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While politicians in Washington are hashing out a framework for immigration reform, a program launched last year that provides short-term work authorization for undocumented immigrants is making the news in California.

A story from New America Media this week says the crisis in adult education services in California could prove to be an impediment to thousands of undocumented youth seeking work permits under the program.

Undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. before they were 16 years old or were under the age of 31 when the program took effect can apply for work permits through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. One of the program’s requirements is that applicants must have a high school diploma or other educational qualifications.

According to the analysis provided by EdSource, a nonprofit education reporting website, California’s adult education system is deteriorating due to budget woes, low enrollment and other problems, putting young people who want to take courses to qualify for work authorization through Deferred Action in a precarious situation. The irony is that the adult education system is shrinking at a time when demand for such courses is swinging upward.

In the Bay Area, young people who qualified for work permits as a result of Deferred Action are now moving forward with their professional aspirations.

Ayary Diaz, a San Jose resident, recently shared her story on KQED’s “California Report” of her struggles with unemployment as an undocumented immigrant. She said her academic accomplishments brought her joy, but also caused sorrow, because her immigration status barred her from applying for jobs. Because of Deferred Action, Diaz now has a Social Security number and a work permit, and is on the path to building her career.

“This is a vindication of everything I’ve worked hard for,” Diaz said. “I can finally come out of the shadows, stop hiding who I am and shine in a country that I’ve always considered my home.”

Last week KALW Public Radio interviewed a student and aspiring lawyer at Mills College in Oakland who recently got a work permit through Deferred Action, so she can now legally work for two years.

Although the Deferred Action program has provisionally changed young undocumented immigrants’ employment status, it doesn’t address the issue of long-term employment. 

“Being told that they have something that’s temporary — two years and that may be taken away at anytime — is certainly a far cry from what they would want and deserve,” Marillia Zelner, who helps students prepare for the Deferred Action program, told KALW.

By Ariel Rubissow Okamoto, Bay Nature 

San Francisco Bay is clearing up. Its waters may never have the sparkle of a receding wave on Maui. But someday you might be able to walk out into the Bay till your belly button gets wet and still see your feet. As it turns out, however, this might not be such a good thing.

The Bay’s turbidity–its dirty, muddy, cloudy quality–is legendary among estuarine scientists. That’s why in 1999, when they conducted their annual monitoring of suspended sediment in Central Valley river flows into the Bay, they were shocked to find half as much as in the prior year. The sediment in question is mostly tiny mineral particles of silt and clay that can drift in the water or settle onto wet surfaces and make “mud.” The finding wasn’t a data glitch; sediment concentrations have stayed lower ever since. And it’s so big, scientists call it a “step change.”

While this step change may be intriguing to scientists–it has inspired a raft of new research–most people might be excused for not getting too worked up over having less mud in the Bay. Still, for marsh managers, it’s becoming topic No. 1. 

Read the complete story at Bay Nature. 

By Esther Honig, Crosscurrents, KALW

When you are undocumented in this country, it usually means you carry around a very big secret. So naturally, even when the president says he’s getting serious about immigration reform – as he did recently in Nevada – it’s still hard for undocumented people to believe they might find a legal place in society.

In June, the Obama administration issued an executive order called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

“It’s a way from undocumented you to really come out of the shadows to ideally be able to put their education and their experience to use in a productive setting,” President Obama said.

Marillia Zelner helps students apply for DACA in California, which basically gives young people a chance to get a temporary work permit. California has the largest number of DACA participants so far, but initially the turnout was low. The strict guidelines and two-year limit of the work permit made applying for DACA a risky venture for many undocumented young people. In Zelner’s eyes, this program is more than just a legal undertaking.

Read the complete story at Crosscurrents, KALW

 

By Laird Harrison, KQED News Fix

When the San Francisco Giants won the World Series, the celebration turned ugly with cars overturned, a bus set on fire and 36 arrests. Now S.F. Mayor Ed Lee is running into challenges as he tries to prevent similar violence if the San Francisco 49ers win the Super Bowl.

Last week, Lee suggested that establishments serving alcohol switch to something softer, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The mayor said Thursday that next week he and Police Chief Greg Suhr will tour neighborhoods hit by vandalism after the World Series and during Occupy Wall Street protests last year to offer support to business owners and "also to suggest that they serve something (other) than heavy alcohol during times of celebration, because that inebriation sometimes doesn’t help with people who want to maybe go beyond the bounds of acceptability in their celebration."

Read the complete story at KQED News Fix.