Major funding for Kpbs Evening Edition has been made possible in part by Bill Howe family of companies providing San Diego with plumbing, heating, air restoration and flood services for over 40 years.

Call one 800 Bill Howe or visit Bill howe.com and by the Conrad Prebys Foundation.

Darlene Marcos Shively.

And by the following.

And by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm John Carroll in for Maya Trabulsi.

We begin with breaking news.

Ground and air crews are responding to a vegetation fire on the border of Carlsbad and San Marcos.

The Claro fire was first reported just before three this afternoon in a canyon near Corte Claro and Paseo Encino.

Kpbs reporter Tania Thorne is live at the scene where evacuation orders are in place.

Tania, what more can you tell us about the situation?

Yeah, John.

We're here.

All right.

Off the road in Carlsbad.

Now, this area is right on the borderline of San Marcos and Carlsbad, where the fire broke a little bit before three.

But we have seen choppers just dropping water and retardant over this hill that you can just see how close it is to these homes that are nearby.

Lots of vegetation.

But really our fire crews on the scene have been acting very, very quickly.

And they got on it because just a few minutes ago we got news that the fire has been stopped.

Those evacuation orders have not been lifted yet, so any homeowners that have evacuated have not have not gotten orders to return to their homes.

We did see some homeowners that decided to wait, and it seems like they might not have to evacuate.

But if they do or if anything does progress, they are asking for any homeowners or residents that did get evacuated to go to Stagecoach Park.

Now we're going to stay here on the scene to see how things go.

If anything changes, and we'll make sure to give you those live updates as soon as we get them.

And so we will hang tight here.

Live in Carlsbad.

Tania Thorne, Kpbs news.

Thank you.

Tania.

Reaction is pouring into a physical confrontation between Homeland Security agents and California's senior senator.

The incident played out during a live news conference in Los Angeles.

Andrew Bowen has more on the confrontation and the uproar it's causing in Washington.

The confrontation took place while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem spoke to reporters on the status of Ice operations.

Senator Padilla interrupted the press conference and attempted to ask Noem questions about the administration's deportation actions.

As he identified himself, officers forcibly removed him from the room, pinned him to the floor, and began to handcuff him.

Another officer then blocked a camera held by Padilla's staffer and said recording was prohibited.

If this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, it can only imagine what they're doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country.

We will hold this administration accountable.

Secretary Noem later told reporters she's since spoken with Padilla on the phone about Ice operations in Los Angeles.

I wish that he would have reached out and identified himself and let us know who he was, and that he wanted to talk his approach.

You know, was something that I don't think was appropriate at all.

But the conversation was great, and we're going to continue to communicate.

The altercation led to swift condemnation from Democrats with Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii saying peaceful protest and disruption are American values.

Alex Padilla is not required to be impeccable in every single way in order to exercise his responsibilities as an American and as the one of the two that represents California in the United States Senate.

This is the stuff of dictatorships.

Also on Thursday, Secretary Noem accompanied Ice agents in a raid at a home in Huntington Park in South Central LA.

But the man they were seeking was not at home.

Andrew Bowen, Kpbs news.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents continue to arrest people as they come out of immigration court.

Kpbs reporter Gustavo Solis says this is part of the Trump administration's broader legal strategy to increase deportations.

Is there a judicial warrant?

When Ice agents began arresting people in San Diego's immigration court.

Local immigration lawyers were not surprised.

We had heard about this happening in other cities, and we were kind of just waiting for our turn.

We knew it was coming.

So they mobilized.

Tracy Crowley was one of them.

On May 22nd, she rushed to the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building in downtown San Diego and represented a Colombian man seeking political asylum.

He can't go back home.

He is in danger at home, and that's why he's here.

He had filed his asylum application.

He had attended every single court hearing.

And he was doing things the right way because he is an attorney in Columbia and knows how important it is to fulfill your legal obligations if you want the benefit of being in a new country.

Even though Crowley says the man obey the law and showed up to his hearing, Ice agents arrested him when he walked out of the courtroom.

Immigration lawyers say this is an example of a new tactic in the Trump administration's mass deportation strategy.

It involves funneling people into fast track deportation hearings known as expedited removals.

