00:00
Today we are joined by Senator Sasha Rene Perez,
00:03
who represents California's 25th Senate District.
00:07
Welcome to Me through Daily.
00:08
Thank you. Thank you for having me on.
00:11
Very honored. Thank you so much for joining us today.
00:15
It really is a privilege to have you speak with us in
00:17
our audience. I'm happy to be here and you know,
00:20
answer questions, talk about the issues.
00:23
So it's it's an important time right now.
00:26
Before we get started,
00:27
I have to say I admire you because you're California's youngest state
00:31
senator. And you're breaking barriers not only as a leader but
00:36
also as a Latina in a field which is traditionally dominated by
00:40
older white cisgender straight men what challenges have you faced being a
00:47
young Latina in politics?
00:49
Yeah,, I think the the number one challenge that
00:52
comes up is a lot of folks don't think initially that I
00:56
am the elected official,
00:57
so,, both when I was mayor and also now
01:01
as a. Senator oftentimes they'll show up places and people go
01:04
it's so great you're here.
01:05
Where's the senator? and they'll look behind me.
01:08
So I take it very seriously that someone like myself is in
01:12
this space and that I have to lead a certain way and
01:14
that I have a whole group of people to represent that haven't
01:17
been represented in these spaces before.
01:20
Well, thank you for doing that.
01:21
I know to me and in my specific community it does mean
01:24
a lot to see ourselves represented in these spaces,
01:27
so I appreciate that.
01:28
I want to bounce back to the reason we're here.
01:30
In this conversation, you represent areas directly impacted by the Eaton
01:35
Fire. It's almost been two months since the start of the
01:39
Eaton fire. What stage of recovery are we in?
01:43
What, what's still needed for those affected?
01:45
Yeah, so we're still really very much in the early stages
01:49
We've began that initial cleanup process.
01:52
So just a couple of weeks ago,
01:53
the US Army Corps of Engineers actually cleaned the first lot.
01:58
And so what's known as an ROE.
02:00
Form or right of entry form,
02:01
those forms are available right now.
02:03
So for anybody that lost their home in the fire,
02:06
they can go ahead and complete that form and the US Army
02:09
Corps of Engineers will come and clean off that lot,
02:13
We want to get rid of that toxic debris.
02:15
And so that's the focus right now is doing that clean up
02:18
That's the part that we need to get through before we
02:20
get through the rebuilding process.
02:23
In addition to that,
02:24
you know, I know many constituents have concerns about air quality
02:27
about water quality.
02:29
I have that question because my parents are going back to the
02:32
house with a little too much frequency in my mind where I'm
02:35
like, is it safe for them to be there right now
02:40
you know, a resource we can check for air quality or
02:44
what are the proper ways to go about being in the affected
02:47
areas? Yeah, so for those that are looking for information
02:50
a good place to go is that Los Angeles County's Department
02:55
their website, they'll have updates there.
02:58
As well as AQMD AQMD is the one that's doing the
03:01
air quality studies. So they recently did an assessment of the
03:07
and found that things actually look really good.
03:09
And so that's a great sign that we're on the right track
03:13
and Department of Public Health is gonna continue to
03:17
if you're revisiting,,
03:20
you know, your home,
03:21
especially if there is a lot of ash and debris,
03:23
we're reminding folks you wanna be sure you're wearing an N95 mask
03:27
You want to make sure that you're wearing gloves.
03:30
there are these kind of white suits that you'll see
03:33
folks wearing where they're all zipped up,
03:34
the hazmat suits, protecting your skin,
03:37
protecting your lungs, it's really,
03:39
really critical. So going back to Altadena and the community that
03:43
we love so much and that we're coming together for right now
03:46
there's a large population of brown and black families and and
03:49
residents, including many immigrants.
03:53
After a disaster like this,
03:55
what challenges do they face right now?
03:57
So one of the major challenges that our immigrant community is facing
04:01
in Pasadena and Altadina is for those that are undocumented,
04:06
they do not have access to the same federal resources.
04:09
So things like FEMA,
04:11
things like SBA grants that you hear a lot of folks talking
04:14
about right now, they're not eligible for any of that,
04:19
making sure we're getting aid directly to those folks is
04:21
critical. In addition to.
04:23
That for our immigrant workers that were working in these areas
04:29
working as gardeners working as house cleaners in areas like the
04:33
Palisades in Altadena, they lost their jobs and so they're dealing
04:37
with an economic loss as well.
04:39
So you know, myself,
04:41
and several other senators,
04:43
you know, have advocated and said that we need to ensure
04:47
you know, we're creating a fund and resource.
