S IGNA L T R IBU N E Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
VOL. XXXVIII NO. 47
Helping those in need the right way Assisting homeless goes beyond handouts, local experts say. Denny Cristales Editorial Assistant
Anyone living in Long Beach in the ‘80s who passed by a yellow Chrysler were likely to have crossed paths with the family of Kokayi Kwa Jitahidi. Now a policy director for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Jitahidi said his time in that vehicle as a kid with his stepfather, mother and newborn brother taught him about the harsh realities of homelessness. Jitahidi’s stepfather worked despite being homeless– often conjuring up unique ways to shower and brush his teeth every morning. There were even days when local Navy men would take Jitahidi’s family to their base and provide some food and clothes and drop them back off at the car that served as their pseudo-home. “When you are black and homeless in the age of Reagan, I don’t see it getting any worse than that,” he said. “I remember those days... I lived it... More importantly, I survived it.” His family’s homelessness was not a result of drugs or crime, he said, but the nation’s economic instability. Jitahidi’s story is one of many that was discussed at a panel discussion on homelessness on Nov. 12 at the Long Beach Public Library. The League of Women Voters hosted the event in an effort to provide a better understanding of the issue by reviewing coordinated efforts made by experts and gathering community input to determine how residents can address the problem. The meeting was the inaugural event of the league’s newly formed Committee on Homelessness, a group of members dedicated to volunteering their support for those see HOMELESSNESS page 7
November 18, 2016
Mr. Alvarez calls the US home One man struggles to put aside a criminal past and return to his family in LB. CJ Dablo Staff Writer
A simple police stop in Long Beach for a broken headlight turned into a nightmare and a painful trip back to Mexico for Jose Luis Alvarez-Sandoval in February. Alvarez’s story can be pieced together by accounts from his advocates, and the circumstances of his arrest have been confirmed by Mike Uhlenkamp, a spokesman for California State University Long Beach. On Feb. 21, Alvarez was driving around the area of the Long Beach Traffic Circle on his way to pick up his son Victor Alvarez from his job at the nearby donut shop. California State University Long Beach police often patrol areas within a mile of the college campus, according to Uhlenkamp. Police signaled Alvarez to pull over, and after an officer performed a “wants and warrants” check, immigration authorities requested that Alvarez be taken into custody at the college for eventual transfer to their custody. Within about seven hours, Alvarez was deported to Mexico. Virginia Kice serves as the western-regional communications director and spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), one of many agencies overseen by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security. Kice confirmed that Alvarez’s history makes this a “Priority 1” level case. She issued a statement to the Signal Tribune. “Mr. Alvarez was identified as an enforcement priority by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” she stated, “based upon his 1995 conviction on two aggravated felony counts related to drug trafficking: one count of possession of a controlled substance for sale, which resulted in a two-year prison term; and a second count involving transportation of a controlled substance, for which he was sentenced to six years.” After Alvarez’s prison term, an immigration judge ultimately denied permission for him to stay in the U.S., and ICE deported him in 1999, according to a statement from that federal immigration agency. Alvarez found his way back to the U.S. and established his family in Long Beach for years before immigration authorities caught up with him earlier this year. Long Beach 7th District Coun-
Courtesy 7th District LB Council office
Susana and Victor Alvarez take a moment to speak to their father, Jose Luis Alvarez-Sandoval, through a screen wall at Friendship Park at the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Their father had been deported in February after he was stopped for a broken headlight by Calif. State University Long Beach Police, who discovered he was wanted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Susana Alvarez holds up a young family member so she can get a better view of her grandfather.
cilmember Roberto Uranga acknowledges that Alvarez made a mistake 20 years ago and served his time in prison. Uranga, however, paints a different picture of the man. Alvarez now lives with friends in Tijuana. He can see his family on the weekends, often at the Friendship
Park, which lies on the border between the U.S. and Mexico. The visits at the park take place at a secured area behind a screened wall that separates Alvarez from the rest of his family in America. All of his six kids are U.S. citizens, and he has a wife and grandchildren in
California. One son even served with the U.S. Marine Corps. The family has expressed urgency in returning him home. Speaking through a translator, Alvarez’s sister-in-law told the Long Beach City Council Tuesday night see SANDOVAL page 6
November 18 –22, 2016 Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Good Old-Fashioned Family Food!
Top off your Bundts-giving meal with your favorite flavor!
Partly Cloudy
75° Lo 53°
Sunny
70°
Lo 53°
Sunny
68° Lo 54°
Partly Cloudy
71°
Lo 55°
Partly Cloudy
73°
Join Us For A Thanksgiving Day Feast!
Lo 56°
This week’s weather forecast sponsored by:
Happy Thanksgiving!
STALKS & BLOOMS FLORIST
4201 Orange Ave., # 126 • stalksandbloomsflorist.com
Check out our ad on page 8!
Holiday Hours 6 am - 8 pm
1898 E Willow St. Signal Hill (562) 513-7001 BlackBearDiner.com