النص 🔗
WEBVTT
1
00:00:01.030 --> 00:00:07.419
KBLA Talk 1580. And, yeah, talk to me nicely, but
2
00:00:07.459 --> 00:00:14.960
talk to me. 800-920-1580. 800-920-1580. I am so grateful. My
3
00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:18.640
friend and colleague in the clutch here this morning, she's
4
00:00:18.660 --> 00:00:22.120
a human and civil rights attorney. She's been specializing in
5
00:00:22.179 --> 00:00:26.839
criminal defense and civil rights since 1994. Graduated from Cornell.
6
00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:31.320
Got her law degree from UCLA. And worked with Chokwe
7
00:00:31.339 --> 00:00:35.939
Lumumba at the Black Law Institute. She has worked on many,
8
00:00:36.700 --> 00:00:41.200
many important civil rights cases. But currently, she is the
9
00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:45.530
Executive Director of Black Alliance for Just Immigration, or BAJI.
10
00:00:47.049 --> 00:00:50.369
And I am talking about Attorney Nana Jomfi. Good morning.
11
00:00:50.390 --> 00:00:52.310
Good morning. Attorney Jomfee.
12
00:00:52.329 --> 00:00:55.750
Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Glad to be on
13
00:00:55.789 --> 00:00:56.149
with you.
14
00:00:56.630 --> 00:00:57.450
Thank you for jumping in.
15
00:00:57.450 --> 00:00:58.890
I don't know why you're calling me Attorney Jomfee.
16
00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:02.539
I don't know why either. I'm sleepy today. I've been
17
00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:06.359
forgetting all kinds of things and just like, woo! Okay, Dominique,
18
00:01:06.379 --> 00:01:09.680
you got this. You've been only doing it for 500 years.
19
00:01:10.659 --> 00:01:14.780
I should also say that Attorney Jomfee is a radio
20
00:01:14.859 --> 00:01:16.420
personality in her own right.
21
00:01:18.859 --> 00:01:20.920
Ah, attorney jumped in. I'm like, who's she talking about? Oh,
22
00:01:20.939 --> 00:01:24.459
that's me. You're so stupid. How are you going in
23
00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:27.180
this ridiculous world that we're dealing with right now? It
24
00:01:27.219 --> 00:01:30.379
just gets more and more ridiculous as election time comes up.
25
00:01:30.459 --> 00:01:31.099
My goodness.
26
00:01:31.239 --> 00:01:33.620
I mean, to be honest with you, I quote you
27
00:01:33.780 --> 00:01:36.299
all the time saying that we are in the era
28
00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:39.400
of who gone check me boo. Because it just comes
29
00:01:39.540 --> 00:01:42.040
up again and again and again. I'm thinking of the
30
00:01:42.120 --> 00:01:46.530
raid of Ilhan Omar's home, which... okay, legally, is that legal?
31
00:01:46.569 --> 00:01:49.829
Because we are within 21 days of the election, and
32
00:01:49.890 --> 00:01:53.650
she is running for re-election. I mean, I know that's
33
00:01:53.769 --> 00:01:55.950
almost a foolish question at this point, but all of
34
00:01:55.989 --> 00:01:59.519
these things remind me of that one phrase you said.
35
00:01:59.540 --> 00:02:04.719
Yeah, I mean, that's really what it is. It's not illegal.
36
00:02:04.819 --> 00:02:07.840
It's just not done, right? And if we think back
37
00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.319
to when Hillary Clinton's was running for president and how
38
00:02:12.490 --> 00:02:15.210
upsetting it was to people that Comey was now looking
39
00:02:15.250 --> 00:02:17.370
into Benghazi and who and what, and they were doing
40
00:02:17.389 --> 00:02:20.150
all of these things, and they suddenly released files and
41
00:02:20.449 --> 00:02:22.509
all of this stuff, and then here we are, right?
42
00:02:22.550 --> 00:02:25.900
And so this is, you know, it's the era of
43
00:02:25.960 --> 00:02:30.060
who's going to check me, boo. It comes out of
44
00:02:30.900 --> 00:02:33.620
things that weren't stopped when they should have been stopped.
45
00:02:33.930 --> 00:02:36.530
Do you know what I'm saying? People rode a bandwagon
46
00:02:36.569 --> 00:02:39.689
at one time, for example, with the release of those
47
00:02:39.770 --> 00:02:44.189
files during the presidential election with Hillary Clinton. And so
48
00:02:44.229 --> 00:02:47.289
then they know that, hey, this is something that we
49
00:02:47.330 --> 00:02:50.439
probably can get away with. We're just going to amplify
50
00:02:50.530 --> 00:02:54.520
it to the umpteenth degree. It is something that's not
51
00:02:54.599 --> 00:02:58.379
supposed to happen. I find it curious that the woman
52
00:02:58.500 --> 00:03:03.240
lives actually in Minneapolis. The home that you are raiding
53
00:03:03.460 --> 00:03:07.400
is in D.C. You're not actually looking for anything. You
54
00:03:07.539 --> 00:03:09.979
know what I mean? Don't look for me in my D.C.
55
00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:13.219
government house. You're not looking for anything. This is intimidation.
56
00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:17.139
This is to have images that you can now show
57
00:03:17.639 --> 00:03:21.879
on your, you know, whatever ridiculous networks he has and
58
00:03:21.939 --> 00:03:24.930
is connected to him, et cetera, so that you can
59
00:03:25.150 --> 00:03:29.189
criminalize this person even more. And then you've already tried
60
00:03:29.229 --> 00:03:32.699
to criminalize this person. in the effort to have something
61
00:03:32.740 --> 00:03:35.780
to say, because they know that right now they don't
62
00:03:35.819 --> 00:03:38.759
have anything to say. They got too many people that
63
00:03:38.819 --> 00:03:42.159
are upset about gas prices, upset about food prices, are
64
00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:45.030
going to be upset about what's happening with their health
65
00:03:45.060 --> 00:03:47.810
care if they're not already. And so they've got to
66
00:03:47.849 --> 00:03:50.030
come up with the distractions. This is going to be
67
00:03:50.069 --> 00:03:54.770
a wild 23, 22 days. Yeah, I think that's right.
68
00:03:54.870 --> 00:03:58.689
I mean, Kimberly Guilfoyle lost her job today. They raided
69
00:03:58.830 --> 00:04:03.330
Ilhan Omar's. house yesterday. They're just cooking up one thing
70
00:04:03.530 --> 00:04:07.340
after another. I guess
Load full transcript
I hadn't planned to ask you
71
00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:10.460
about this, but I guess I should since you graduated
72
00:04:10.500 --> 00:04:18.959
from Cornell. The Cornell 7, this whole Jane Doe fraternity
73
00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:24.750
gang rape case. Do you feel like, I mean, did
74
00:04:24.790 --> 00:04:28.759
you see any any of this kind of culture on
75
00:04:28.779 --> 00:04:31.920
the campus when you, when you were a student there? No,
76
00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:33.459
it's been a minute. Yeah.
77
00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:37.069
No, of course. Listen, I was in the same school
78
00:04:37.129 --> 00:04:40.129
system in high school with Brett Kavanaugh. Do I have
79
00:04:40.149 --> 00:04:43.629
to say more? This is who these people are. This
80
00:04:43.670 --> 00:04:44.050
is them.
81
00:04:44.670 --> 00:04:44.930
Him.
82
00:04:45.589 --> 00:04:49.120
I drink beer. People getting assaulted left and right. This is,
83
00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:51.240
this is how they are. I mean, this is, you know,
84
00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:54.180
I'm old as dirt and twice as funky. all of
85
00:04:54.199 --> 00:04:59.329
that Animal House videos, right, with John Belushi. This is them.
