Take Two follows one family through the asylum process, America's next black leaders, the history of Jello (that may surprise you).
Fleeing violence in Central America, families face complex path to asylum in the US
Violence in El Salvador is hitting levels not seen since the country's civil war in the 1980s, driving families north and across the U.S. border to seek asylum.
According to data from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that oversees part of the asylum process, Salvadorans make up the highest number of new cases in recent months, surpassing 1,000 for each of April, May and June. But despite the threats applicants face in their home country, gaining asylum in the U.S. is not guaranteed.
A killing and a flight north
Francisca Cuchilla, 37, a mother of three, said she fled El Salvador after her oldest son was found slain on a street corner in August.
“After they killed my son, our lives changed completely,” she said in Spanish. Cuchilla believes her son, Aldo Josue, was killed by gang members to send a message to other youth in the area. Government investigators found that the teen was killed by knives on the night of August 18, 2014, but did not give a reason, according to a local news report at the time. An autopsy report from local authorities showed multiple wounds to the arms, neck, legs and torso. The case remains unsolved.
The killing prompted Cuchilla to take her surviving children north on a nine-day journey through Guatemala and Mexico and across the U.S. border. Cuchilla filed an application for asylum after being apprehended by authorities in April in South Texas and was released on parole to Los Angeles, according her lawyer, Yanci Montes at El Rescate, a legal aid group in L.A.
“Here at least we pass the nights in peace, without the fear that [gangs] are going to come, that they’re going to break down our door, or that they’re going to kill my other children,” said Cuchilla.
Rise of violence, ‘a lawless state’
The family’s case is a glimpse into the violence now gripping El Salvador, where the government launched a tough military campaign, known as mano dura, earlier this year. Since then, the violence has only risen. In May, murders passed 600, according to a tally from local media, La Prensa Gráfica. And that’s for a country with just over 6 million people, fewer than in all of L.A. County.
“The police is incapable of protecting citizens,” said Suyapa Portillo, a professor at Pitzer College whose research focuses on Central America. “The violence that the kids are reporting is the violence in the streets – from gangs, from police from narcotraffickers. It’s become a lawless state.”
That's quickened the pace to an already high caseload. Since 2011, Salvadorans filed 19,366 asylum applications in the U.S. and Canada, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
A challenge for asylum law
The nature of gang violence presents a challenge to the asylum process, said Niels Frenzen director of the University of Southern California’s Law Immigration Clinic.
“Judges, asylum officers, the U.S. government just don’t know what to make of gangs,” said Frenzen. “The argument that a lot of advocates are making, is that these are de facto governments.”
That could be a crucial point because to be granted asylum, a person must prove persecution or the fear of persecution in their home country based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a certain social group or political opinion.
Some immigration lawyers contend that youth in Central America are being targeted by gangs due to their age or where they live, which could qualify them as being part of a certain social group. But that concept remains contested.
“The legal protections that were drafted, were drafted from a European perspective dealing with the post-World War II situation," said Frenzen. "No one could imagine [gangs like] MS-13, no one could imagine 18th Street."
A strain for asylum officers
That makes things hard for asylum officers, who often need to assess complex cases and make a timely decision, said Megan Brewer, a former asylum officer who now practices immigration law privately.
“The asylum officer has the task of serving as the government and also as the judge at the same time and also helping the applicant to meet their burden by eliciting the information,” said Brewer. Over the past four years, the backlog of asylum cases has also surged, hitting more than 70,000 by the end of 2014, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The asylum office in L.A. declined KPCC’s request to interview a current officer, but provided general data on credible fear cases, the kind of case that Francisca Cuchilla and her family filed and an initial step in the asylum process. That data shows that in June, L.A.’s office conducted 717 interviews, approving 575 cases, a rate comparable to the previous eight months. It’s unclear how many of the cases are gang-related.
Who are America's next black leaders? A look at the new generation
NAACP chairman Julian Bond died last weekend at the age of 75. Bond was one of the last remaining "old guard" champions of the civil rights movement.
Now, a new generation of black leaders is needed, as race once again dominates the national conversation. But who those leaders are isn't exactly clear.
Take Two assembled a roundtable panel today to discuss the past, present and future of black leadership in America.
The way we were
Clarence Jones is a visiting professor at the University of San Francisco and former advisor, lawyer and speechwriter for Martin Luther King Junior. He says much of the civil rights movement’s success can be attributed to King’s nonviolent approach.