Ginger Jacobs is an immigration lawyer with more than 20 years of experience.

This is very unusual.

That's why it's getting a lot of attention.

The strategy is that the Department of Homeland Security attorney who is considered like the prosecutor in the case, says to make a motion to the judge.

And I think most of the motions were oral.

From what I could tell, saying we would like to terminate proceedings.

We would like to dismiss all charges against this person.

Now, normally, we would think as an immigration attorney, you would think that's a good thing.

Hey, your client's out of immigration court proceedings.

Yeah.

Now you can maybe move on to pursue another form of relief.

But that is not what's happening.

My terminating cases.

Jacobs says that the federal government can then re-arrest immigrants who have been in the country less than two years and try to deport them without a formal hearing.

But the reason that they were trying to terminate cases was that if the case was terminated, if the person was not under the court's jurisdiction, then they were being subjected to expedited removal proceedings, which is a form of removal that does not involve a judge under expedited removal, immigrants have far fewer rights.

They don't get a lawyer, and instead of a hearing by an impartial judge, they are interviewed by a Department of Homeland Security employee.

Lawyers say that this strategy is a way to avoid giving immigrants due process.

It is exactly what immigration lawyer Andreanna Sarkis says.

Ice tried to do to one of her clients.

It seems that they're targeting people who have been in the United States for under two years, because they're able to put them in expedited removal proceedings instead of waiting for the entire process to reach the end.

Sarkis Opposed Ice's motion to dismiss her case.

So the client was not put into expedited removal, but he was still arrested and sent to the Otay Mesa Detention Center, where more than 80% of all detainees do not have a criminal record.

Crowley and other immigration lawyers say that these cases undercut the Trump administration's claim that they're focusing on murders, rapists and other violent criminals.

They said they only wanted to go after the criminals and the people doing bad things in the community.

And they've said that since the beginning that that's their priority.

They're not going to find those people going to court like those people are not there.

They blew off their court dates.

Ice did not respond to a request to comment on these criticisms.

Crowley hopes that these cases have at least one silver lining, that they lead to a change in public opinion about immigration issues.

I think people prefer this to be under the rug and outside of their field of vision, but now that it's in their field of vision, maybe people will get behind comprehensive immigration reform that treats people with respect and dignity.

Recent polling shows that just over 50% of Americans still approve of Trump's immigration policy, but it is a slight drop from February.

Gustavo Solis, Kpbs news.

I'm Ariella Scalese Coming up tonight, as we look ahead, we'll drop down to about 60 degrees.

A pretty cool and comfortable night with some intermittent clouds.

So should be a nice evening.

We'll talk about pretty seasonable weather and a little bit of a weekend Warm-Up.

The state budget deadline is Sunday, and California is facing a $12 billion deficit.

This week, state lawmakers voted to move forward with Medi-Cal cuts that could affect thousands of immigrants without legal status living in California.

Kpbs health reporter Heidi DeMarco explains why some critics say even a legislative compromise cuts too much.

In January, Governor Gavin Newsom proposed sweeping changes to Medi-Cal, California's public health program for low income residents.

Among them was freezing new enrollment for immigrants without legal status, cutting dental and long term care, and charging a $100 monthly premium.

On Tuesday, state lawmakers voted to modify parts of Newsom's plan.

Our solutions are are absolutely in no way perfect.

The revised plan still freezes new Medi-Cal enrollment for immigrant adults without legal status starting in 2026, but it adds a six month grace period so participants are not automatically kicked out.

And it removes the age out rule, which would have cutoff coverage at 26.

It lowers the monthly premium to $30 and delays dental cuts by a year.

Lawmakers also rejected eliminating long term and in-home care services.

This really is an attack on immigrant communities at a time when we're seeing really extreme and frightening federal attacks.

Advocates like Kiran Savage Sangwan say the message behind the cuts is damaging.

This is telling us that the state government, the governor and legislative leaders are willing to balance California's budget on the backs of hardworking immigrant families.

A statewide poll released this week suggests lawmakers may be out of step with voters.

It finds 56% of Californians support keeping Medi-Cal coverage for all low income residents, regardless of immigration status.

