USD law clinic works to meet the need for more immigration lawyers
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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson, it’s FRIDAY, MAY FIRST>>>> [ A USD LAW CLINIC IS WORKING TO FILL THE NEED FOR MORE IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ]More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….########
ESCONDIDO CITY LEADERS ARE MOVING FORWARD WITH A PROPOSAL THAT WOULD ALLOW ESCONDIDO’S POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS TO USE DRONES TO IDENTIFY THOSE ILLEGALLY SETTING OFF FIREWORKS
THE PROPOSAL WOULD ALSO INCREASE A ONE HUNDRED DOLLAR FINE TO ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS OR MORE
IN TWO WEEKS THE FULL CITY COUNCIL WILL VOTE ON THE PROPOSAL
NBC-7 SAYS A GROUP CALLED ESCONDIDO FIGHTS ILLEGAL FIREWORKS HAS BEEN
ASKING THE CITY TO ENACT STRICTER FIREWORKS LAWS FOR SOME TIME NOW
THE GROUP SAYS THAT ILLEGAL FIREWORK USAGE HAS BECOME AN ISSUE FOR MANY IN THEIR COMMUNITY
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THE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON TUESDAY WILL VOTE ON A PROPOSAL TO BOOST THE REGION'S ART AND CULTURE SCENE
THIS IS IN REACTION TO SAN DIEGO’S MAYOR PROPOSING A TWELVE MILLION DOLLAR CUT IN ARTS FUNDING IN THE CITY’S BUDGET NEXT YEAR
THE PROPOSED COUNTY INITIATIVE LOOKS TO INVEST TWO POINT SEVEN-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS IN THE FIRST YEAR
THE FUNDS WOULD GO TOWARDS AN ARTIST GRANT PROGRAM, ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM, INVESTMENTS IN ARTS AND CULTURE DISTRICTS, AND MORE
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C-H-P ISSUED MORE THAN A THOUSAND CITATIONS DURING ITS 24 HOUR ENFORCEMENT PERIOD EARLIER THIS WEEK
THE OPERATION BEGAN AT 6AM ON TUESDAY AND ENDED ON WEDNESDAY AT 6AM
C-H-P SAYS THAT DURING THAT TIME FRAME, OFFICERS ISSUED A TOTAL OF ONE-THOUSAND 23 CITATIONS IN THE COUNTY
A MAJORITY OF THE CITATIONS WERE ISSUED FOR SPEEDING, INCLUDING 17 FOR DRIVING MORE THAN 100 MILES AN HOUR
THERE WERE ALSO 17 ARRESTS RELATED TO DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRUGS OR ALCOHOL
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'S MASS DEPORTATION CAMPAIGN ROLLS ON, THE NEED FOR IMMIGRATION LAWYERS HAS NEVER BEEN HIGHER.
REPORTER GUSTAVO SOLIS SAYS A UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO LAW CLINIC IS WORKING TO MEET THAT NEED.
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USDLAW (gs) 3:19 SOQ
RADLOV0274 00:10:02:31 / 07:34:26:32We submitted that to the court I think last week? And it was successful. Oh yay, i did not know that, that’s exciting.”
That’s USD law student Amber Rahim talking about a real-life case she and her classmates have been working on. They’re representing a Russian asylum seeker and just helped him get released from the Otay Mesa Detention Center.
RADLOV0274 00:01:02:12 / 07:25:44:22“So I came into law school wanting to do immigration. My parents are immigrants; I have a family that immigrated here to the United States. Growing up I just kind of watched their journey of coming here. I went to my dad’s citizenship ceremony.
The work is part of the USD Immigration Law Clinic – which gives law students real-world experience.
RADLOV0274 00:04:01:10 / 07:28:43:20“Just getting to learn about it as I work in real-life cases is just so-so incredible. Because you’re pairing the doctrinal learning of this is how immigration law in our country works to taking that knowledge and apply it to a case.”
Tammy Lin runs the clinic. She has decades of experience as an immigration lawyer.
RADLOV0285 00:00:56:08 / 07:49:26:14“I was brought in specifically that students wanted to do asylum cases, they wanted to be in court, they wanted to go to detention.”
Students at the clinic help people become naturalized citizens, get green cards, apply for humanitarian visa programs, and fight deportation cases.
Lin says the clinic is becoming more and more popular. And that’s largely driven by the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.
RADLOV0285 00:07:50:24 / 07:56:20:28“They’re looking at immigration practitioners are really much the front line of protection of constitutional rights.”
When Lin was in law school, the stereotype was that immigration lawyers were more administrators than litigators -- filling out forms like visa applications. But now students see themselves on the front lines of a historic battle against mass deportations.
RADLOV0286 00:01:13:24 / 07:57:55:27“To them, I think it is the most tangible type of law where you are impacting someone directly.”
That’s certainly the case for Logan Quessenberry – who started out wanting to be a public defender.
RADLOV0273 00:11:50:15 / 07:23:52:03“I felt this semester more so than ever the resolve to continue helping people in our community. That’s what we’re here to do, that’s why the clinics are here for. We help people.”
Quessenberry grew up in San Diego. He sees the local impact of immigration enforcement every time he visits the Otay Mesa Detention Center.
RADLOV0273 00:08:37:28 / 07:20:39:14“So many of these people who are in detention are people who if you walk down the street you’re just like oh yea that’s another San Diegan. We have such a vibrant community from all over the world that I just had no clue about until I came and went to the clinic.”
Data shows more than 70 percent of the people detained at Otay Mesa do not have criminal records.
And the number of people in immigration detention across the country has nearly doubled since Trump took office.