“He understood and made us all understand, that notwithstanding how fair or compelling the case for ending racial segregation was on the merits, there was no way 12 percent of the population -- negroes -- African Americans were going to impose that agenda on the 88 percent white people.”
He says media coverage of their demonstrations forced white America to confront racial prejudice head-on.
The suddenly headless movement
UCLA professor of history Brenda Stevenson says there was no heir apparent after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. In the years that followed, two familiar names rose to prominence.
“There was no one who could replace Dr. King. Today, we see some of that leadership that’s still there. The reverend Jesse Jackson is sometimes visible, as well as the reverend Al Sharpton, whose career actually started after that time period."
But, she says, "The community certainly has suffered from a loss of leaders.”
Leaders of the future
When it comes to determining the next generation of leaders, political and social commentator Jasmyne Cannick says looking to past power structures can only help so much.
“We [have] to understand that this is 2015, and we aren’t doing traditional civil rights movements anymore. What did they used to say, the revolution will not be televised, right? But, you know, the revolution might be tweeted, it might be downloaded, it might be uploaded, and we’ve stepped into a new era in terms of how we’ve organized.”
Instead, she says, communities of color should make a greater effort to support ‘less traditional-looking’ leaders.
“I would like to see African Americans be more supportive of people who are younger, female, maybe they’re gay or lesbian, but they are black and they care about black people and want to be leaders.”
The passing of a torch
When asked about the future of black leadership, Clarence Jones says he’s optimistic, and points to the #BlackLivesMatter movement as an example of an effective modern protest.
“The Black Lives Matter movement, the best thing I can say is they’re like the canary in the coal mine--it’s like a mirror they’re holding up to America … The test of the conscience and the integrity of the American nation today depends on how they respond to the pain and the anguish of the Black Lives Matter movement."
Press the blue play button above to hear the roundtable discussion.
We want to hear from you! Join the ongoing conversation on https://twitter.com/taketwo . Just use the hashtag: #BlackLeadersNow.
Why do people commit sex crimes against children?
The former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle has agreed to plead guilty to charges including traveling to have sex with teenagers and distributing child pornography.
Fogle's attorney Jeremy Margolis says Fogle will do all that he can to make amends and seek treatment. But what kind of treatment is available? We sorted through some of these questions with Dr. Fred Berlin, Director of the Sexual Behaviors Consultation unit at Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Berlin explains that some people are sexually attracted to children, although not by their own volition. "People discover the nature of their sexual desires. They don’t decide what it is they will be turned on or not be turned on by."
Referring to preliminary research that shows the impulse may be biological in nature, he points out that group therapy and sex-drive lowering medications can help curb desires.
He believes as a matter of public safety, society should stop demonizing paedophiles, because it can drive them underground. Instead we should make treatment widely available. "As a society we often don’t think they are deserving of treatment. But we forget how we looked at alcoholism before the Betty Ford Clinic opened."
Is LA experiencing another housing bubble?
It seems as though home prices are continuing to rise across Los Angeles, with rundown apartments and fixer-upper homes priced in the millions.
Have home prices reached a tipping point? Or is this just the beginning? William Yu is an economist for the UCLA Anderson Forecast. He says while home values in Los Angeles are high, he does not consider this to be a housing bubble. "Right now we are in a globalized war and Los Angeles is attracting a lot of international wealth," he said.
Three years out of the recession, Yu says Los Angeles home values are in recovery cycle, which is attracting many Chinese investors. "Los Angeles is still a bargain compared to the Hong Kong housing market."
While home buying in LA is becoming tougher for the average middle-class Angeleno, Yu said, its a desirable market for international investors.
Jemaine Clement on his soulful role in 'People Places Things'
The new movie 'People Places Things,' stars Jemaine Clement, of Flight of the Concords fame, as a graphic artist and professor named Will Henry.
Life seems to be going along, well enough, until the day of his twin daughter's 5th birthday, when Will walks in on their mom, Charlie and another man
The two split up and Will struggles through the next chapter of his life. The role is a bit of a departure for Clement who's played plenty of over the top zany characters. Jemaine Clement joined us to talk more about the film.
Weekend on the cheap: Tacos, boy bands and a topless parade
It's cooling down SoCal. This means we might actually have some energy this weekend to get off the couch.
Joining us is KPCC's social media producer Kristen Lepore, who shares a list of fun and almost-free things to do with us every Friday.