This week on the podcast, hosts Andrew Keatts and Sara Libby sat down with Voice of San Diego immigration reporter Maya Srikrishnan, who just returned from Honduras, where she spent time speaking with deportees and reporting on what’s driving migration from Honduras to the United States.
As she met with migrants who made their way to the U.S.-Mexico border over the last year, Srikrishnan said she was struck by how many Hondurans have relationships with people already in the United States. She wanted to go to Honduras to explore the ways in which those connections drove migration to the U.S.
The Honduran city where she stayed, San Pedro Sula, was the site of constant protests. And when night came, they grew violent. Violence and poverty are key drivers of emigration from the country, Srikrishnan said. But she notes it’s also important to look at individuals, not just the masses.
Srikrishnan: “It’s a good reminder always, when you have conversations with migrants, that they’re still human beings who are making lots of decisions that we never have to make. But they’re also human in the same way that we all are.”
The interview with Srikrishnan starts at 22:40.
Subscribe to her newsletter, The Border Report, to keep up with everything she’s working on.
Note: Srikrishnan was able to report from Honduras thanks to the International Center for Journalists Bring Home the World Fellowship).
Scams and Shakeups
We had a whopper of a story this week on the charter school empire that prosecutors say scammed $80 million from California taxpayers.
The indictment against the leaders of A3 Education lays out a complex organizational structure — one that was able to reach most California counties and fuel the network’s wealth.
At the head of the network were two founders of A3, Sean McManus and Jason Schrock. A3 brought in millions of dollars by enrolling tens of thousands of students through various quirks in California school enrollment systems.
And this week, Lincoln High School got another leadership shakeup.
The school’s principal, Jose Soto-Ramos, has left. He was the school’s fifth leader in 12 years. And all three of the schools’ vice principals were also removed form their positions the day after the school year ended.
And it was made official this week: Rep. Duncan Hunter’s wife has flipped on him.
Margaret Hunter, who was indicted along with her husband last year, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in federal court Thursday, admitting she had spent thousands of dollars from her husband’s campaign account on personal expenses over a number of years.