Lin says this means there just aren’t enough immigration lawyers to meet the demand. Federal data shows that more than half of people with pending cases in immigration court do not have legal representation.
RADLOV0286 00:03:43:26 / 08:00:25:29“I think that the market for them right now is very bright and that there’s just so much need and there’s just not enough attorneys. There will be funding from some of the nonprofits to hire attorneys but those listings have been open for quite a while.”
By training the next generation, Lin hopes those jobs get filled.
Gustavo Solis, KPBS News
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CHULA VISTA IS CHANGING ITS RULES FOR POLICE BUYING MILITARY EQUIPMENT WITHOUT APPROVAL FROM THE CITY COUNCIL.
REPORTER KORI SUZUKI SAYS ACTIVISTS WORRY THE NEW POLICY ISN’T CLEAR ABOUT WHEN THEY CAN DO THAT.
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Like many police departments, the Chula Vista Police Department uses a stockpile of military equipment, including drones and assault rifles.
Most of the time, getting that equipment requires approval from the City Council. But the city’s policy did say the department could replace anything the Council had already authorized.
This year though, the City Council voted to change those rules. The Council passed the new policy unanimously last week, with little discussion. Here’s City Councilmember Michael Inzunza speaking at that meeting.
“Appreciate the information and the thorough presentation, I would like to make a motion to approve.”
The new policy still says police can only buy equipment that the Council has already approved. And it says those purchases now have to go through the City Manager.
But the new policy also adds language about QUOTE rare and exigent circumstances, including riots or prolonged critical incidents.
Local activists say the language isn’t clear enough. In a letter to the City Council, activist Margaret Baker said police could argue that any situation qualifies as exigent.
Kori Suzuki, KPBS News.
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FOR MONTHS, JACUMBA HOT SPRINGS RESIDENTS SAY THEY HAVE BEEN COMPLAINING ABOUT CONSTRUCTION DUST FROM A NEARBY SOLAR ENERGY PROJECT. BUT THEY SAY LITTLE HAS CHANGED.
REPORTER ELAINE ALFARO SAYS NOW COMMUNITY LEADERS WANT THE COUNTY TO INTERVENE.
JACUMBADUST 1 1:12 SOC
Stef Tonkin moved to Jacumba about two years ago and got plugged in through the local community center.
But now, she’s inside most days.
“Now, we're having to keep our doors closed and our windows closed because the construction going on next door in the field is so bad.”
The dust is coming from grading for a 600-acre solar farm. Tonkin says it’s made her Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease worse. She’s been hospitalized four times since January.
“In March when I went into the hospital, they put me on oxygen. Because it was, it's just so, it's so bad and so hard to breathe.”
She’s one of several residents who say the dust produced from the project has impacted their health. That led the Jacumba Community Sponsor Group to ask the County for an audit and unannounced inspections of the construction site.
A spokesperson for the developer BayWa R.E. Americas told KPBS in an email...
QUOTE "This is a large project in a dry, exposed location and dust is a real challenge. We run up to five water trucks on-site at once, follow an approved dust control plan, and pause grading when wind conditions are too high.” END QUOTE
Elaine Alfaro, KPBS News.
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A NEW MAP SHOWS THE ROUTE OF A CONTROVERSIAL HIGH VOLTAGE TRANSMISSION LINE S-D-G AND E WANTS TO BUILD.
ENVIRONMENT REPORTER TAMMY MURGA SAYS OPPOSITION IS GROWING.
The Golden Pacific Powerlink would run from Imperial Valley through the Anza-Borrego State Park to the coast near the San Diego- Orange County border.
Erica Martin is with the utility. She says the 145-mile line would…
POWERLINE 1A 00:08
“Help California meet its energy policy goals and facilitate the clean energy transition.”
SDG&E says ratepayers would be on the hook for 9% of the project costs. Martin says it’s too early to say what those costs will be.
Bri Forham is with the Anza Borrego Foundation. She worries about potential impacts to California’s most biodiverse state park.
POWERLINE 1B 00:09
“Are we all willing to pay a higher price for energy, while taking away from the places that we love to recreate?”
SDG&E says it will weigh public concerns before submitting the route for state approval later this year. Tammy Murga, KPBS News
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AS WE DO FOR YOU EACH AND EVERY FRIDAY, HERE ARE SOME WEEKEND EVENT IDEAS HAPPENING ACROSS THE COUNTY FOR YOU AND YOURS
ON FRIDAY AND SUNDAY, MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU AS YOU MAKE YOUR WAY OVER TO THE RADY SHELL
THAT'S BECAUSE THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA IS PERFORMING THEIR RENDITION OF THE OSCAR-WINNING SCORE FROM STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE
THEN ON SATURDAY YOU CAN JOIN THE WALK FOR ANIMALS AT N-T-C PARK IN LIBERTY STATION
THEIR EVENT WEBSITE SAYS THAT EVERY DOLLAR RAISED HELPS THE SAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY SUPPORT AND CARE FOR PETS AND WILDLIFE
ALL REGISTERED PARTICIPANTS WILL RECEIVE A WALK FOR ANIMALS T-SHIRT AT THE EVENT
AND AS AN EARLY CELEBRATION FOR CINCO DE MAYO, THE GASLAMP QUARTER ASSOCIATION IS PRESENTING THE TACO TASTE ON SUNDAY
DURING THE EVENT GUESTS CAN STROLL THROUGH THE GASLAMP AND SAMPLING TACOS, MARGARITAS AND MORE
INFORMATION FOR THESE EVENTS AND MORE CAN BE FOUND ON KPBS DOT ORG SLASH EVENTS
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That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is edited by Brooke Ruth and hosted and produced by me, Lawrence K. Jackson. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend
