A check-in with young DACA recipients, the US sees its 13th homicide of a transgender person this year, how NWA inspired modern rap.
3 years after DACA, young immigrants say lives changed, but still uncertain
Three years ago this week, the U.S. began accepting applications for temporary deportation relief for young undocumented migrants. The program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, allows recipients to work legally and receive funding for education.
"[Getting DACA] has given me a sense of empowerment," said Laura Flores, 27, of La Puente, who before had to take breaks in her education at UC Santa Barbara in order to earn for her tuition. "I don't have to feel stuck in a certain position, that I deserve better. And that I can pursue a masters degree."
To qualify, applicants had to be younger than 31 and to have arrived in the U.S. before turning 16, as of June 2012. By the end of 2013, after its first year of implementation, more than 470,000 young people had already been approved.
But the program was intended to be temporary while Congress worked on more comprehensive immigration reform to address the estimated 11 million undocumented people in the country. That action has not come. With an impending presidential election, and the possibility that support will wane for DACA, or that it could even be repealed, many recipients still face an uncertain future.
"It's definitely a fear," said Chando Kem, 21, from Long Beach, also a DACA recipient. "It's a toss up for this next presidential election and we don't know who we are going to get and if they're going to be immigrant-friendly."
Last year, President Barack Obama signed an expansion of the program for parents of the youth, known as DAPA, or Deferred Action for Parents of Americans or Lawful Permanent Residents, but so far that order has been blocked in federal court.
"Right now, we're trying to just advocate more and keep pushing," said Kem.
'Mistress America' Director Noah Baumbach on creating 'cinema out of psychology'
The film Mistress America, starring actress Greta Gerwig, opens in select theaters today.
Brooke is pretty, creative and seems smart, but she just can't seem to get it together on any number of levels, including her floundering efforts at a career.
Brooke starts hanging out with her soon-to-be stepsister, a college freshman and aspiring writer named Tracy. She soon receives a crash course on life.
The film was co-written by Gerwig and director Noah Baumbach, who recently spoke with Take Two’s Alex Cohen.
Alex: I couldn't help but feel like this character, Brooke is the kind of person, and specifically the kind of woman, that many of us actually know at some point in our lives ... Without naming any names, I'm curious if you have a 'Brooke' in your life.
“I think I probably had several, and it’s something that Greta and I talked about when we were coming up with the story. It was those people that you meet when you’re younger that [you] sort of meet at the right time and, for whatever reason, whatever you’re going for individually, sort of their presence and seeming wonderfulness is in some ways exactly what you need at that moment in your life. Both the character Booke and that relationship with Tracy was something we were interested in depicting.”
Press the play button above to hear more from director Noah Baumbach.
Streets, beats and silk sheets: Dr. Dre reflects on life after NWA in 'Compton' album
NWA was one of the most successful hip-hop groups in the history of the genre.
Formed in Compton in the late 1980s, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Easy-E, MC Ren and DJ Yella, exploded onto the scene with their gritty tracks about life in South L.A.
Their irreverent prose made them a hit in the black community and beyond.
NWA will touch a new generation of hip-hop fans this week, when biopic, ‘Straight Outta Compton’ comes to theaters later this week.
Dr. Dre dropped his new album, "Compton," just ahead of the movie. In it, he reflects on the great successes and failures of his career since he first started with NWA.
Music supervisor Morgan Rhodes joined Take Two to talk about the cultural impact of NWA, and Dr. Dre’s development as an artist and as a businessman.
Press the play button above to hear more.
Increase in transgender deaths described as a crisis
This week detectives in Dallas, Texas announced that they were seeking information in the homicide of a young trans woman identified as Shade Schuler.
It’s at least the 13th homicide of a trans person in the country this year - a fact that’s alarming LGBT advocates.
We talk about it with writer and trans advocate
China to California: The ripple effects of devaluing the yuan
Chinese economists say devaluing the yuan, the nation's currency, is an attempt to help stabilize the country's sluggish economy. But that means Chinese tourists will spend less, and that could have a huge impact on California.
Gabriel Wisdom, president of American Money Management in San Diego, joined the show with more.
The Wheel Thing: Road diets, daylighting & corner bulb outs: Traffic calming explained
In cities across the globe, traffic engineers are applying some interesting techniques to "calm" traffic. By slowing autos in places where they mix with lots of people walking and biking, traffic planners say injuries and fatalities can be dramatically reduced. And some of the traffic calming can be achieved without spending gobs of money.
OC Register motor critic Susan Carpenter explains some of the new changes you may be seeing on the streets around you, including sidewalks that protrude out in to intersections (corner bulb outs), efforts to improve visibility at intersections (daylighting), and widening sidewalks and bike lanes while narrowing lanes for cars (road diets).
State of Affairs: Police accountability, pension reform, and 'California citizenship'
On this week's State of Affairs, CA bans the use of grand juries in police deadly force cases, the debate over public pension reform, and "California citizenship" for immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.
USC Professor of the Practice of Public Policy Communication Sherry Bebitch Jeffe and Los Angeles Times reporter
join Take Two.
PDO: A climate pattern stronger than El Nino
Move over El Nino: Scientists now have their eyes on another, stronger climate pattern that could deliver rain to Southern California for years.
It's called Pacific Decadal Oscillation. If that name is too hard to remember, you can just call it the PDO.
Bill Patzert of Jet Propulsion Laboratory explained more.
Weekend on the cheap: Free concerts, a new batch of beer and Fig Fest
Brace yourself, SoCal. Temps are on the rise.
Here to keep us cool is KPCC's social media producer Kristen Lepore, who joins us every week with fun and almost-free stuff to do with our time off.