86
00:04:59.350 --> 00:05:01.949
You know, they try to make it seem as if
87
00:05:02.509 --> 00:05:07.009
there is this particular culture that is a, you know,
88
00:05:07.069 --> 00:05:11.079
the criminal culture, the predator culture that is black folks.
89
00:05:11.139 --> 00:05:13.439
And so, you know, you would think that Freak Nick
90
00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:16.180
was the worst thing that ever happened in life. I'm
91
00:05:16.199 --> 00:05:18.819
not trying to give a, I'm not giving a positive
92
00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:21.410
laugh to Freak Nick. I'm not trying to say that
93
00:05:21.490 --> 00:05:24.250
it was. that it was a gentleman's party. But what
94
00:05:24.269 --> 00:05:27.980
I'm saying is that the ways, when I think about
95
00:05:28.009 --> 00:05:35.360
the ways in which Black people are portrayed, right, as predators,
96
00:05:35.420 --> 00:05:41.620
sexual predators, as over-sexualized, as all of these things, and
97
00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:44.000
even when a child, and when I came back from
98
00:05:44.040 --> 00:05:45.480
the continent, because we had gone there for four or
99
00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:49.420
five years, I knew that, you know, surrounded by white
100
00:05:49.459 --> 00:05:51.160
folks and going to school with white folks, and I
101
00:05:51.230 --> 00:05:55.699
realized that, oh, there's a particular culture here for these
102
00:05:55.839 --> 00:06:01.040
entitled rich white people where they really feel like they
103
00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:06.160
are entitled to whatever they want. And they have such
104
00:06:06.220 --> 00:06:11.779
a low view of women and particularly white women, particularly
105
00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:15.129
the white women that are their sisters, that are their mothers,
106
00:06:15.529 --> 00:06:18.790
that are their daughters, you know, such a low view
107
00:06:19.149 --> 00:06:22.560
that this is inevitable. And so, yes, This happened when
108
00:06:22.620 --> 00:06:24.949
I was on campus. The only thing that I can
109
00:06:24.990 --> 00:06:27.790
say that maybe was a little bit different is that
110
00:06:28.050 --> 00:06:30.189
there seems to not have been a brother to blame,
111
00:06:30.610 --> 00:06:33.370
you know, because that was one thing they absolutely would
112
00:06:33.389 --> 00:06:35.810
try to do on Cornell's campus is figure out where
113
00:06:35.870 --> 00:06:38.170
is the brother that we can blame for all of this.
114
00:06:38.350 --> 00:06:41.389
I haven't heard that in this case, which I'm glad about.
115
00:06:42.629 --> 00:06:47.829
That's, yeah, I mean, it's wild but not surprising. You know,
116
00:06:47.889 --> 00:06:54.189
it's terrible but not surprising. And there's been controversy about
117
00:06:54.250 --> 00:06:58.339
some attorneys saying, well, you know, based on what that
118
00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:02.019
prosecutor had, he probably shouldn't have gone after this case
119
00:07:02.100 --> 00:07:05.180
based on New York law. He probably shouldn't have gone
120
00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:08.259
after this case. And then other folks calling those people
121
00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:11.720
apologists and saying that we have different standards here in
122
00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:16.160
California because you can't give consent if you're inebriated. And
123
00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:18.779
apparently in New York you can. Is that relevant or
124
00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:23.699
is all of that just different forms of apologism?
125
00:07:25.339 --> 00:07:27.490
You know, I would say it's different forms of apologism
126
00:07:27.500 --> 00:07:30.970
just because as a criminal defense attorney granted in California,
127
00:07:31.379 --> 00:07:34.079
But still, as a criminal defense attorney since 1994, I
128
00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:37.040
will say that these people will charge people with things
129
00:07:37.420 --> 00:07:40.360
where you're looking at the evidence itself, and it's contrary
130
00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:44.980
to the charge, right? And so it's not that they
131
00:07:45.379 --> 00:07:50.389
cannot do it. They like to use that when they
132
00:07:50.509 --> 00:07:52.310
don't want to prosecute. It's kind of the same thing
133
00:07:52.329 --> 00:07:54.389
they do with cops, right? They'll be like, oh, well,
134
00:07:54.430 --> 00:07:57.189
you know, who, what? And the rest of us are like, no,
135
00:07:57.230 --> 00:07:59.870
we don't, actually, because if this were me, I would
136
00:08:00.430 --> 00:08:03.449
at least be charged, you'd be prosecuting me, right? I'm
137
00:08:03.490 --> 00:08:05.870
not saying that we wouldn't be able to get Nana
138
00:08:05.910 --> 00:08:08.689
jumpy and perhaps win the case, but you would still
139
00:08:08.730 --> 00:08:12.149
be prosecuting me, right? And so, you know, this idea
140
00:08:12.230 --> 00:08:17.220
that prosecutors do not, particularly in state court, that they
141
00:08:17.300 --> 00:08:20.740
don't pursue cases unless they know for sure that there's
142
00:08:20.779 --> 00:08:24.040
no reasonable doubt is foolishness. They pursue cases all the
143
00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:27.220
time in which they know that they may not actually
144
00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:30.410
get a conviction by jury or because they think they'll
145
00:08:30.430 --> 00:08:33.370
get a conviction by plea. And if there's a case
146
00:08:33.470 --> 00:08:35.669
in which you might get a conviction by plea, and
147
00:08:35.740 --> 00:08:41.019
I say this taking off my abolitionist hat, this is,
148
00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:43.980
you know, it seems that this is one of those cases. Now, again,
149
00:08:44.299 --> 00:08:46.120
we don't have all the evidence. We just have the
150
00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:48.940
things that have been leaked and shared, et cetera. But,
151
00:08:49.620 --> 00:08:52.779
you know, you have to take a stand, and this
152
00:08:52.860 --> 00:08:54.000
is a place to take a stand.
153
00:08:55.029 --> 00:08:58.370
Talking with Attorney Nana Jomfi. She's actually the Executive Director
154
00:08:58.389 --> 00:09:00.710
of Black Alliance for Just Immigration. I want to get
155
00:09:00.750 --> 00:09:06.309
your thoughts when we continue, Nana, about Operation Safe California
156
00:09:07.470 --> 00:09:12.230
and also how some of these issues, both civil rights
157
00:09:12.769 --> 00:09:19.669
issues and immigration issues, how they play out in these races,
158
00:09:19.850 --> 00:09:25.710
particularly Attorney General state attorney general and city attorney here
159
00:09:25.789 --> 00:09:29.889
in Los Angeles, both of which are big, important races
160
00:09:30.110 --> 00:09:33.690
on the ballot. And election day is today and every
161
00:09:33.710 --> 00:09:37.080
day until November 3rd. You're listening to KBLA Talk 1580.
162
00:09:37.070 --> 00:09:40.889
Talking with attorney Nana Gianfi. She's a civil rights attorney,
163
00:09:40.929 --> 00:09:44.159
an abolitionist, a radio host, and the executive director of
164
00:09:44.200 --> 00:09:49.580
Black Alliance for Just Immigration. So today, well, there's a
165
00:09:49.620 --> 00:09:52.049
lot to talk about. I don't, I want to ask
166
00:09:52.090 --> 00:09:54.799
you everything, but let's start with the basic, basic, because
167
00:09:54.840 --> 00:09:56.840
I don't want the whole hour to go by and
168
00:09:56.879 --> 00:09:58.490
I don't leave enough time to.
169
00:10:00.259 --> 00:10:05.340
Look at this Operation Safe California, the crackdown that's supposed
170
00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:09.679
to be happening by ICE starting yesterday in San Diego.
