Why a SoCal Dreamer is exhausted by DACA's lack of certainty, how a senator plans to help victims of disaster with insurance issues, Roe V. Wade & CA access.
Frustrated and confused, SoCal DACA recipient continues to wait for change
A stalemate in the Senate brought the Federal government to a screeching halt late Friday. At issue: the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (also known as DACA), which affects more than 200,000 people in California. The Trump administration announced a phase out of the program in September.
The shutdown lasted just three days. The Senate approved yet another stop-gap bill on Monday, but a DACA fix was not part of the deal.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has signaled that he will bring a separate immigration bill to the floor in early February.
For DACA recipient Safir Wazed, the decision likely renews his long-held feelings of uncertainty; he will have to continue to wait for answers. Wazed was brought to the U.S. 20 years ago from Bangladesh. He was just seven years old. Today, he is a grad student at the University of Southern California.
"I think we're more confused than ever," Wazed tells Take Two. "As time has gone by, it's become more and more distressful for us."
Wazed says it feels like he and the nearly 800,000 other DACA recipients in the country have been used as bargaining chips.
"We're just trying to figure out where we fit in our society and our home," he says.
WHAT'S THE MOST CONFUSING PART FOR YOU?
The most confusing part comes from being here for a few decades, making investments in school, into a home, even stocks and cars. Doing every investment that we can in making this our home and our community and still being questioned if we belong here.
DO YOU THINK DEMOCRATS WERE RIGHT TO BRING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO A STOP OVER THIS?
I think Democrats finally acknowledged that this is a bigger issue than the Republicans are willing to admit. I think it was a great strategic move to finally get the discussion going [about] how serious this is and set the tone for that. I think that's what was lacking in the past few months and that's [why] nothing has been done for Dreamers.
IF YOU COULD ADDRESS THE SENATE AND THE PRESIDENT TODAY, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THEM ABOUT DACA RECIPIENTS?
I'd say we probably grew up with your kids. We probably grew up around you. We probably played for the same teams. We probably root for the same teams. We probably have the same ideals, and we're probably equally patriotic.
Taking that into consideration, we're no different than you guys. But we're being categorized that way in legal processing. And that's unfortunate because there's much more we can continue to give just like you have.
A new bill could improve insurance for disaster victims in California
Southern California's recent mudslides and wildfires have destroyed hundreds of homes and damaged many more. For the victims, rebuilding and finding temporary housing can be expensive. Insurance can help cover some costs, but it usually doesn't pay for everything.
California Sen. Bill Dodd introduced a bill in the state legislature to improve insurance for victims of natural disasters, like the recent wildfires that hit his district in Napa.
"This is spawned, of course, after the North Bay wildfires in my own community, where 151 of my neighbors' homes burned down," he said.
The bill would make three big changes:
- Require that policies can be renewed for two years after a disaster (current law is one year)
- Guarantee living expense coverage for three years after a disaster (current law is two years)
- Make it easier to use unused coverage in different areas (such as using unused living expense coverage on rebuilding)
Extended living expense coverage can be helpful to renters too, Dodd said, because finding a new, affordable rental can take time when others displaced by a disaster are also looking for a new place to live.
All the recent natural disasters in the state might make some Californians worry about just getting insurance coverage, but Dodd says he doesn't think insurance companies will stop giving coverage in the state anytime soon. He also said he planned to get feedback from insurers about his new bill.
"It [California] is a big market for insurance companies, and while I don't think they're going to go away, yes it is a concern... So I think that underscores the importance for us to work closely with the insurance companies on these initiatives."
What you need to know about California 'Real-ID' driver's licenses
Orange County begins relocating homeless from Santa Ana River Trail
For years, the Santa Ana River bike trail has been the site of a tent city that now stretches for three miles. Roughly 500 homeless people live there.
"The tents along this part of the river and just kind of behind Angel Stadium used to be pretty spread out along about a three-mile track," Jill Replogle, KPCC's Orange County reporter, told Take Two's A Martinez.
"They've become very consolidated because of the county's efforts to move people out of certain areas and relocate them in the future. "
That process for removal began Monday morning. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is going to each encampment to inform the people there that they must leave.
Those involved in the process want to keep it as calm as possible.
"They say that this is going to be a very slow and methodical process," Replogle said. "The under-sheriff was just speaking and he said that they don't want to make any arrests. They're not planning a big sweep today. They don't even actually have an end date for when they plan to have this area cleared out. They're starting today to go tent by tent, tell people they need to move, [and] give them the option of storing their belongings in containers that they are providing."
Robots steal port jobs — but they also fight climate change
It's the middle of awards season and still no clear frontrunners
The third weekend of 2018 hosted not one but two awards shows. First up, the Producers Guild Awards. Vanity Fair's Rebecca Keegan was there. When she spoke to A Martinez she told him the subtle theme throughout the night was outsiders claiming their place. This was especially highlighted during Jordan Peele's Stanley Kramer Awards acceptance speech:
"I’m encouraged because finally, unique voices are breaking through. The voice of the outsider is increasingly louder, more celebrated and stories from and by those who have been marginalized are now being embraced and that is because of everybody in our room tonight . . . We won’t be silenced. We won’t be suppressed. Art is not just our hope, it’s our weapon to help fight. We will tell our stories, we will show how diverse and honest storytelling opens eyes and hearts. If we hear the support and amplify voices, we can break out of the sunken place together.”
On Sunday, the 24th annual Screen Actors Guild awards took place. For the first time ever, the awards show had a female host, Kristen Bell, and featured all female presenters. Keegan spoke with SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris, who said they'd been planning this move far before the #MeToo movement or Time's up campaign.
"This was not a response to recent events in the industry. But part of SAG is being sort of aware of the way gender is an increasingly hot topic in Hollywood, particularly in regard to pay issues. So, they had been planning for it and were sort of well poised for the moment we're in."
Though there are no front runners in the 2018 awards season, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" got a boost. Sam Rockwell took home the award for outstanding performance by a male actor in a supporting role for "Three Billboards..." and he was one of the few men to give a nod to the Time's up movement in his speech.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjNE5eRIf7M
The film isn't without controversy. "There's a controversy over how race is portrayed in the movie," Keegan said. "Rockwell plays a racist, violent police officer who has some redemption. Some folks aren't crazy about that."
The awards show season continues Tuesday, with the announcement of the Academy Awards nominations.
As Roe v. Wade turns 45, California leads nation in abortion access
Today marks the 45th anniversary of Roe v. Wade -- the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Here in California, women have greater access to providers than they do in other parts of the country.
Carol Sanger is a visiting law professor who specializes in reproductive rights at Harvard University and is author of the book, "About Abortion." She joined Take Two's A Martinez to explain.
Why California has a larger than average percentage of the country's abortion clinics
The answer is that states can add their own flourishes to the regulation of abortion, which is constitutional under a case that followed Roe, so many states burden it by putting all kinds of restrictions on women who want them, abortion providers and the facilities they perform them in, which all increase the cost of abortion and have run quite a few clinics out of business.
The main reasons California women are in a better situation with reproductive rights
One is that there's public funding for abortions for poor women in California under MediCal. Another is that the laws in California are not so restrictive. We lose sight of what women in other states have to go through to get an abortion, and California doesn't have these really serious impediments like a waiting period.
Restrictions imposed by other states
Like waiting periods. You go to your doctor, you're pregnant, you really think this is the wrong decision to have a child right now. So you make an appointment with your doctor or a clinic, and when you go to the clinic, they say you have to come back in 24 hours, 48 hours, 96 hours, because we want you think about this harder. So a number of states burden it that way.