04:50
to help those workers and to help those that are undocumented
04:54
that have been impacted by the fires and I've really tried to
04:57
emphasize this because our immigrant community is going through so much right
05:01
now we're dealing with the crisis of Donald Trump being in office
05:06
and making threats of mass deportations and at the same time just
05:11
13 days before losing everything that you own in a fire.
05:15
And so it's been so.
05:16
So incredibly difficult for Latino community.
05:18
I've talked to folks who are living out of their cars because
05:21
they're so scared to ask for help so you know that is
05:24
top of mind for me and we're going to continue to advocate
05:27
to make sure that that those folks have resources and support.
05:31
So we saw the White House posted on social media an ASMR
05:35
of a flight of deported migrants heading back after being deported
05:42
by the US government.
05:46
It is incredibly disgusting what's happening.
05:50
I think that you're seeing in real time that the Trump administration
05:57
more interested in putting on theatrical performances that demonize and target people
06:03
I mean that video should be evidenced enough to folks that
06:05
this has nothing to do with public safety,
06:08
that this is about targeting black and brown immigrants.
06:15
seem as if that these folks are evil,
06:20
that is the narrative that they are trying to craft here.
06:23
It is just so clear that this is a racist tirade on
06:27
behalf of this presidential administration.
06:29
It is, it is shocking.
06:30
It is shocking to be alive during this moment in in politics
06:34
So what is the California Senate doing to push back and
06:38
protect immigrant communities right now?
06:40
Yeah, so there's a number of things that we're working on
06:43
you know, first and foremost,
06:44
I've moved forward legislation.
06:45
It's SB 98 or the SAFE Act,
06:48
and the SAFE Act would require all school districts as well as
06:51
colleges and universities to notify students,
06:55
their families, as well as campus,
06:58
staff, faculty, teachers,
07:00
if ICE is going to be present on campus,
07:03
if ICE is present on campus,
07:05
and for them to utilize their emergency response systems.
07:08
The exact same way that we would if there was any sort
07:11
of kind of catastrophic event on a on a school campus,
07:15
you know, we've allocated over $25 million to the Department of
07:19
Justice and to Attorney General Rob Bonta to make sure he's able
07:23
to hire more attorneys.
07:25
You know, we're getting ready to sue the Trump administration,
07:29
you know, should he go about breaking the law.
07:32
as a state, you know,
07:33
and as a state senate,
07:34
you know, we're here to defend the rights of.
07:36
Californians to make sure that our immigrant community,
07:41
you know, is being treated fairly and humanely and you
07:45
know as a, as a Latina you know leading in this
07:48
moment I you know I I can't emphasize just how important this
07:51
is to me well that's comforting to hear and going back to
07:55
resources and deadlines what are some important deadlines we should know of
07:59
I know I'm hearing left and right like oh my gosh
08:02
I gotta do that real fast.
08:03
I gotta remind my parents.
08:04
So your help is appreciated.
08:10
I appreciate you mentioning this because it's really important that we get
08:13
these dates on our calendar.
08:14
Mark them right here right now.
08:16
Yes, absolutely. First and foremost,
08:19
you want to make sure you're getting your FEMA application in and
08:22
your small business administration application in by March 10th.
08:27
That is the deadline.
08:29
Make sure to fill that out online.
08:31
You can go to both of those.
08:32
Sites and submit that you want to get that in once again
08:36
by March 10th. The second most important application deadline is on
08:40
March 31st. That is to complete the right of entry form
08:45
which will allow the US Army Corps of Engineers to come in
08:49
and to clean your lot if you have lost your home.
08:52
They will clean your lot of smoke,
08:56
any of those damaged pieces of your home,
08:59
but you need to make sure that.
09:01
You're completing the right of entry form by March 31st.
09:06
You can find that application at the LA County website.
09:09
You can go ahead and type that into Google.
09:11
It'll come right up.
09:13
make sure that you submit that.
09:14
That will allow you to get to that next stage of the
09:18
rebuilding process. Thank you very much,
09:20
Senator Perez. I really appreciate our conversation.
09:23
Where can our audience keep in touch and follow you on social
09:26
media?, so social media.
09:29
It's just my full name Sasha Rene Perez,
09:35
for our official page it's Senator SRP so you
09:38
can reach out to us anytime and I'm happy to answer any
09:42
questions. We're always here to help and serve and you know
09:46
this is a really critical time period can't emphasize that enough,
09:48
but appreciate you having me on and discussing some of these
09:53
important dates and deadlines that are coming up.
09:54
So thank you, Daniela.