171
00:10:09.830 --> 00:10:12.210
And I don't know how long it's meant to go,
172
00:10:12.269 --> 00:10:17.149
but it's throughout the state of California and Again, Attorney
173
00:10:17.190 --> 00:10:20.549
John Fee, this seems illegal. It feels like voter suppression.
174
00:10:21.070 --> 00:10:24.179
It feels like they couldn't wait three weeks to have
175
00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:28.639
a crackdown until after the election. But what do you
176
00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:31.179
make of this? What do you know about it? And
177
00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:33.200
what should we be tracking?
178
00:10:34.860 --> 00:10:39.200
Well, the surge happened actually earlier than today, but they are,
179
00:10:39.220 --> 00:10:42.830
or today or tomorrow, but now that it's been revealed, really,
180
00:10:44.299 --> 00:10:47.139
by organizations such as L.A. Taco, et cetera, that, hey,
181
00:10:47.179 --> 00:10:50.679
there's this surge, you know, more folks are being snatched
182
00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:53.960
up by the body snatchers in Los Angeles for sure,
183
00:10:54.019 --> 00:10:58.139
and confirming also with San Diego that they're experiencing the same,
184
00:10:58.629 --> 00:11:01.389
then they decided, okay, well, let's give it a name
185
00:11:01.490 --> 00:11:05.470
and call it an operation and move from there. But
186
00:11:05.549 --> 00:11:10.759
the goal is to really have as much military on
187
00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:12.980
the ground as possible. And I know some people would say,
188
00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:16.419
but Nana, these aren't military. This is ICE. This is CBP.
189
00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:19.980
These are federal agents and mass mercenaries. But they are
190
00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:23.440
looking like military. They are, you know, meant to have
191
00:11:23.480 --> 00:11:28.179
the same kind of intimidation factor as the military. And
192
00:11:28.299 --> 00:11:32.399
their purpose, I think, yes, partially is on the voter
193
00:11:32.450 --> 00:11:38.009
intimidation end because they know that in a there are
194
00:11:38.129 --> 00:11:41.669
a lot of naturalized immigrants. I mean, there's always this
195
00:11:41.789 --> 00:11:47.120
focus on the undocumented folks and this conversation around undocumented folks,
196
00:11:47.159 --> 00:11:50.480
which I think is important, particularly, of course, for those
197
00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:54.649
of us that are concerned about the most vulnerable amongst people,
198
00:11:54.710 --> 00:11:57.929
and they are clearly in that group. But there are
199
00:11:57.950 --> 00:12:00.470
a lot of naturalized immigrants. There are a lot of
200
00:12:00.549 --> 00:12:04.879
people who who have been able, in spite of the
201
00:12:04.919 --> 00:12:09.120
difficulties and the hurdles, to get their American citizenship. And,
202
00:12:09.320 --> 00:12:11.460
you know, those people are going to vote. And in
203
00:12:11.500 --> 00:12:15.700
California is not, you know, the Cubans of Miami. They
204
00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:18.299
know what those votes are going to look like. And
205
00:12:18.620 --> 00:12:21.169
then there are, of course, folks who are their children,
206
00:12:21.710 --> 00:12:26.429
such as myself,
who also, because racial profiling, as we
207
00:12:26.470 --> 00:12:31.159
remember from the Kavanaugh stops, you know, is allowed. they
208
00:12:31.340 --> 00:12:34.820
also are going to be getting stopped by the body snatchers, right?
209
00:12:34.840 --> 00:12:37.360
So we're going to be getting stopped as the children
210
00:12:37.500 --> 00:12:40.220
of immigrants. We're going to be getting stopped as people
211
00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:45.230
who look like immigrants, which means Black, Brown, Asian, Indigenous,
212
00:12:45.789 --> 00:12:50.610
Native folks, regardless of what your citizenship actually is, in
213
00:12:50.669 --> 00:12:54.409
this guise of trying to make sure that there are not,
214
00:12:54.450 --> 00:12:57.769
quote unquote, illegal folks running around here. We should be
215
00:12:57.809 --> 00:13:00.799
concerned on that voter suppression end But we should also
216
00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:04.940
be concerned on the detention and deportation end, because people
217
00:13:05.100 --> 00:13:08.559
are not just being released. And I think it's important
218
00:13:08.580 --> 00:13:11.700
for folks to understand that, that even people who are
219
00:13:11.740 --> 00:13:17.259
American citizens are finding themselves getting detained, getting taken to
220
00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:20.779
some form of detention, whether that detention is in a
221
00:13:20.820 --> 00:13:23.950
downtown detention prison like we have here in Los Angeles,
222
00:13:24.350 --> 00:13:27.330
or whether they're actually moved to a place like Adelanto
223
00:13:27.409 --> 00:13:30.149
out there in the desert. And so, yeah, you may
224
00:13:30.230 --> 00:13:34.009
get out, but, you know, who wants to be in
225
00:13:34.049 --> 00:13:37.529
the detention prison? And you may not get out. Fifty
226
00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:42.220
people at least have died while in detention. The, you know,
227
00:13:42.259 --> 00:13:46.259
Waukesha Wilson situation, peace be unto her, is real. People
228
00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:50.490
die in L.A. County before they're able to get to court.
229
00:13:50.809 --> 00:13:54.750
And so people need to be seriously concerned. Speak up.
230
00:13:55.129 --> 00:13:58.669
Push back. Don't think it's something that cannot impact you
231
00:13:58.769 --> 00:14:00.330
or someone you love and so you don't care.
232
00:14:01.190 --> 00:14:03.909
You said that, you know, it's been going on for
233
00:14:03.929 --> 00:14:06.559
a while and then it was outed. So now they're
234
00:14:06.580 --> 00:14:09.539
giving it a name. The Washington Examiner, which is a
235
00:14:09.620 --> 00:14:13.120
far right wing publication. in D.C. is saying it's a
236
00:14:13.139 --> 00:14:20.159
45-day enforcement surge. And is there, I mean, is that
237
00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:22.440
just sort of like they're guessing, they're making up? Is
238
00:14:22.460 --> 00:14:25.000
there anything else we do know about this that we
239
00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:26.389
need to
know about this?
240
00:14:27.850 --> 00:14:30.389
I mean, not really in the sense that they try
241
00:14:30.450 --> 00:14:33.509
not to give us what that time is to write
242
00:14:33.549 --> 00:14:35.389
it down and make it something that's obvious. By the
243
00:14:35.409 --> 00:14:37.889
time you do a FOIA, the thing will be over already.
244
00:14:38.259 --> 00:14:40.309
But we know, you know, some people I've heard have
245
00:14:40.330 --> 00:14:45.250
said 34 days, some people 40, you know, Washington Examiner 45.
246
00:14:45.250 --> 00:14:48.990
We know that they are giving us the impression that
247
00:14:49.009 --> 00:14:51.470
this is going to mess up your holidays. Like that's
248
00:14:51.509 --> 00:14:54.549
the general vibe that they're trying to give.
249
00:14:55.850 --> 00:15:00.429
Which is so, well, Scrooge-like. Yeah, let's kill a man
250
00:15:00.509 --> 00:15:04.080
on national TV and surge ice during the election and
251
00:15:04.100 --> 00:15:10.789
the holidays. Warms the heart. You know, when the guy
252
00:15:10.850 --> 00:15:12.929
I call the resident, the guy that lives in the
253
00:15:12.970 --> 00:15:16.149
White House, when he first took office, you and I
254
00:15:16.230 --> 00:15:19.070
talked about how they were doing a lot of smoke
255
00:15:19.110 --> 00:15:23.529
and mirrors. They were arresting a lot of people, but
256
00:15:23.590 --> 00:15:28.139
not necessarily deporting them. And that I was curious whether
257
00:15:28.179 --> 00:15:30.720
the whole thing was just a hustle to, you know,
258
00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:34.519
create more of these detention centers as profit centers to
259
00:15:34.580 --> 00:15:42.009
put people to work. under slave-like conditions with no real pay.
