Afghan Refugees Find New Life In California Desert

Here are the morning’s top stories on Thursday, August 15, 2024…

• Three years ago, as the U.S military completed its pull out, Taliban forces captured Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. In the wake of that change, many Afghan refugees fled to the U.S. and California. They settled in the Bay Area, L.A., San Diego and Sacramento, but some also have found a new home in California’s Mojave Desert. 
• The Boise Fire burning in Humboldt and Siskiyou Counties has charred more than 9600 acres, according to fire officials. There’s still no containment as of Thursday morning. 
• Some California Democrats have announced a campaign to back a state proposition that would increase penalties for theft and drug crimes. Many opponents of Proposition 36 say the ballot initiative is a Republican-led effort, but the group of Democratic leaders say crime is affecting their communities.

In California’s Desert, Refugees From Afghanistan Make A New Life For Themselves

Nearly three years after the United States pulled out of Afghanistan, more than 150 refugees fleeing Taliban rule have found homes in California’s Mojave Desert. 

Mojave makes a lot of sense for refugees, since California is an expensive place to live. About 30 Afghan families call the Santiago Estates of Mojave, a mobile home park, home. Affordable Community Living, which owns the mobile home park, offers three-bedroom mobile homes for as little as $400 a month. Even then, about a dozen units remain vacant.

But Mojave’s remote location presents some challenges for refugees, chiefly, a lack of public transportation and job development programs make it hard to get far. The nearest college is in the city of Lancaster, about 50 miles roundtrip from Mojave. And that can mean about $100 for an Uber ride.

Boise Fire Grows To Nearly 10,000 Acres In Humboldt, Siskiyou Counties

The fast-moving Boise Fire, which started late last week in Six Rivers National Forest, has burned quickly over steep terrain. The fire has nearly doubled in the last day, with zero percent containment as of August 15, sending an impressive smoke plume over the region and threatening isolated communities along the Klamath River.

Evacuation orders are in place for parts of Siskiyou and Humboldt counties.

“The winds were in alignment. The fuels are dry. There’s heavy fuel loading. All of that combined together created that expansive growth that we saw,” said Kaleena Lynde with California Interagency Incident Management Team 10. Lynde said some parts of the Six Rivers National Forest haven’t burned for the last 100 years and fuels treatment has been limited due to hard-to-access terrain.

Some Democrats Express Support For Statewide Crime Reform Measure

Some California Democrats have announced a campaign to back a state proposition that would increase penalties for theft and drug crimes. Opponents of Proposition 36 have called support for the ballot initiative a Republican-led effort. But leaders of the new Common Sense on Safety campaign say they represent communities hurt by homelessness, retail theft and addiction, regardless of party.  

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is leading the campaign. “This issue has become so unnecessarily politicized. It’s become a partisan issue and public safety should be a non-partisan issue. It should be about solving problems” he said.

But opponents said the proposition would greatly increase prison and jail populations and raise costs by tens of millions of dollars a year. Voters will decide the fate of the ballot measure in November. It would roll back Prop 47, a 2014 measure passed by voters that raised the felony threshold for drug and theft related crimes.