Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/433121
ByAmyTaxin TheAssociatedPress LOS ANGELES In small- town community centers, schools, churches and a vast city convention cen- ter, immigrant advocates are spreading the word about President Barack Obama's plan to give mil- lions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally a tem- porary reprieve. The November an- nouncement promising work permits and pro- tection from deportation made a splash, but law- yers say the events are cru- cial to dispel rumors about eligibility, ward off fraud, and help immigrants de- termine what they might need to apply. In Los Angeles, advo- cates are hosting an in- formation session for as many as 10,000 people at the city's convention cen- ter Sunday. "After this big forum, we're going to have daily orientations. That is what we have to do in order to deal with the demand," said Angelica Salas, exec- utive director of the Co- alition for Humane Immi- grant Rights of Los Ange- les. Immigrants are eager to see if they qualify for Obama's executive actions to spare nearly 5 million people from deportation and to refocus enforce- ment efforts on criminals. Twenty states have filed a lawsuit to try to block the measure, which aims to benefit immigrants who have been in the country illegally for more than five years and have children who are American citi- zens or green card hold- ers, along with some im- migrants who entered the country illegally as chil- dren. For immigrant advo- cates, the challenge is reaching prospective ap- plicants in diverse com- munities that speak mul- tiple languages and of- ten know little about the United States' byzantine immigration laws. While some immigrants find strength in numbers, oth- ers shy away from public meetings because of fear or stigma over their im- migration status. At recent workshops and on telephone hotlines, immigrants have ques- tioned advocates about who will qualify and what documents they will need. Many want to know how they can prove their iden- tity after living under the radar for so long, and some worry they might face trouble for having worked under a false Social Secu- rity number, Salas said. Workshops for immi- grants already have been held at a high school in Knoxville, Tennessee, a church in Goshen, Indi- ana, and an Islamic Cen- ter in New York City. Eben Cathey, a spokesman for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coali- tion, said his organization has an event almost every night. At a recent forum at a San Diego community cen- ter, an immigration at- torney fielded questions for two hours, and many hands were still raised when time ran out. Immigrant advocates are doling out whatever in- formation they have, much of it based on their expe- riences with a 2012 pro- gram to assist U.S.-edu- cated immigrant children. But there is still much that is unknown, and no appli- cation form yet. Advocates are warning immigrants not to pay any- one to get in line to apply and to avoid being duped into filling out fake appli- cations. OUTREACH Immigrantsflockto workshops a er reprieve NICKUT—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Tony Bernabe gives information to Daisy Juarez in Los Angeles advertising a massive information session to tell immigrants more about President Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration. The Associated Press SACRAMENTO Millions of children enrolled in Cal- ifornia's health care pro- gram for low-income res- idents did not get dental check-ups last year in part because low payments de- terred many dentists from participating in the pro- gram, according to a new state audit. The agency that adminis- ters Medi-Cal has failed to adequately monitor the pro- gram's dental component and that its "shortcomings and ineffective actions are putting child beneficiaries at higher risk of dental dis- ease," State Auditor Elaine Howle said in a report sent to the governor and Legis- lature on Thursday. Nearly 56 percent of the 5.1 million children who get their health care through Medi-Cal did not visit a den- tist in fiscal year 2013, Howle said, noting that the pro- gram had similarly low par- ticipation in 2012 and 2011. She attributed the problem in part to a shortage of den- tists willing to see Medi-Cal patients due to reimburse- ment rates that have not in- creased since 2000. "Although California as a whole appeared to have an adequate number of active providers to meet child ben- eficiaries' dental needs as of January 2014, five counties may lack active providers," Howle said. "In addition, 11 counties had no providers willing to accept new Medi- Cal patients while 16 other counties appear to have an insufficient number of pro- viders." She also faulted the Cal- ifornia Department of Health Care Services for not monitoring a large contractor to make sure it was providing mobile den- tal services in underserved rural areas. Jenny Kattlove, direc- tor of strategic health ini- tiatives for the Children's Partnership, an advocacy group that lobbied law- makers to request the au- dit, told the San Francisco Chronicle that demand for dentists to treat low-income patients is expected to in- crease now that more Cal- ifornia residents qualify as part of the federal Afford- able Care Act. CHILD HEALTH St at e fa ul te d fo r la x ov er si gh t of d en ta l pr og ra m By Justin Pritchard and John Antczak The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Califor- nians got a lot of what they wanted and not too much of what they didn't from a ma- jor storm that finally blew out of the state Friday. After drenching North- ern California the previ- ous day, the storm dumped up to 5 inches of desper- ately needed rain in South- ern California. A landslide left 10 homes uninhabitable and fire officials executed a dramatic rescue of two people from the Los Ange- les River. There was street flood- ing, traffic tie-ups and wind gusts up to 60 mph in some areas. At its height, about 50,000 customers lost power, though most had it back quickly. Still, with few exceptions, damage across the region was minor and the soak- ing was welcome in a state withered by three years of drought. No serious injuries were reported. Adriana Fletcher, 39, of Huntington Beach, said her 5-, 6- and 7-year-olds were happy to see the rain after learning about the drought in school. "When it started raining, my kids were like, 'This is so cool,'" Fletcher said. As the storm crept down the coast overnight, its pow- erful winds caused power outages around Santa Bar- bara, where the National Weather Service said up to 5 inches fell in coastal moun- tains. Amtrak suspended service between Los Ange- les and the Central Coast city of San Luis Obispo. In Camarillo, a Ventura County city about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles, rain was falling at about an inch an hour over hillsides ravaged by a 2013 wildfire. With few roots to hold the soil in place, and a waxy subsurface layer caused by heat from the flames, the deluge caused part of a hill- side to give way. Debris brushed aside concrete barriers crews had set up on the slope and surrounded about a dozen homes with silt, sticks and rocks — some as large as a couch. The force was so great that two large earth- movers used to set up bar- riers were swept down to the street, with one nearly buried. Ten homes were red- tagged, meaning authori- ties believed they were too damaged for residents to re- turn. "Wow, are we lucky!" said Ted Elliot, whose house was barely spared. "We'll be the only house on the block," his wife, Rita, added. Earthen avalanches also blocked part of the Pacific Coast Highway in Ventura County. WEATHER St or m bla st s So ut her n Ca li fo rn ia RAQUEL DILLION — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Earth-moving equipment is buried by a debris flow in Camarillo Springs about 50miles northwest of Los Angeles on Friday. 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