260
00:15:42.690 --> 00:15:45.889
But it seems like, from what you just stated, that
261
00:15:45.929 --> 00:15:50.690
the actual deportations have also ticked up. Is that accurate?
262
00:15:52.149 --> 00:15:56.100
Well, I would say yes and no. So what is
263
00:15:56.240 --> 00:16:01.360
interesting is that they definitely have still continued to swell
264
00:16:01.419 --> 00:16:04.240
the number of people that are being held in detention.
265
00:16:04.629 --> 00:16:08.419
to the point that they've built all of these new, quote-unquote,
266
00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:13.379
detention prisons. They're using warehouses as detention prisons. They're taking
267
00:16:13.460 --> 00:16:20.360
prisons that were built for criminal punishment prisons, like Folkston
268
00:16:20.379 --> 00:16:24.610
and other places, and making them now these large, huge,
269
00:16:24.649 --> 00:16:29.009
or adding these large, huge annexes that are now detention prisons.
270
00:16:29.090 --> 00:16:32.389
So that is absolutely still happening, and to an even
271
00:16:32.570 --> 00:16:38.110
increased amount. Those private prisons companies are making a killing,
272
00:16:38.750 --> 00:16:44.779
no pun intended. With respect to deportations, the numbers of deportations,
273
00:16:44.860 --> 00:16:47.740
I think, have not increased that much. But what has
274
00:16:47.820 --> 00:16:52.080
happened is you have a lot more third country deportations.
275
00:16:52.820 --> 00:16:58.049
And third country deportations are generally happening for people who
276
00:16:58.700 --> 00:17:01.740
because of the conditions of their country, right? So the
277
00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:04.380
people that normally should be getting asylum in this country
278
00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:08.369
because they cannot return safely to their own country. And
279
00:17:08.450 --> 00:17:11.230
so they're saying, well, great. What you can do is
280
00:17:11.329 --> 00:17:13.609
you can try to see if you can get asylum
281
00:17:13.829 --> 00:17:17.529
in Ecuador. Try to see if you can get asylum
282
00:17:17.630 --> 00:17:19.990
in Sudan, right? We're not going to send you back
283
00:17:20.049 --> 00:17:22.839
to the country that you fled. We're going to send
284
00:17:22.859 --> 00:17:25.759
you back to a totally different country that you know
285
00:17:25.819 --> 00:17:31.329
nothing about with no money, no phone, no relatives, no nothing,
286
00:17:31.829 --> 00:17:35.450
on a totally different continent. They're focusing a lot on
287
00:17:35.490 --> 00:17:39.410
getting these third country agreements with countries on the continent
288
00:17:39.470 --> 00:17:42.660
of Africa right now because they realize that they have
289
00:17:42.759 --> 00:17:45.880
a lot, meaning they, meaning the regime, has a lot
290
00:17:46.039 --> 00:17:51.240
of leverage power, economic power, military leverage, right, to be
291
00:17:51.319 --> 00:17:56.049
able to use against these countries. And so we're seeing, yes,
292
00:17:56.109 --> 00:17:59.230
that there's an uptick to some degree in deportations. But
293
00:17:59.430 --> 00:18:03.390
really what we're seeing that's alarming is that folks are
294
00:18:03.430 --> 00:18:05.789
being deported to these third countries.
295
00:18:06.329 --> 00:18:08.450
So you can get dropped in South Sudan without a
296
00:18:08.519 --> 00:18:11.599
phone or a dollar and you're supposed to try to
297
00:18:11.630 --> 00:18:15.200
get asylum there. But they're mostly they're sending them to
298
00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:19.240
prison there. So you're going into prison and trying to
299
00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:22.680
get asylum without a phone or any contacts or speaking
300
00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:26.240
the language. or the culture, or having any money?
301
00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:31.220
I mean, presumably, yeah. That they're like, yeah, that that
302
00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:34.119
is what is happening. And as you pointed out, most
303
00:18:34.140 --> 00:18:37.000
of these folks are not ending up, you know, being
304
00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:39.599
able to now just go into the country and try
305
00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:42.319
to see how they can make, you know, some kind
306
00:18:42.380 --> 00:18:45.579
of do with
the immigration system of that country. They're
307
00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:49.420
being held in prison. And so if your attorney is,
308
00:18:49.609 --> 00:18:51.769
if you have an attorney, because remember, A lot of
309
00:18:51.809 --> 00:18:53.789
people in immigration court do not have an attorney. It
310
00:18:53.829 --> 00:18:56.490
is not like criminal court. You are not entitled to
311
00:18:56.529 --> 00:18:59.930
an attorney. So if you have an attorney, even, and
312
00:18:59.970 --> 00:19:03.220
we're in touch with folks, we work with Asbaji attorneys
313
00:19:03.259 --> 00:19:06.740
that do have folks that they're still in contact with,
314
00:19:06.759 --> 00:19:11.059
you know, once they get deported. And, you know, if
315
00:19:11.079 --> 00:19:13.849
you have that, maybe you're lucky folks can connect up
316
00:19:13.890 --> 00:19:15.309
and try to figure out how to get you some
317
00:19:15.329 --> 00:19:17.960
money and continue to fight for you. But there's others
318
00:19:18.019 --> 00:19:20.460
who don't have that. And so, you know, unless they
319
00:19:20.519 --> 00:19:23.240
can get someone to get the word out, they are
320
00:19:23.329 --> 00:19:29.170
literally stuck. Like there's going to be a real revelation
321
00:19:29.690 --> 00:19:33.069
as to how many people are right now stuck in
322
00:19:33.470 --> 00:19:37.269
these prisons in other countries once this regime is brought down.
323
00:19:38.190 --> 00:19:42.140
So it seems like if you're coming into the country
324
00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:44.700
and you're already in prison, you're at an automatic disadvantage
325
00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:47.309
because you're seen as a criminal. Now you're a criminal
326
00:19:47.369 --> 00:19:49.150
trying to get asylum in a country that may or
327
00:19:49.170 --> 00:19:55.480
may not have an asylum. policy of any kind, right? Right.
328
00:19:55.640 --> 00:19:57.660
And most people are not going to try to get
329
00:19:57.720 --> 00:19:59.700
asylum in that country. Their goal is to get out
330
00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:02.859
of that country. Right. And you had a situation with
331
00:20:02.900 --> 00:20:05.539
Jamaicans that were sent to Eswatini, which we used to
332
00:20:05.579 --> 00:20:10.670
call Swaziland. And the Jamaican government actually... You know, entered
333
00:20:10.710 --> 00:20:16.769
into negotiations and conversations with Eswatini to get their nationals back. Right.
334
00:20:17.009 --> 00:20:19.230
But that is not always the case. And you're not
335
00:20:19.309 --> 00:20:22.619
always going to have those conversations and, you know, between governments.
336
00:20:23.099 --> 00:20:25.740
And so there are people that are just stuck. You know,
337
00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:28.619
that's where they are. Ghana, you know, the country I
338
00:20:28.660 --> 00:20:31.720
come from, the alleged black star of Africa, somehow decided
339
00:20:31.740 --> 00:20:33.609
it was a good idea to get into this third
340
00:20:33.690 --> 00:20:36.880
country agreement. peace and you know are trying to claim
341
00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:40.099
that they were transit hub it was their pan-african duty
342
00:20:40.140 --> 00:20:43.000
to be a transit hub to allow people to be
343
00:20:43.019 --> 00:20:46.579
deported to their country um in dignity or whatever the
344
00:20:46.619 --> 00:20:49.480
heck and meanwhile we're seeing images of people being dragged
345
00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:52.680
kicking and screaming into buses not so much dignity in that.
