Cup of Chisme: Why I Was Gone

I got the email on a Tuesday morning in May.

“… We acknowledge that in recent months some DACA renewal requestors have experienced processing times longer …”

My heart sank before I could finish reading the rest.

Let me back up. I’m originally from Guadalajara, Mexico. I moved to the United States with my parents when I was little, and I’ve lived here nearly my entire life. In 2013, I qualified for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. This program allows people who were brought to the United States as children and meet certain qualifications to request the government “defer removal action” against them for a certain period. You also become eligible for a work authorization card. Those of us enrolled in the program are usually called Dreamers.

It’s not a forever thing. Dreamers need to renew every two years, and this is something I have done for more than 10 years. I make a note on my calendar about when I need to renew my permit, and I always apply early to prevent delays. But this year renewals were taking longer than usual and in June my work permit expired, before a new one arrived. It forced me to take a leave of absence from Voice of San Diego.

Without getting into all the details, this was one of the most difficult times in my life.

I hated having no control over when I could return to work. I was sad and anxious about how long the break would be and how much pressure it would put on my colleagues, who were stepping up to fill in the gaps. I actually missed going to meetings. And I really did not like not having the inside scoop on what was going on in this city.

I lost my routine, community and, in a way, my purpose.

Last week, I returned and I couldn’t be happier about it. It just feels right. You know when you haven’t seen an old friend for a while, and then you see them and it feels like you’ve hardly been apart? That’s how I felt on my first day back. I’m happy to be running this newsroom again and co-hosting the most popular public affairs podcast in San Diego.

It truly is an honor to work with such dedicated journalists on stories that push San Diego to be a better place for everyone.

Chisme to Start Your Week

• Capitol reporter Deborah Brennan dug into a new law that many parents are fired up about. This is the new school gender identity law that prohibits school districts from requiring teachers to disclose a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity to their families. There was a lot of confusion about what the law does and doesn’t do, so she’s got everything you need to know. Read the full story here.
• Tigist Layne, our North County reporter, has been following a fight between a developer who wants to build an affordable housing project and the city of Del Mar. The developer has argued that the city needs to approve its project because of a state housing law, but the city disagrees. Now, a court decision out of Los Angeles could shed more light on the dispute. Read more here.
• You’ll be hearing a lot about the city of San Diego’s efforts to recycle wastewater into drinking water as the first phase of the project moves along. So, we thought it was time to explain how wastewater gets recycled and what you need to know about the project. Read the story here. Or for the more Instagram inclined, check out a video explainer here.
• We’ve been writing a lot about how a new law could put more pressure on the county’s treatment system. Last week, Lisa Halverstadt reported that despite an overdose crisis and pressure to implement a new law, the county still only has 78 detox beds for people with Medi-Cal insurance. She unpacks what this means for the months ahead and what’s at stake. Read the full story here.