More than two dozen local doctors and health care workers signed a letter this month urging Senator Akilah Webber Pearson to reject the plan.

Pediatrician Maya Kumar is one of them.

I'm not a politician.

I'm not, you know, a financial expert.

So I don't know what the options are, but I just feel like there are some things that should be untouchable and health care should be one of them.

Health advocates are anticipating overwhelmed emergency rooms, rising health care costs for everyone, and reversing progress toward health equity.

I mean, we're talking about legislating discrimination.

The legislature will have to live with the people that will die and the people that will get sicker because of this proposal.

Despite the backlash, Senator Weber voted yes on the modified plan.

None of it was an easy decision, nothing that we've had to do.

I mean, people don't go into this to to take things away.

I know I didn't.

You know, unfortunately, this is where we are right now from a financial standpoint.

The legislature and governor have until June 15th to finalize and pass the budget.

Heidi DeMarco, Kpbs news.

The state is launching a new mortgage assistance program today to help home homeowners impacted by recent disasters.

Kpbs reporter Jacob Aere says that includes the people affected by the January 2024 flooding in San Diego.

Even a year and a half after the January 2024 floods rocked San Diego neighborhoods, many are still recovering.

You could basically say it it's uninhabitable because my windows still need repair and my doors need repair.

Greg Montoya and William Valadez live about five blocks from each other in South Crest.

They also happen to work together at UCSD Scripps Pier.

Both homeowners properties sustained significant damage from the disaster.

All the water that was in my basement got trapped in my basement, and then I used the pump to take all the water out.

When it first happened, I got some contractors to come out and give estimates.

One of my estimates for the house was 435,000.

I received 82,000 from my flood insurance company.

The state is now offering grants to help cover mortgages for disaster victims whose homes were left destroyed or left uninhabitable by recent disasters.

It's called the Cal Assist mortgage fund program.

Eligible homeowners who had faced a disaster in the state of California between January 2023 and January 2025 are eligible to receive three months of their mortgage payments or a $20,000 cap.

Rebecca Franklin is with the California Housing Finance Agency.

She says the funds don't have to be repaid, but there are eligibility requirements.

It must have been their primary home at the time of the disaster.

You must not have owned another home in the state of California as well as there's an income limit.

Franklin says that income limit differs by county.

In San Diego, it's just over $172,000 per household annually.

Montoya and Balladur's say they both tried to apply online this morning, but the website isn't working.

Still, they remain optimistic.

I don't know if I meet all the qualifications I got through the first page, and I'm hoping that I do qualify because I need all the help I can get.

There's still a smell, but it's like, where else do I go?

You know, I can't afford to pay the mortgage on something and live in another apartment and, you know, wait to, you know, to see if someone helps me.

I mean, funds are limited, and it's first come, first serve.

All in.

There's $105 million in national mortgage settlement funds for the program.

Franklin says they expect to help 10,000 households.

It's free to apply at Cal Assist mortgage fund.org.

Jacob Aere, Kpbs news.

I'm Amna Nawaz tonight on the NewsHour.

The latest on the deadly Air India crash.

That's coming up at seven after Evening Edition on Kpbs.

Commuters in North County know full well the traffic headache that is the 1578 interchange.

Caltrans plans to build a connector express lane from Interstate 15 onto State Route 78 through San Marcos.

Kpbs North County reporter Alexander Nguyen has more on the Just Complete Draft environmental Impact Report.

Right now, in order to get on State Route 78 from the express lean on Interstate 15, you need to cross over five lanes of traffic.

At the same time, dodging incoming traffic from West Valley Parkway.

That's why Caltrans sandag the City of San Marcos want to build a new connector ramp between the existing express lane and three miles of newly proposed express link on the 78.

So, by providing this direct connector between the I-15 express lanes and future express lanes on State Route 78, or reduce or eliminate that that movement of of traffic.

Victor Mercado is the North County Corridor director for Caltrans.

He says that interchange produces most of the traffic congestion for the westbound 78, and more than half of the traffic exits within the first three off ramps.

Mercado says it's a balancing act, determining how much of the newly proposed expressly on the 78 to build, how much is going to cost, and then the impacts to the congestion in the area.