346
00:20:52.569 --> 00:20:54.509
Hold that thought attorney nana john if you've got a
347
00:20:54.529 --> 00:20:56.490
hard stop for news traffic and sports we'll keep it
348
00:20:56.529 --> 00:21:00.079
going when we come forward Attorney Nana Jamfi is with
349
00:21:00.259 --> 00:21:02.319
me and I got a bunch of questions. I'm going
350
00:21:02.339 --> 00:21:05.079
to try to squeeze them all in here. But you
351
00:21:05.099 --> 00:21:08.180
were talking about folks, you know, all of these people
352
00:21:08.220 --> 00:21:14.509
being deported to third countries. We have a report coming
353
00:21:14.670 --> 00:21:19.630
out from ICE now that since the president, the current
354
00:21:19.670 --> 00:21:24.230
president has taken office, 15,000 people deported. have been deported
355
00:21:24.269 --> 00:21:31.230
from Southern California alone. That seems like a lot of folks,
356
00:21:31.990 --> 00:21:36.549
but it sounds like not necessarily an escalation, but more
357
00:21:36.589 --> 00:21:40.150
an escalation of the tactics and the treatment of people
358
00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:42.420
once they are arrested or deported.
359
00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:45.900
Yeah, absolutely. And it is a lot like we don't
360
00:21:45.940 --> 00:21:46.859
want to minimize.
361
00:21:46.920 --> 00:21:47.119
Right.
362
00:21:47.180 --> 00:21:49.250
It's a lot of people. If it's one of your people,
363
00:21:49.609 --> 00:21:52.190
it's a lot of people. Right. But we also need
364
00:21:52.230 --> 00:21:55.710
to be thinking about the tactics because that's always a situation,
365
00:21:55.730 --> 00:21:58.730
whether it's voter suppression, whether it's going after black leaders,
366
00:21:58.849 --> 00:22:02.220
all of that. It's the tactics that change to get
367
00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:05.880
more and more sharp and more and more cool.
368
00:22:06.900 --> 00:22:08.700
I was also reading and I talked about it on
369
00:22:08.740 --> 00:22:12.630
this show about how Stephen Miller is who is a
370
00:22:12.690 --> 00:22:17.119
white supremacist that currently is a high-ranking advisor to the president,
371
00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:23.460
has personally spearheaded a surge in deportations of little kids
372
00:22:23.799 --> 00:22:29.079
and how these little kids, children, babies, some of them unaccompanied,
373
00:22:29.480 --> 00:22:33.400
some just designated as unaccompanied because we took them away
374
00:22:33.440 -->
00:22:37.130
from their parents, are going to court with no lawyers.
375
00:22:38.410 --> 00:22:38.630
Absolutely.
376
00:22:38.650 --> 00:22:38.930
Absolutely.
377
00:22:39.380 --> 00:22:41.529
Yeah, they're going according with no lawyers. And again, it's
378
00:22:41.569 --> 00:22:42.589
an example of the expansion.
379
00:22:42.630 --> 00:22:44.750
Like six and seven-year-olds. That's crazy.
380
00:22:44.930 --> 00:22:49.470
Right. And we know that they did that before, and
381
00:22:49.529 --> 00:22:52.230
they're just taking everything that they've tried and gotten away
382
00:22:52.269 --> 00:22:54.430
with and said, okay, now we're going to expand it
383
00:22:54.450 --> 00:22:56.049
and we're going to do even more. I mean, I
384
00:22:56.089 --> 00:23:00.390
remember an image of a van filled with like every
385
00:23:00.470 --> 00:23:05.509
single seat, those babysits from Graco. Wow. Every single seat.
386
00:23:05.650 --> 00:23:10.950
I said, who is putting... Babies like that. Car seat
387
00:23:11.130 --> 00:23:18.339
babies to take them to immigration court to do what?
388
00:23:19.180 --> 00:23:21.859
There's some stuff on the ballot that seems like, you know,
389
00:23:22.039 --> 00:23:26.170
intersect with your portfolio of work. Um, one of them
390
00:23:26.250 --> 00:23:29.369
is attorney general at our California voices town hall. I
391
00:23:29.410 --> 00:23:35.160
had the opportunity, I got assigned, uh, to, um, to
392
00:23:35.339 --> 00:23:38.920
interview the man, Michael Gates, a Huntington beach city attorney
393
00:23:38.940 --> 00:23:45.079
who's running, uh, against Rob Bonta, um, for attorney general. Um,
394
00:23:45.740 --> 00:23:48.829
and he is actually someone who, as I mentioned in
395
00:23:48.890 --> 00:23:55.420
that conversation was, um, was sanctioned by the Trump administration
396
00:23:55.480 --> 00:23:59.460
for creating a toxic work environment. I'm just wondering just
397
00:23:59.559 --> 00:24:02.099
how toxic does it have to be for you to
398
00:24:02.140 --> 00:24:04.279
get sent home by the Trump administration?
399
00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:09.279
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, the thing is, they're
400
00:24:09.299 --> 00:24:12.140
really trying, California, and I think it's important. You and
401
00:24:12.220 --> 00:24:15.349
I have talked about this. We've put out the clarion
402
00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:18.000
call in unison and harmony. We put out the clarion
403
00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:22.200
call separately that people should not sleep and think that
404
00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:27.769
California is not under constant attack by these fascist white
405
00:24:27.789 --> 00:24:32.009
supremacists that want to be in power. Richard Nixon came
406
00:24:32.049 --> 00:24:34.970
out of here. Ronald Reagan came out of here. You know,
407
00:24:35.069 --> 00:24:37.650
even Pete Wilson, you know, we can go through the
408
00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:42.319
list of Republican or Republican like Republicans. governors that have
409
00:24:42.680 --> 00:24:45.119
run this state. We know that there are parts of
410
00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:48.500
this state that are still darn near sundown towns. And
411
00:24:48.579 --> 00:24:53.289
the idea that we can be comfortable because of San Diego, L.A.,
412
00:24:53.410 --> 00:24:56.210
and the Bay, we've got to throw that away. We
413
00:24:56.509 --> 00:24:58.910
need to make sure that we do not give these
414
00:24:58.970 --> 00:25:02.390
people any quarter. And that is what I will say.
415
00:25:02.490 --> 00:25:05.390
No quarter whatsoever. That doesn't mean we're in love with
416
00:25:05.410 --> 00:25:07.460
the others. But we've got to be able to have
417
00:25:07.480 --> 00:25:10.440
the conditions to engage in battle. And we know someone
418
00:25:10.460 --> 00:25:13.460
that was too toxic for Trump is obviously not the condition.
419
00:25:14.099 --> 00:25:16.640
So what you have here is Rob Bonta, who the L.A.
420
00:25:16.660 --> 00:25:20.349
Times calls an establishment Democrat, even though he describes himself
421
00:25:20.430 --> 00:25:25.390
as a progressive, versus Michael Gates, who is a MAGA,
422
00:25:26.250 --> 00:25:28.609
you know, straight ahead. I mean, he worked for this
423
00:25:28.690 --> 00:25:32.829
MAGA administration. Why is that important? I mean, why is
424
00:25:32.869 --> 00:25:36.039
that an important thing? um, position to vote on in, in,
425
00:25:36.279 --> 00:25:37.589
you know, in California.
