Los Angeles Times - 27.08.2019

B4 TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019 LATIMES.COM

crisis ... until today.”
More than 760,000 people
have been apprehended by
the Border Patrol this fiscal
year as of July, a 92% in-
crease over last year with
two months left in fiscal year
2 019.
Trump said last week
that the policy change was
being made on humanitari-
an grounds.
“Very much I have the
children on my mind. It bo-
thers me very greatly,” the
president told reporters at
the White House. “When
they see you can’t get into
the United States ... they
won’t come. And many peo-
ple will be saved. Many wom-
en’s lives will not be de-
stroyed.”
Newsom told reporters at
a morning news conference
at the state Department of
Justice on Monday that the
suggestion that Trump is
acting on behalf of children
is “laughable and ludicrous.”
“The policies of this ad-
ministration are exacerbat-
ing the early childhood
trauma of young children —
seven, by the way, who have
lost their lives,” Newsom
said.
The lawsuit announced
Monday argues that the new
policy interferes with the
states’ ability to help ensure
the health, safety and wel-
fare of children by under-
mining state licensing re-
quirements for facilities
where children are held. The
complaint also says the
Trump administration rule
will result in the vast expan-
sion of family detention cen-
ters, which are not state-li-
censed facilities and have
been found to cause in-
creased trauma in children.
The lawsuit says the rule
will lead to prolonged deten-
tion for children, with sig-
nificant long-term negative
health consequences.

The new policy also vio-

lates the due process clause

of the 5th Amendment to the

U.S. Constitution, the states

argue.

The state officials say the

regulations remove protec-

tions guaranteed by the Flo-

res settlement, which was

the result of a class-action

lawsuit filed in federal court

in California alleging sub-

standard conditions of con-

finement for unaccompa-

nied immigrant children.

That lawsuit, named for

migrant Jenny Lisette Flo-

res, ended up with the U.S.

Supreme Court before fed-

eral officials agreed to a set-

tlement in 1997. The agree-

ment required children be

released “without unneces-

sary delay” to their parents,

legal guardians, individuals

designated by the parents or

a licensed program willing to

accept custody, Becerra

said.

“It’s an assault on the

Flores decision,” Newsom

said last week in an inter-

view on CNN.

“Clearly, I think it will be

rejected by the courts,” the

governor said, adding that

“California will once again

assert itself in the court of

law.”

One legal expert raised

doubts about California’s

case.

Congress has delegated

power over immigration pol-

icy to the president, said

Robert Pushaw, a law pro-

fessor at Pepperdine Uni-

versity, who added that fed-

eral law preempts state law,

including the states’ “police

power” to protect public

health, safety and welfare.

Pushaw said that unless

the new rule does not com-

ply with administrative pro-

cedures for changing regula-

tions, “the states’ lawsuit

will probably fail if it gets to

the U.S. Supreme Court.”

However, he added, “it is

entirely possible that a lower

federal court will give the

states a temporary victory,

perhaps by holding that the

Trump administration is de-

priving the immigrant chil-

dren of liberty without first

affording them due process

of law.”

The lawsuit filed Monday

came a month after Califor-

nia and other states went to

court over concerns that

children were being held for

weeks without access to ba-

sic necessities such as soap,

clean water, toothbrushes,

showers or a place to sleep,

Becerra noted.

Also part of the latest

lawsuit are the District of

Columbia and 18 other

states in addition to Califor-

nia: Massachusetts, Con-

necticut, Delaware, Illinois,

Maine, Maryland, Michigan,

Minnesota, Nevada, New

Jersey, New Mexico, New

York, Oregon, Pennsylvania,

Rhode Island, Vermont, Vir-

ginia and Washington.

A spokesman for the Fed-

eration for American Immi-

gration Reform, which advo-

cates for tougher enforce-

ment, said the states’ law-

suit is without merit.

“This case appears to be

yet another attempt by the

open-borders lobby and the

anti-Trump contingent to

find activist judges in federal

district courts who are will-

ing to engage in all manner of

inappropriate judicial gym-

nastics in order to furnish

foreign nationals with all

kinds of ‘rights’ that neither

the Constitution, nor any

federal statutes, actually

confer upon them,” said

Matthew J. O’Brien, director

of research for the group.

Becerra also announced

Monday that he filed for a

preliminary injunction to

put on hold a new “public

charge” rule that could deny

green cards to immigrants

who receive public assist-

ance, including food stamps,

Medicaid and housing

vouchers.