So building three miles was consider and determine that was enough to provide, traffic, relief in that section of the highway.

This project has been in the works for a while.

The environmental impact study began in 2019.

Now that the draft is out, Caltrans is asking for feedback from the public.

It's going to make it better for drivers, but more importantly, to provide transportation options and alternatives to the community, not just for the people who are driving, but people that use public transportation as well as, active transportation modes like pedestrians and bicyclists.

In addition to the express lane, the project will include reconstructing the Bottom Drive and Woodland Parkway interchange to accommodate the new lanes, as well as a fully separated pathway for bicyclists and pedestrians.

The project is expected to cost $490 million and could be completed by 2030.

But right now, Caltrans has enough funding through the design phase, and the rest of the funding is pending.

For now, residents can view the draft EIR at the website on your screen.

The deadline to submit comments is July 7th.

Alexander Nguyen, Kpbs news.

The Ice raids are making a huge impact on several communities, with many afraid to even come out of their homes out of concern over possible deportation.

As Michelle Gile explains, businesses are feeling the brunt of it.

As immigration sweeps continue to spread fear across Santa Ana, Latino businesses like Birria El Tapatillo are taking a hit.

Manager David Gomez says sales are down by half.

And did come out of nowhere.

I feel like myself mentally.

I try to prepare for it, but I don't think I want to be this drastic.

And, hopefully it can be over soon.

Since Monday, the lunch crowd has dwindled at the popular taqueria.

Dinner time is even worse.

A lot of it is for the raids that are going on.

A lot of people are scared to come out.

The fear they're seeing, the videos that are circulating online.

So, just people are just staying home and not coming out.

Parking lots look emptier at places like superior grocers.

Employees say fewer are out shopping.

In some spots around Santa Ana.

The sidewalks are practically empty.

Midday traffic on a normally busy main street looks more like a holiday.

Yeah, many people say scary.

And now go to the shopping.

A lot.

The store and I don't know very few people on the street, very few people.

And, not that many cars.

Like, we used to have it every day.

They are telling me, no, no, they don't go out.

They stay home for a couple of weeks until everything, come down.

The Vietnamese community in Santa Ana, Westminster, Garden Grove and Valley are experiencing the same fear and anxiety.

Tracy La runs the local nonprofit, Viet Rise that defends the most vulnerable in the immigrant community.

We've talked to a lot of Vietnamese communities, families who have been checking in with Ice, regularly for the last several years.

It could be as little as seven years or 25 years.

And they're being arrested at these ins.

What used to be just routine meetings with Ice will take maybe 20, 30 minutes.

They're ending in arrests.

And we're heading into such a nice time of year here locally.

And we're going to be keeping things pretty seasonal.

That means temperatures will be right near the historical average, and we continue to remain dry.

Now.

By the weekend, temperatures may trend a little further upwards, so may notice a bit of a difference here by Saturday and Sunday.

And at times we'll still have some of those coastal low clouds spreading a bit further inland at night.

And in the early mornings it's a pretty comfortable night, even lower temperatures compared to where we were the last few nights.

Borrego Springs 66, Mount Laguna 60.

We'll leave a dip to the 50s, Oceanside and Chula Vista.

So certainly one of the, cooler nights we've had so far this week, as some of us are experiencing some of that warmer weather.

Memberi talked about the the temperature roller coaster.

Well, now we're gonna start to climb back up slowly Friday.

I think we'll still have highs right near the historical average.

We're staying dry.

Thunderstorms will be impacting areas of Colorado and New Mexico, including Denver.

We'll also be watching comfortable temperatures.

I mean, we don't even get to 70 in San Diego for our Friday lower 70s in Oceanside.

And we'll just make it to 70 in Chula Vista.

Borrego Springs will still have the triple digits.

Temperatures will be going even higher than that.

And we'll be tracking that here as we head into the weekend.

So a little bit more warmth.

You see how the orange pushes closer to San Diego?

So that's going to be tracking temperatures back above the historical average as we head into the day Saturday.

And for Father's Day on Sunday, we'll also be seeing temperatures trend higher here.