426
00:25:38.829 --> 00:25:42.309
This is the attorney for the state of California. So
427
00:25:42.670 --> 00:25:46.170
when we're talking about any types of, for example, employment
428
00:25:46.190 --> 00:25:49.849
discrimination cases that people are filing, um, with the department
429
00:25:49.869 --> 00:25:51.980
of fair employment and housing, and you're trying to get
430
00:25:52.039 --> 00:25:55.299
them to get engaged, that is all happening under this
431
00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:57.660
department of justice, right? That the attorney general is in
432
00:25:57.700 --> 00:26:00.240
charge of when we sometimes want to turn to the
433
00:26:00.299 --> 00:26:03.880
attorney general and, for those folks who are not abolitionists
434
00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:06.579
necessarily in the way that I am, that want cops
435
00:26:06.619 --> 00:26:10.089
to be prosecuted, that have killed our people when it's
436
00:26:10.119 --> 00:26:12.210
not happening on the local level. People turn to the
437
00:26:12.250 --> 00:26:15.950
state attorney general to see what they will do. Anything
438
00:26:15.990 --> 00:26:17.849
that has to do with civil rights, I mean, they
439
00:26:17.910 --> 00:26:20.430
are in charge of the Department of Justice. So all
440
00:26:20.470 --> 00:26:23.089
of those things that fall under the Department of Justice
441
00:26:23.190 --> 00:26:28.349
in California, which usually has the most liberal or progressives,
442
00:26:29.710 --> 00:26:32.039
Department of
Justice is in the country. I'm not saying
443
00:26:32.099 --> 00:26:34.579
I would call them progressive, but that is the view, right?
444
00:26:34.599 --> 00:26:38.460
They're to the left of almost 49 other states. That
445
00:26:38.539 --> 00:26:41.859
changes completely if you have a MAGA person in that space.
446
00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:44.529
And what we see where they're trying to fight for
447
00:26:44.569 --> 00:26:47.410
the rights of white people and And, you know, reverse
448
00:26:47.450 --> 00:26:51.900
discrimination claims and going after all of the different programs
449
00:26:51.940 --> 00:26:54.019
that we have at the local school level to the
450
00:26:54.099 --> 00:26:58.220
college level that are supporting black students, they will sue.
451
00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:01.970
You understand? The state of California will be suing to
452
00:27:02.150 --> 00:27:06.609
fight against black people being able to have the gains
453
00:27:06.650 --> 00:27:09.329
that we have fought so hard for in this country,
454
00:27:09.589 --> 00:27:13.299
in this state, excuse me, including the most recent reparations
455
00:27:13.380 --> 00:27:16.349
bill filed. If you have a different person as a
456
00:27:16.410 --> 00:27:20.029
state attorney general, they can't overturn the law, but they
457
00:27:20.069 --> 00:27:23.490
sure can make it difficult for people to be able
458
00:27:23.549 --> 00:27:26.410
to execute the law. And a law that can't be
459
00:27:26.509 --> 00:27:27.549
executed is useless.
460
00:27:28.069 --> 00:27:34.369
Yeah. I don't want to get distracted, but Holistic, who's
461
00:27:34.690 --> 00:27:38.329
told me he's a Republican, says naturalized people have no worries.
462
00:27:38.630 --> 00:27:41.369
If you're an illegal, you should have fear. Keith Porter
463
00:27:41.390 --> 00:27:43.859
was a black man and a citizen, and he's dead.
464
00:27:44.220 --> 00:27:45.900
at the hands of an ICE agent. So I think
465
00:27:45.960 --> 00:27:49.259
that you are deluding yourself if you think that naturalized
466
00:27:49.940 --> 00:27:54.119
people have no worries when U.S. citizens are getting arrested.
467
00:27:54.900 --> 00:28:01.950
Let's talk about city attorney for a for that position
468
00:28:01.990 --> 00:28:04.890
was here this morning. I think we may have, uh,
469
00:28:04.910 --> 00:28:08.500
John McKinney. He's certainly been invited. He was at our California, uh,
470
00:28:09.180 --> 00:28:13.480
Voices Town Hall and was interviewed by, uh, Dr. Nicole
471
00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:18.299
Licorte there. You have a black man from South LA, um,
472
00:28:19.059 --> 00:28:23.470
you know, who is running. He is coming out of
473
00:28:23.490 --> 00:28:27.029
the DA's office. He's a prosecutor, um, and he is
474
00:28:27.230 --> 00:28:33.329
supported by Nathan Hockman, Steve Cooley, sort of the, Gil Garcetti,
475
00:28:33.349 --> 00:28:37.119
sort of the old guard of DAs, even though we're
476
00:28:37.130 --> 00:28:40.000
talking city attorney here. Then you have Marissa Roy, who
477
00:28:40.180 --> 00:28:45.180
is a white woman backed by DSA, backed by the
478
00:28:45.220 --> 00:28:50.299
Democratic Party, Working Families Party and others. Are people going
479
00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:51.819
to be confused by this, you think?
480
00:28:53.539 --> 00:28:56.180
Yeah, because I think people still get confused. I mean,
481
00:28:56.200 --> 00:28:58.180
I know folks, and I know you do, too, that
482
00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:01.519
literally sometimes they're just voting based upon a last name or,
483
00:29:01.539 --> 00:29:03.740
you know, a first name. They get surprised when Tyrone
484
00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:07.440
turns out to be a white person that's written for judge.
485
00:29:07.480 --> 00:29:11.789
They get confused. Looking at names and just checking things out. Now,
486
00:29:11.809 --> 00:29:14.170
when they know it's a brother or a sister or
487
00:29:14.210 --> 00:29:18.250
a sibling, they're definitely going to be confused. So I think, yes,
488
00:29:18.329 --> 00:29:22.000
you know, they can cause confusion. It's important. Of course,
489
00:29:22.839 --> 00:29:25.539
for people to really, you know, study and to be aware,
490
00:29:25.579 --> 00:29:27.819
and this is what we are hoping. We want folks
491
00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:29.440
to get out and vote, and we're not trying to
492
00:29:29.480 --> 00:29:32.640
be judgy, right? But we definitely want people to get
493
00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:35.329
out and vote and try to be as educated and
494
00:29:35.569 --> 00:29:39.970
engage a voter as possible as they are making those decisions.
495
00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:42.839
making their ballot decisions. And I think that as we're
496
00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:46.960
looking at the city attorney position, again, a critical position,
497
00:29:47.319 --> 00:29:50.519
that is the position that decides not just like whether
498
00:29:50.579 --> 00:29:54.039
or not they're going to go after protesters, whether or
499
00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:57.619
not they're going to go after police. who engage in
500
00:29:57.940 --> 00:30:00.859
crimes against our people, but also the people that decide,
501
00:30:01.099 --> 00:30:05.140
are you going to just code violation, harass Black people
502
00:30:05.309 --> 00:30:09.529
out of their businesses? Okay? Because I've had those cases, right?
503
00:30:09.549 --> 00:30:11.829
Well, give me an example. What does that look like?
504
00:30:11.890 --> 00:30:16.529
I mean, just you're nitpicking them about small things until
505
00:30:16.569 --> 00:30:19.400
they can no longer afford to do business. Is that
506
00:30:19.420 --> 00:30:19.799
what you mean?
507
00:30:20.630 --> 00:30:22.769
Correct. So it's like, you know, they have this code
508
00:30:22.789 --> 00:30:25.150
violation that, you know, of course, we want people to
509
00:30:25.190 --> 00:30:27.539
be at code, right? I'm not saying that. But it's
510
00:30:27.579 --> 00:30:30.240
like there may be a code violation about like where
511
00:30:30.259 --> 00:30:33.599
your exit sign is. And then you've got to move
512
00:30:33.619 --> 00:30:36.119
the exit sign. And let's say the person is trying
513
00:30:36.140 --> 00:30:38.380
to get that happening, but they, you know, times are tough.
