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Signal Tribune Your Weekly Community Newspaper
INSIDE: Photos of migrant detention center at Long Beach Convention Center see page 2 Photo by Brittany Murray | Press Telegram/SCNG
Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill
Find more news online at www.signal-tribune.com
VOL. XLIII NO. 17
IMMIGRATION
April 23, 2021
IMMIGRATION
LOCAL BUSINESS
Photo by Brittany Murray | Press Telegram/SCNG
The sleeping area set up inside exhibit hall B of the Long Beach Convention Center where migrant children found at the border without a parent will be temporarily housed. The beds are in pods of 30. Long Beach officials and the U.S. HHS led a tour of the facility in Long Beach on Thursday, April 22, 2021. The center is able to house up to 1,000 children.
Richard Grant | Signal Tribune
Two protesters stand together and hold signs at the intersection of Pine Avenue and Ocean Boulevard during the protest against the city of Long Beach’s decision to house undocumented migrant youth.
Here’s how you can help the migrant children arriving in Long Beach
Unaccompanied migrant children arrive at Long Beach Convention Center
Kristen Farrah Naeem
City News Service
Staff Writer
Migrant children were brought to the Long Beach Convention Center on Thursday, April 22, and the City of Long Beach has created an online portal where local organizations and residents can make donations or volunteer their services at the site, according to a City press release. The facility is expected to hold up to 1,000 migrant children on a rolling basis, all of whom have relatives and sponsors living in the US that have been identified. The children will be held at the convention center until these relationships are confirmed by the federal government. The site will be fully funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The HHS has a long history of funding sites that allow or perpetrate sexual violence or the forcible drugging of migrant children in custody. Donations for the new Migrant Children Support Fund are being collected by the Long Beach Community Foundation, and will purportedly be used to provide resources “intended to make the children more comfortable during their stay in Long Beach and during the reunification process,” according to a City press release. The City has made ongoing attempts to frame the approval of the convention center site as an altruistic move in the best interest of the children involved. In a City press release, the opening see MIGRANT CHILDREN page 6
Karla Enriquez | Signal Tribune
Sandy Wall started Pueblita wanting to bring the taste of fresh tortillas to Long Beach. In an effort to give back Wall has donated most of Pueblita’s proceeds to organizations and campaigns that help the community. Read the full story on page 2.
CRIME
Where is your car most likely be stolen or burglarized in Signal Hill? Emma DiMaggio Production Manager
Did you get your car stolen or burglarized in Signal Hill last year? You’re not alone. In 2020, police calls to service for car theft increased 55% compared to the previous year, an increase from 103 in 2019 to 160 in 2020. A similar number of calls were made in 2018 when 155 residents reported their cars stolen. The trend stands true for car burglaries as well, which increased by 29% in 2020 compared to the previous year. In 2020, 237 vehicles were burglarized, compared with 183 in 2019 and 216 in 2018. So far this year, 62 cars have been burglarized. Signal Hill Police Department Detective Andrew Lopez said that right now, car burglaries are a “huge thing” for the department. see VEHICLE THEFT page 7
Emma DiMaggio | Signal Tribune
A screenshot of an animated infographic showing where cars were stolen in Signal Hill from 2018 to 2021 based on Signal Hill Police Department calls to service. See the full dataset and map at www.signal-tribune.com.
Southern California Local News
As many as 150 migrant children were expected to arrive at the Long Beach Convention Center Thursday, April 22, beginning its operation as a shelter that will house unaccompanied minors from the U.S.-Mexico border until they can be reunited with family or placed with sponsors. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, the children will receive medical checks, clothing, toiletries, food and snacks. Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said they will also receive schooling and have recreational opportunities. “We absolutely should ensure that these facilities are quality and are places that are focused on the child and are really centered around helping,” Garcia said. He noted that the migrant children often are arriving at the U.S.- Mexico border “with no parents, no adults. They don’t have their family with them.” Such unaccompanied children can then wind up in detention facilities. “These humanitarian shelters are opening up here in California and across the country to bring children into a more humane setting, and hopefully reunifying them with (family),” Garcia said. Similar facilities are already operating in cities including San Diego and Dallas, and one will soon open at the Pomona Fairplex. The Long Beach Convention Center will be able to house as many as 1,000 see IMMIGRATION page 2