And if you're traveling, we have more thunderstorms moving in across the central and eastern parts of the United States.

We'll take you out the coast the next five days, and we'll be seeing the heat peak on Sunday, but it's still really pleasant for us, and we'll keep temperatures a little bit elevated by Monday before a little bit more cloud coverage and cooler temperatures by Tuesday.

Similar story here.

Further inland, the warmest day for us will be on Sunday.

Then we'll start to see temperatures trimmed a bit more by Monday and Tuesday.

And for the mountains, we'll stay pretty comfortable here into the mid 70s before dropping lower on Monday.

And your hottest day on in the desert comes on Sunday.

For Kpbs news, I'm Ariella Scalese.

It was 62 years ago this month when, despite June gloom, cloudy skies, San Diego was shining brightly on the national stage.

President Kennedy was in town, and a parade in his honor drew thousands of spectators.

For one man in the crowd, it was a particularly memorable day.

He and his camera caught a moment in history about San Diego.

Here's Ken Kramer.

I want to show you a couple of things.

First, this is Redford's restaurant, El Cajon Boulevard, 2900 block between 30th and Kansas streets.

You know the place.

Okay, that's one thing.

And here is a camera that Mr.

James Day bought in 1963.

A 35 millimeter camera.

My first 35 millimeter camera.

And I bought it right up the street here at Boulevard camera.

It's like a block away.

Now, go back to that day, June the 6th, 1963.

There was President Kennedy coming down El Cajon Boulevard with his motorcade, you know, way down the street.

We could see Kennedy come in waving at people, saying, oh, this is cool.

President Kennedy is really here.

Well, he's thinking new camera.

I'd love to get a picture of Kennedy, but oh, no, the president is looking the wrong way at the other side of the street.

And I complained to one of my friends.

I said, geez, I hope he looks over here and goes.

And then my friend Miriam whip whipped around the bus.

We'll get him to look for you.

I thought, oh my God, what are these guys going to do?

You know, getting closer, going to have time for one picture.

That's it.

My friends started chanting loudly.

Cuber, Cuber, Cuber.

Not necessarily mocking, but imitating.

His, is Harvard accent because we'd seen him on TV so much.

Talking about Cuba may not have been the cleverest thing in the world, but it worked.

Kennedy comes by and I lean forward over the people in front of me, and they're still chanting Cuber, Cuber, Cuber and focus.

You know, remember, this is not autofocus days.

This is manual focus.

I focus the best I could.

Clicked off one picture and you know and he was waving and then went by.

And now we're moving at a decent clip you know.

So I thought well either I got it or I don't.

Which brings us back to Redford's here, which just happened to be right across the street from where James was trying to take his picture.

And yes, it did turn out.

Here it is, the president in the foreground, and Redford's in the background.

And so.

Well did James and his camera work that day that the restaurant owner later ended up buying the picture and blowing it up into a mural on the outside wall of the place, seen by countless thousands over the years Now there's his name as the photographer who just happened to have the right camera and the right crazy friends, and the right exposure at the right focus at the right time to document a little history about San Diego.

And it's still there.

Go check it out.

You can see more of Ken Kramer's stories about San Diego tonight and every Thursday night at eight.

Right here on Kpbs.

We want to recap the breaking news we had at the start of this newscast.

Ground and air crews are responding to a vegetation fire on the border of Carlsbad and San Marcos.

The Claro fire was first reported just before three this afternoon.

Cal fire says it's grown to 45 acres in a canyon behind Camino Minero.

San Marcos Fire provided an update just before five that the forward rate of spread has been stopped.

There was an evacuation order is issued for a neighborhood in that area.

Affected people are being told to go to Stagecoach Park.

You can find tonight's stories on our website, kpbs.org.

Thank you so much for joining us, everybody.

I'm John Carroll.

Have a great evening.

Major funding for Kpbs Evening Edition has been made possible in part by Bill Howe, family of companies providing San Diego with plumbing, heating, air restoration and flood services for over 40 years.

Call one 800 Bill Howe or visit Bill howe.com.

And by the Conrad Prebys Foundation.

Darlene Marcos Shiley And by the following.

And by viewers like you.

Thank you.