514
00:30:38.660 --> 00:30:40.940
They're trying to collect the money to be able to,
515
00:30:41.140 --> 00:30:45.769
you know, satisfy or meet that code violation. In the meantime,
516
00:30:45.809 --> 00:30:48.289
you get another inspection and now it's like, oh, the
517
00:30:48.329 --> 00:30:50.329
thing is still not moved or maybe you did do it.
518
00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:53.160
but you didn't do it still according to code. And
519
00:30:53.240 --> 00:30:55.829
so all of that still adds up. And at some point,
520
00:30:56.190 --> 00:31:00.069
that becomes misdemeanors. And you actually are getting charged with
521
00:31:00.130 --> 00:31:04.619
a crime. And now having to navigate not just as
522
00:31:04.759 --> 00:31:08.259
a code piece, but as actual a court case that
523
00:31:08.299 --> 00:31:11.039
you have to go to court for, the city attorney
524
00:31:11.079 --> 00:31:14.839
decides that. And we know that that has been used
525
00:31:15.339 --> 00:31:20.029
in the past. as a bully club against black businesses, right,
526
00:31:20.109 --> 00:31:21.809
in this city of Los Angeles.
527
00:31:22.210 --> 00:31:25.740
We're talking about selective enforcement too, right? So if we
528
00:31:25.779 --> 00:31:29.400
want to push black businesses out of a gentrifying neighborhood,
529
00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:33.500
and we've seen that on the Crenshaw Corridor where landlords
530
00:31:33.539 --> 00:31:35.859
decide they can get more money from a different tenant
531
00:31:36.299 --> 00:31:38.599
and that business person is pushed out or given an
532
00:31:38.680 --> 00:31:42.119
unfair lease with the wrong city attorney, that could be
533
00:31:42.539 --> 00:31:45.049
even a bigger problem than it is now. Is that
534
00:31:45.069 --> 00:31:45.569
what you're saying?
535
00:31:46.640 --> 00:31:50.759
Absolutely. Going after slumlords, right? That is something that the
536
00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:53.359
city attorney does. Usually it's not to the point of
537
00:31:53.400 --> 00:31:57.339
a felony. It's usually still a misdemeanor. And so how
538
00:31:57.440 --> 00:32:02.789
connected are the city attorney to the landlord class? It's
539
00:32:02.930 --> 00:32:06.049
not just what people think it is, like, oh, you know,
540
00:32:06.130 --> 00:32:10.349
petty theft and bar fights or whatever. It also includes
541
00:32:10.490 --> 00:32:15.829
these pieces that actually deal more with the rules with
542
00:32:15.869 --> 00:32:18.970
regard to your everyday life than even the district attorney's
543
00:32:19.029 --> 00:32:22.150
office does. And it also has a civil part, remember.
544
00:32:22.430 --> 00:32:23.970
So it has a
civil part as well. So when
545
00:32:23.990 --> 00:32:26.690
you sue the police, the person who you're fighting against
546
00:32:26.849 --> 00:32:29.799
is the city attorney who's determining, are we settling this?
547
00:32:30.059 --> 00:32:31.390
Are we fighting you tooth and nail?
548
00:32:32.359 --> 00:32:35.079
So when we look at this particular race, you've got
549
00:32:35.660 --> 00:32:40.059
John McKinney, who is coming out of the district attorney's office.
550
00:32:40.099 --> 00:32:44.819
He actually ran for D.A., did not win that. And
551
00:32:44.839 --> 00:32:48.180
then you have Marissa Roy, who's coming out of the
552
00:32:48.880 --> 00:32:52.630
state attorney general's office. So the incumbent actually didn't make it.
553
00:32:52.980 --> 00:32:57.289
So you've got these two people that are already not
554
00:32:57.329 --> 00:33:01.910
just attorneys, but they're already working in government. One's black,
555
00:33:02.029 --> 00:33:07.589
one's not. What else should we look at in terms
556
00:33:07.670 --> 00:33:12.369
of determining what about them might tell us Who would
557
00:33:12.390 --> 00:33:17.650
be more likely to stand up, for example, for black
558
00:33:17.670 --> 00:33:22.259
small businesses or small businesses in general? Who would be
559
00:33:22.319 --> 00:33:24.960
more on the side of renters? Who would be more
560
00:33:25.900 --> 00:33:28.799
on the side of justice when it comes to those
561
00:33:28.880 --> 00:33:33.119
smaller police matters and particularly protesters? Because it seems like
562
00:33:33.140 --> 00:33:34.690
we're going to be having a lot to protest.
563
00:33:36.269 --> 00:33:38.839
Absolutely. I mean, I think people should look at it.
564
00:33:38.839 --> 00:33:41.440
It's not hard to find, right, to Google it. It's
565
00:33:41.480 --> 00:33:44.819
not hard to find like what they said, looking at
566
00:33:44.859 --> 00:33:47.000
whole pieces, not just like the little clips that you
567
00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:51.660
get on social media, but actually looking at the recordings
568
00:33:51.680 --> 00:33:54.569
of the different forums that they've been on, including like
569
00:33:54.609 --> 00:33:57.529
the KBLA forum, right? I think that people should look
570
00:33:57.549 --> 00:34:01.650
at who's endorsing folks because that does mean something, not
571
00:34:01.710 --> 00:34:05.430
just in terms of the industries that are endorsing, but
572
00:34:05.569 --> 00:34:08.070
also in terms of the individuals. And then I think
573
00:34:08.110 --> 00:34:11.170
people should remember what is on the ballot. Black progress
574
00:34:11.210 --> 00:34:13.489
is on the ballot. Body snatchers are on the ballot.
575
00:34:13.550 --> 00:34:17.480
Billionaires are on the ballot. There's a little body autonomy. There's,
576
00:34:17.500 --> 00:34:20.619
you know, protests and the ability to have free speech
577
00:34:20.659 --> 00:34:23.480
and democracy is on the ballot. Look at what you
578
00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:27.320
care about and then make your decisions based upon that,
579
00:34:27.420 --> 00:34:31.059
as opposed to just looking at race or just looking
580
00:34:31.239 --> 00:34:34.380
at gender or or those like identity pieces. Not to
581
00:34:34.420 --> 00:34:38.380
say that representation is not important, but representation is not
582
00:34:38.460 --> 00:34:41.500
just about like what people look like, right? Or what people,
583
00:34:41.539 --> 00:34:44.920
who people are. It's about who people are. Yeah.
584
00:34:45.099 --> 00:34:47.820
And part of representation is following the money because when
585
00:34:47.860 --> 00:34:51.380
we have big money coming from one particular place, we
586
00:34:51.420 --> 00:34:55.159
tend to represent those folks as well in a different
587
00:34:55.199 --> 00:34:55.780
kind of way.
588
00:34:57.039 --> 00:34:59.880
Right. Absolutely. And people need to think about all of that.
589
00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:03.260
And right now, there was a time when people could
590
00:35:03.280 --> 00:35:05.840
play fast and loose, and that was one of the
591
00:35:05.900 --> 00:35:07.920
wonderful things about being in California, is that you could
592
00:35:07.940 --> 00:35:11.429
play fast and loose, as opposed to other states where
593
00:35:11.469 --> 00:35:14.610
voters had to be really focused. This is not one
594
00:35:14.650 --> 00:35:17.829
of those times. We are under fascism in a way
595
00:35:18.230 --> 00:35:20.409
that we have not been. I'm not saying we've never
596
00:35:20.449 --> 00:35:22.269
been before, but in a way that we have not
597
00:35:22.329 --> 00:35:26.679
been for a minute. And we in California have to
598
00:35:26.719 --> 00:35:29.570
take it seriously, have to continue to to set the bar,
599
00:35:30.179 --> 00:35:33.250
have to continue to pay attention to what's happening because
600
00:35:33.309 --> 00:35:34.679
they certainly are coming at us.
