there.”
[dogs barking NAT POP]
One thing that kept him going throughout the ordeal was the thought of eventually returning home to the couple’s dogs.
TAMBRA TWO 00:04:39:18“I used to tell Tambra every time I talked to her. I couldn’t wait to see the dogs. That’s the one thing I wanted to see so bad is my dogs, you know.” ##BUTT TO## TAMBRA TWO 00:04:50:14 “I missed them so much – especially Pepper. I knew she’d go crazy when she saw me.”
Although he is now free – Sanders-Kirk says Chirinian is still trying to put his life back together.
TAMBRA TWO 00:15:03:11“When he came home he didn’t have his work permit, they didn’t give it back to him, they didn’t give him his driver license back so he still doesn’t have the work permit but he has a temporary license finally.”
Court records show Chirinian was born in Lebanon and came to the U.S. as a five-year-old in 1975. After two non-violent drug convictions in the 1990s, ICE placed him under something called an order of supervision.
That order requires him to check in with ICE on a regular basis and avoid getting in trouble with the law. He’s never missed a check-in.
The federal judge said ICE violated its own rules. Immigrants under orders of supervision cannot be detained without a written notice or a formal hearing. Chirinian got neither.
ICE did not respond to questions about this case.
Sanders-Kirk says it’s wrong to target immigrants who follow the rules.
TAMBRA TWO 00:17:30:05“Those people are doing the right thing. They’re doing the right procedure and they’re taking them into detainment. That’s not right. You tell them to do it the right way, they’re doing it the right way.”
The couple has mixed feelings about their ordeal … Sanders-Kirk says the country is headed in the wrong direction..
TAMBRA TWO 00:21:24:05“I’m embarrassed to say I’m from the U.S. …
But Chirinian, still has hope.
// But overall it’s the best place to live, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else actually.”
TAMBRA TWO 00:22:00:15“It may be, but with our president right now, the things he’s doing? Well you may be right.
After Chirinian spoke to KPBS, ICE informed him that he would have to wear a GPS ankle monitor indefinitely … and do two check-ins with ICE each month.
He’s one of more than 13,000 immigrants who have filed federal lawsuits claiming the Trump administration illegally detained them. It’s unclear how many are still in detention.
Gustavo Solis, KPBS News
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THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN DIEGO'S DIRECTOR WILL STEP DOWN THIS WEEK AFTER NEARLY A DECADE.
ARTS REPORTER JULIA DIXON EVANS SPOKE WITH HER ABOUT HER CAREER IN SAN DIEGO.
KANJO 1(1:14) SOQ
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Kathryn Kanjo became director and CEO of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego — the first woman to hold the role — in 2016 … just as the museum was entering a major transformation.
the largest sort of uh challenge which in turn had the greatest reward was the expansion
That expansion was a 105 million dollar project that shuttered the La Jolla campus for 5 years.
to go from being so quiet, to then suddenly seeing the lines of people going down prospect waiting to come in
Kanjo also had a front-row seat to what she saw as an evolution in the San Diego art scene as a whole. One rooted in universities — and artist-led spaces.
this is an incubator for new artists and it's also a way to hold practicing artists by employing them
For Kanjo, the idea of being a museum of and for a place and time — hinged on its reopening.
I had the, you know, great privilege of unfurling a collection that had been um shaped over 50 years
The museum has begun a national search for a new CEO.
Julia Dixon Evans, 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. I’m Lawrence K. Jackson. Thanks for listening and subscribing; by doing so you are supporting public media and I really want to thank you for that. Have a great day!