California’s record in su-

ing Trump on immigration

issues has been mixed. The

state previously won an in-

junction to block the end of a

program that defers depor-

tation for immigrants

brought to the U.S. as chil-

dren. California is also ap-

pealing a court decision

against state efforts to block

construction of a border

wall.

The Trump administra-

tion dropped its plan to ask a

citizenship question on the

U.S. census after California

sued.

California, 18 other states sue Trump administration

MIGRANTSseeking asylum are held at the Paso del Norte International Bridge

in El Paso. A new lawsuit is challenging the administration’s detention policies.

Gary CoronadoLos Angeles Times

[Immigration,from B1]

“The CHP knows this has
been a widespread practice
in the organization for dec-
ades when it comes to Cal-
trans details and dignitary
protection,” Cooley said.
“Everyone including the
commissioner as officers
have participated in details
that last only three or four
hours of the eight hours as-
signed.”
At least 14 officers from
the East L.A. station are be-
ing terminated, while the
conduct of 90 others is still
under review. Cooley said as
many as 60 officers face ter-
mination.
In announcing the inves-
tigation in February, CHP
Chief Mark Garrett, who
oversees the Southern Divi-
sion, said the agency had
provided details of its crimi-
nal probe to L.A. County
Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey.
Garrett said the agency

examined records at 103

commands across the state

and that the improper activ-

ity was an “aberration” con-

fined to the East L.A. sta-

tion.

He said there were “ring-

leaders” inside the station

who were behind the

scheme, which he said goes

back at least two years, but

did not elaborate.

Garrett said the agency

uncovered at least $360,

in fake overtime. The East

L.A. station allocated about

$2.5 million for reimbursable

overtime during the two

years covered by the investi-

gation, officials said.

The department de-

clined to comment when

asked why it won’t release

the overtime records of

those who are not subjects of

the probe and whether the

practice of leaving work sites

occurred beyond East L.A.

“The department is con-

tinuing to investigate this

matter and no further com-

ments will be made until the

investigation is complete,”

said Fran Clader, the agen-

cy’s communications direc-

tor.

The Los Angeles County

district attorney’s Justice

System Integrity Division is

reviewing whether criminal

fraud charges will be filed

against the East L.A. offi-

cers.

CHP officers can earn lu-

crative overtime for the Cal-

trans work crew details. The

job typically involves sitting

in a cruiser at either end of a

construction zone to ensure

motorists don’t get too close

to the workers.

Scores of Caltrans work-

ers have been killed and hun-

dreds have been injured,

most the victims of errant

motorists who have plowed

into work crews on freeways.

CHP Commissioner War-

ren Stanley said this year

that he was appalled at the

scope of the alleged miscon-

duct by law enforcement of-

ficials and indicated it ex-

tended beyond officers to

higher-level managers.

In their lawsuit, Cooley

and attorney Brentford Fer-

reira cite a 2012 written pol-

icy that officers contracted

for eight hours of overtime

who are released early from

Caltrans duty may receive

pay for the entire time as

long as they stand by at the

office.

In practice, many officers

remain on call away from the

office, the lawsuit claims.

“Now that cellphones are

universally available, offi-

cers sometimes went home

rather than back to the sta-

tion, but remain on-call by

cellphone,” the motion filed

Wednesday said. In an inter-

view, Cooley said there was

an on-call coordinator at the

East L.A. station.

In court documents cited

by Cooley, retired Sgt.

William Preciado said that

protocol has been in place

for 20 years. Preciado said in

his sworn declaration that

investigators assigned to

look into the current alleged

misconduct have participa-

ted in the same work

schemes.

A former top CHP chief

who spoke to The Times on

condition of anonymity be-

cause of the ongoing investi-

gation said it was standard

practice that officers would

often leave a work site if their

duties were not needed for a

full eight hours. The chief

questioned why the East

L.A. station was singled out.

In their court filing, Coo-

ley and Ferreira said several

retired CHP officers, includ-

ing high-level supervisors,

are willing to testify that the

practice is widespread.

The lawsuit also offers in-

sight into how the East L.A.

station probe started, when

a supervisor began to ques-

tion overtime practices and

an officer filed a grievance

seeking to block changes to

workplace procedures.

The officer ultimately

was accused of accumulat-

ing 30 overtime violations

while on Caltrans details

and was fired.

The East L.A. station has

about 115 staff. So many offi-

cers were under scrutiny

that the CHP was forced to

shift extra staffers to the

Southern Division, which

patrols the L.A. area,

sources told The Times.

The CHP in the wake of

the investigation altered its

overtime practices to pre-

vent further abuses while

the California Department

of Transportation launched

an audit of the highway

funds used.

Lawyers for suspended CHP officers seek audits, overtime records

[CHP,from B1]

Los Angeles police are

searching for a suspect in

the killing of a 59-year-old

homeless man who was

beaten with a pipe and

robbed on skid row this

month.

Gustavo Zeledon, 59, was

standing near his van in the

800 block of East 5th Street

at 4:24 p.m. on Aug. 7 when

three men approached him

and one struck him in the

head with the pipe several

times, according to a state-

ment issued by the Los An-

geles Police Department.

Footage of the attack, re-

leased by the LAPD on Mon-

day, shows an assailant

swinging a pipe wildly as

Zeledon tries to retreat.

Zeledon struck his head

on the pavement when he

fell, and the assailants then

rummaged through his

pockets and stole some of his

property.

He was left injured on the

sidewalk for more than an

hour before one of the sus-

pects and several unidenti-

fied people placed him in-

side his van, police said.

Paramedics eventually

found him, but Zeledon died

as a result of his injuries at a

hospital two weeks later, ac-

cording to the LAPD.

Two suspects in the

killing, James “Genuine”

Brown, 38, and Thomas

“Biggie” Williams, 35, have

been arrested. The LAPD is

searching for a third man,

32-year-old Bernard “Mid-

night” Myers, who police

said is 6 feet 2 and weighs

about 175 pounds.

Police did not say when

Brown and Williams were ar-

rested, and it was unclear

whether murder charges

had been filed.

An LAPD spokesman

was unable to answer addi-

tional questions about the

case.

Skid row

attack

suspect

at large

Police seek a third

man in fatal beating

of a homeless man.

By James Queally

water could be local, or from
locations around the world.
“Right now, we’re not
sure where it came from,”
Arienzo said. “But we’re
definitely going to try and
figure it out.”
The finding complicates
a long struggle against ero-
sion, sewage effluent, unbri-
dled development, invasive
clams and algae to save the
lake, 6,225 feet in elevation.
Federal state and local
governments have spent
more than $2 billion over the
last six decades buying land
and developing erosion con-
trol and wetlands restora-
tion projects.
The shoreline of the lake,
which is 22 miles long and 12
miles wide, has become one
of the most tightly regulated
places in the United States.
Yet, it didn’t take long for
the researchers, part of the
Nevada System of Higher
Education, to find what they
were looking for.
They used a system of
pumps, funnels, tubing and
filters to collect water sam-
ples 20 feet from the water’s
edge at six locations, includ-
ing areas of both high and
low human activity.
The sampling was con-
ducted throughout the
spring at Tahoe Keys, a
popular boating resort; Em-
erald Bay State Park, where
boat access is limited; and at
three stormwater outfalls
into Lake Tahoe. The work
was done in collaboration

with the nonprofit League to

Save Lake Tahoe’s citizen

science program.

The team also collected

water samples at other Ne-

vada waterways including

Lake Mead and the Las

Vegas Wash.

To isolate particles

caught in the filters, re-

searchers oxidized organic

matter such as insects, twigs

and algae.

Next, a high-density liq-

uid separation method was

used to allow sediments to

settle to the bottom and

plastics to float to the top.

The team has since been

examining the particles they

collected under powerful

microscopes for classifica-

tion by size, shape, color,

GPS coordinates and

chemical composition.

Microplastic debris is an

emerging concern among

scientists and environmen-

talists. Researchers recently

found surprisingly high lev-

els of microplastics in Arctic

snow, demonstrating the

global reach of these tiny

particles of pollution.

About 245 million tons of

plastic are produced annu-

ally around the world, ac-

cording to industry esti-

mates.

That represents 70

pounds of plastic annually

for each of the 7.1 billion peo-

ple on the planet, scientists

say.

Microplastics, poten-

tially toxic and not biode-

gradable, have become a

ubiquitous contaminant in

the Pacific Ocean and seas

around the world, scientists

say.

Much of it comes from

densely populated coastal

watersheds such as South-

ern California.

By contrast, the study of

microplastics in freshwater

alpine lakes such as Lake

Tahoe is still in its infancy.

“Turning up this stuff at a

world-famous nearly pris-

tine mountain lake may

move people to take action,”

said Zack Bradford, senior

science analyst at the

League to Save Tahoe. “We’ll

see.”

The Desert Research In-

stitute team is scheduled to

present its findings to the

American Geophysical

Union in December.

Microplastics in Lake Tahoe spur concern

[Lake Tahoe,from B1]

FOR THEfirst time, scientists have found traces of microplastic pollution in Lake Tahoe’s deep blue waters.

Jason BeanReno Gazette-Journal