601
00:35:35.949 --> 00:35:38.909
Attorney Nana Jamfi is with me this morning. You can
602
00:35:39.010 --> 00:35:44.050
find her at Instabaji. It's B-A-J-I, Black Alliance for Just Immigration.
603
00:35:44.070 --> 00:35:46.630
I think you're Attorney Nana everywhere. Maybe that's where I
604
00:35:46.670 --> 00:35:49.690
got it from, on Twitter, on Instagram. But Black Alliance
605
00:35:49.730 --> 00:35:55.329
for Just Immigration, Baji, is it Baji.org? I think so.
606
00:35:55.969 --> 00:35:59.110
You can find her everywhere. And we'll continue the conversation
607
00:35:59.150 --> 00:36:01.670
when we come forward. Got to ask you about Prop 39,
608
00:36:01.670 --> 00:36:06.460
of course, and tonight's mayoral debate. All that straight ahead
609
00:36:06.900 --> 00:36:09.900
on KBLA Talk 1580. We just have a couple minutes.
610
00:36:09.960 --> 00:36:12.920
Time flies when you're on the radio. Attorney Nana Jomfi
611
00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:17.429
is my guest. It's Baji.org, right? B-A-J-I.org?
612
00:36:18.730 -->
00:36:19.929
B-A-J-I.org.
613
00:36:20.130 --> 00:36:22.199
Absolutely. Got it.
614
00:36:22.210 --> 00:36:22.389
So.
615
00:36:23.659 --> 00:36:26.510
Prop 39, I know you're talking about this. One of
616
00:36:26.530 --> 00:36:28.849
the things it does, it would do if people vote
617
00:36:28.889 --> 00:36:32.809
yes on it, is make us verify our citizenship with
618
00:36:32.869 --> 00:36:35.309
a government database that is unspecified.
619
00:36:36.929 --> 00:36:39.730
Yeah, we just need to reject this wholeheartedly. I brag
620
00:36:39.829 --> 00:36:43.489
on California all the time about the ways in which
621
00:36:43.550 --> 00:36:45.760
it is so easy for people to be able to vote.
622
00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:50.420
As Black people particularly, we need to remember that anything
623
00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:54.039
that keeps us, anything that stands between us and casting
624
00:36:54.099 --> 00:36:58.389
our ballot is voter suppression. Voter IDs is voter suppression.
625
00:36:58.780 --> 00:37:01.550
It is the same kind of voter suppression as making
626
00:37:01.630 --> 00:37:03.489
us count how many jelly beans are in the jar.
627
00:37:04.349 --> 00:37:08.190
And we know, just from the real ID drama, that
628
00:37:08.210 --> 00:37:11.150
it's not easy for all Black folks, I'm talking about
629
00:37:11.230 --> 00:37:15.090
Black American folks, to be able to get an ID.
630
00:37:15.550 --> 00:37:18.349
Elderly folks find it difficult. Younger folks find it difficult.
631
00:37:18.389 --> 00:37:22.059
Disabled folks find it difficult. And there's no part of
632
00:37:22.119 --> 00:37:25.239
our communities that we should be throwing away and saying, hey,
633
00:37:25.300 --> 00:37:27.059
these people should, you know, too bad for you because
634
00:37:27.079 --> 00:37:29.599
we're trying to save ourselves. That does not make sense.
635
00:37:30.440 --> 00:37:34.530
The way that California makes it easy to vote because
636
00:37:34.570 --> 00:37:38.409
you already, when you register, have to show all of that, right,
637
00:37:38.429 --> 00:37:40.969
in terms of, you know, your proof of citizenship and
638
00:37:41.010 --> 00:37:43.909
all of that happens at that time. We do not
639
00:37:43.949 --> 00:37:46.889
have 10-hour lines. We do not, you know, the things
640
00:37:46.929 --> 00:37:49.369
that we see across the country, it's not because the
641
00:37:49.409 --> 00:37:51.949
people there are stupid. It's because they have all these
642
00:37:52.010 --> 00:37:55.710
ridiculous voter ID laws and other voter suppression laws. Why
643
00:37:55.750 --> 00:37:57.989
we're trying to pick that up, I don't know, but
644
00:37:58.030 --> 00:37:58.719
we should not be.
645
00:37:59.389 --> 00:38:02.679
Okay, 60 seconds on tonight's mayoral debate. What are you
646
00:38:02.699 --> 00:38:06.059
looking for? It's the last one of this election season.
647
00:38:07.380 --> 00:38:09.019
Well, as I said, one of the things I'm looking
648
00:38:09.059 --> 00:38:11.360
for always is about body snatchers, which for me is
649
00:38:11.400 --> 00:38:15.099
police and ICE. I'm really interested in hearing... What the
650
00:38:15.159 --> 00:38:17.840
mayoral candidates are going to be saying about LAPD are
651
00:38:17.860 --> 00:38:20.480
going to be saying about ICE in LA. I'm concerned
652
00:38:20.500 --> 00:38:22.539
about what they're going to be saying about black folks
653
00:38:22.659 --> 00:38:26.079
particularly and what they plan to do to make sure
654
00:38:26.119 --> 00:38:29.199
that black people are not just like bygone culture in
655
00:38:29.219 --> 00:38:32.010
this city, but actually are thriving here in the ways
656
00:38:32.050 --> 00:38:34.909
that we deserve to thrive. And I'm looking to see
657
00:38:34.969 --> 00:38:37.329
what they're going to be saying other than, you know,
658
00:38:37.429 --> 00:38:39.949
Trump is terrible and awful. What is like the vision
659
00:38:39.989 --> 00:38:43.000
that they have? for what this city should be and
660
00:38:43.039 --> 00:38:45.719
what this city will be under their leadership. Yep.
661
00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:49.590
All great points. Um, attorney Nana Jaffe, thank you so
662
00:38:49.650 --> 00:38:51.829
much for stepping in this morning in the clutch. It's
663
00:38:51.889 --> 00:38:52.789
much appreciated.
664
00:38:53.750 --> 00:38:56.409
Thank you. Appreciate you. It's always good to be on.
665
00:38:57.429 --> 00:38:59.550
And it's great to have you on. Tavis Smiley's got
666
00:38:59.590 --> 00:39:04.280
a long lineup of great guests today, including, um, The
667
00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:09.880
presumable next senator out of Florida, Angie Nixon, he's got
668
00:39:09.900 --> 00:39:11.719
a great lineup. You don't want to miss that show.
669
00:39:12.199 --> 00:39:17.210
You can look for me on social media at deprimeradio, D-I-P-R-I-M-A,
670
00:39:17.690 --> 00:39:20.170
and then radio. Let's talk about it off the air
671
00:39:20.269 --> 00:39:22.710
as well as on the air. I always love chopping
672
00:39:22.769 --> 00:39:26.690
it up with you. The station is at KBLA 1580 everywhere,
673
00:39:26.809 --> 00:39:29.969
KBLA 1580 everywhere. When you like, when you follow, when
674
00:39:30.019 --> 00:39:33.699
you subscribe, when you download our app, you make us stronger.
675
00:39:33.800 --> 00:39:38.809
So let's engage virtually as well as in real life.
676
00:39:39.630 --> 00:39:43.329
Like my father, the former poet laureate of New Jersey,
677
00:39:43.869 --> 00:39:47.630
Mary Baraka once said, a person is either free or
678
00:39:47.670 --> 00:39:50.829
they are not free. There can be no apprenticeship for freedom.
679
00:39:51.230 --> 00:39:54.889
Until tomorrow, KBLA delegation, one love.