Morning Report: Baja Becoming a Senior Care Destination

There’s a lot of talk about San Diego’s high housing costs, but the conversation rarely extends to include assisted-living facilities and nursing homes.

The ballooning bill for seniors who live in facilities in Southern California is driving an increasing number of them to head to Mexico in search of more affordable care across the border.

Voice of San Diego’s Maya Srikrishnan looks into the growing trend in senior care.

Estimates put the savings in opting to move to Mexico for senior care at anywhere from 61 percent to 240 percent, Srikrishnan reports.

Medicare reimbursements aren’t accepted in Mexico yet, so there are some issues related to moving to Baja.

But San Diego developer Gabriel Andres Garzo, who’s building a mixed-use development in Tijuana and hopes to have an assisted-living facility as one of its tenants, told Srikrishnan that he thinks skyrocketing living costs in Southern California will continue to drive the trend.

“If you’re looking at the data, there are people who won’t be able to afford to retire or age gracefully in San Diego or Southern California,” Garzo said.

Soccer in San Diego, or Nah?

Will public dollars be spent if the City Council eventually approves the Major League Soccer stadium plan?

The devil is in the details, says the U-T’s Dan McSwain, who imagines the ways in which a subsidy could emerge as the group of private investors moves forward with their proposal to redevelop Mission Valley’s Qualcomm Stadium site.

• An op-ed in the U-T praises the soccer stadium plan as a major economic booster and a good deal for taxpayers. The authors also like the new housing included in the plan.

• Hold up, says urban designer Howard M. Blackson. In a new Voice of San Diego op-ed, Blackson makes the case for first getting significant community input and putting together a solid plan based on shared values before approving any redevelopment plans for Qualcomm Stadium.

Borderland Tensions Rising

Reports of increased immigration enforcement across the southwestern United States have left the region’s immigrant community panicked.

And yet, the official line from Immigration and Customs Enforcement is that none of the enforcement actions making headlines are out of the ordinary.

The U-T looked at the numbers and talked to local ICE officials who said any reports of escalated enforcement in San Diego County are rumors. Border officials told the U-T that no changes have trickled down since President Donald Trump signed an executive order greenlighting a border wall and stepping up enforcement and detainment actions.

• The Associated Press tracked a few of the big moments from Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly’s visit Friday to San Diego as part of his tour to assess current border infrastructure. The AP reports that San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman asked Kelly for a definition of a sanctuary city and he replied that he didn’t have a clue. Yeah, no one seems to.

• Whether immigration enforcement efforts have been stepped up in the region or not, one church in Normal Heights is offering sanctuary to anyone who needs it. (NBC 7 San Diego)

• A refugee from Somalia stopped in San Diego but wasn’t granted asylum so he headed north into Canada. The New York Times reports on the steady stream of immigrants bypassing the United States.

• Trump’s talk of gutting the North American Free Trade Agreement and possibly imposing a 20 percent tax on goods leaving Mexico for the United States has some Tijuana residents worried. (NPR)

• NBC 7 San Diego talked to the executive director of the University of San Diego’s Trans-Border Institute about the uncertainty inflicted on the Tijuana/San Diego region because of Trump’s border proposals and some of the potential impacts the shifts could cause.

• The San Ysidro Port of Entry was closed for the sixth straight weekend. (NBC 7 San Diego)

Protests Pop Up Across San Diego

About 2,000 protesters in Encinitas marched in support of Planned Parenthood on Saturday. (U-T)

In downtown San Diego, a local water conservation group staged a protest and march that stopped at banks they said are funding the Dakota Access Pipeline project. (10News)

Meanwhile, supporters of Trump’s executive order to ban refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries held a rally Saturday near a mosque in Clairemont. (Fox 5)

Weekend News Roundup

• The Padres held a free fan rally over the weekend and offered folks a $25 credit for Padres swag in exchange for old Chargers merchandise. The U-T counted about 500 Chargers items traded in just a little more than hour into the event and talked to former football fans who were ready to move forward.

• I made an appearance on NBC 7’s “Politically Speaking” to talk about the arts renaissance and gentrification happening in Barrio Logan and my Culturecast podcast series.

• Potholes are everywhere! Thanks a lot, rain. (U-T)

• The San Diego Unified School District talked about some of the details of its climate action plan at a community meeting. (Reader)

• A new farmers market in Bankers Hill showcases marijuana instead of the usual fare. (CBS 8 San Diego)

• If you’ve never ventured out to Anza-Borrego to see the spring cactus and wildflower blooms, now is the time. (Times of San Diego)