Vanessa Arredondo

1 week ago | lapublicpress.org | Vanessa Arredondo

Pedro was dropping off a rideshare passenger in Altadena in 2019, when he received a notification from Uber that this would be his last job with the company unless he could verify his personal information through documentation like a Social Security number. Having arrived in the United States at age 17 without authorization, Pedro closed the app and set course for home in the San Fernando Valley, knowing it would be the last time he’d work for the rideshare app.

1 week ago | berkeleyside.org | Vanessa Arredondo

The Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) is considering raising after-school program fees starting this fall to cover service costs and salaries for its nine after-school coordinators. This follows an earlier decision by the board to remove these positions from layoff contention amid community pushback.

2 weeks ago | berkeleyside.org | Vanessa Arredondo

Two months after announcing the possibility of major staff reductions to help balance a nearly $8 million budget deficit, the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) has rescinded nearly all of the potential layoff notices it sent to employees, following weeks of strong community opposition at school board meetings. More than 370 district employees, including 191 certified and 182 classified union and non-union workers, were notified in March of either a possible layoff or reassignment.

2 weeks ago | berkeleyside.org | Vanessa Arredondo

Ron arrived in the United States from the Philippines in 2005. It was his second time in the U.S., but this time he was staying for good. Back home, his life had been threatened and he’d experienced harassment and sexual abuse due to being gay.

3 weeks ago | berkeleyside.org | Vanessa Arredondo

It was 7 a.m. on a weekday in April when Hally, a longtime resident of Berkeley, heard banging on her door. She was not expecting company so early in the morning. When she opened the door, two men in plain clothing asked if a certain man lived there. They were officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and were conducting a child welfare check and wanted to speak with the father, an immigrant from Central America connected to the address, Hally said the officers told her.