The year 2021 opened in Los Angeles with a good news and another very worrying. The good news came when Joe Biden assumed the presidency of the United States, which ended the term of President Trump who was a real headache for his aggressive policies towards undocumented immigrants.
Biden promised on the first day as president, an immigration reform for 10 millions of undocumented immigrants, but at the end of the year, everything was left in a delusion. Not even a shorn version could be approved to give them work permits.
In terms of health, the Angelenos also started the year with terrifying news, a brutal rebound in covid cases – 19, with one person dying each 15 minutes, and one out of every 5 residents who took the test, came out positive at virus.
From 381, 000 cases of coronavirus by the end of November, amounted to more than 800, 000 for the 2 January, and 7 were reported, 900 people hospitalized.
The emergency approval of the anti-covid vaccine raised hopes at the beginning of the year 2021, that the pandemic would subside at some point.
As of 21 In January, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health began giving appointments for vaccinate adults over 65 years. But the start of the vaccination was run over, the web pages to set aside appointments were saturated and fell.
It also transpired that the pandemic continued to disproportionately affect Latinos and African Americans due to lack of access to vaccines . Until the 16 December, the official Health report Los Angeles County Public, reported a figure of 13, 768 Latinos killed as a result of covid – 19
The Johnson and Johnson single injection vaccine was the third to enter the US market , after the Food and Drug Administration authorized its emergency use (USA).
Governor Gavin Newsom announced that as of 15 April, all Californians older than 16 years were eligible for vaccination.
Since January when the vaccine began to be applied, the anti-vaccine groups that they oppose immunization, and in many cases the use of masks.
To date their arguments to oppose are based on theories and misinformation that indicate that they cause death, autism and other serious health problems. The Los Angeles Police Department and Fire Brigade unions are filing lawsuits against the City of Los Angeles against the mandate that requires police officers and firebighters to be vaccinated.
It was the 15 of June when the economy fully reopened in California, with the exception of the mega events that had to comply with certain much stricter protocols such as the use of masks.
Weeks after the reopening, the highly contagious Delta variant of covid appeared on the scene – 18, which also attacks people vaccinated days, although health experts assure that the chances of getting severely ill and ending up in the ward hospital emergency services are reduced with the vaccine.
In May, the FDA authorized the Pfizer vaccine for men ores of 12 to 15 years
And from November, the covid vaccine – 19 from Pfizer was made available for ages 5 to 11 years.
That same month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) authorized the booster vaccine to be administered to all adults older than 16 years, whether they had received the Pfizer and La Moderna, at least 6 months after the second dose, and two months for J&J.
At the same time a new variant of covid- 18, the Omicron, which until now, is presented as a strain that although it is very contagious, compared to Delta, causes milder symptoms.
Until December 9, the Los Angeles Department of Public Health reported that 15. 2 million vaccines since the first dose was administered a year ago.
As reported by said agency, the average vaccination among Latinos was in December 65% in Los Angeles County vs. 73% of white residents and 82% of Asians.
After more than a year of closure, on November 8, the United States opened the land border with Mexico to allow the entry of travelers with tourist visas.
On the ground politician
Governor Gavin Newsom managed to defeat the effort to remove him from office in a special election of the 12, which cost taxpayers nearly $ 300 millions. Newsom was strengthened with that triumph, and 6 months into the re-election contest in June of 2022, it is not anticipated that he will have trouble getting re-elected.
In July, it was made public that President Joe Biden appointed the mayor from Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti as Ambassador to India. It is expected to be confirmed in the Senate.
Garcetti from 50 years, he is the first mayor since 1929 who will leave his post before the end of his term in December from 2022.
Three months Upon reaching the post, in March 2021, a campaign was launched of collecting signatures to remove prosecutor George Gascón from office by groups opposed to his criminal justice reforms. In an interview with Real America News , Gascón said that efforts to remove him from office are a distraction from his work that comes from economic and political interests such as the bail bond industry, police unions and Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
Gascón’s policy change sparked a wave of opposition from crime victims , police and prosecutors. They also attribute to the prosecutor the increase in violent crimes in the city.
The first attempt to dismiss collapsed in October, but in December it was resumed with the intention of this time gathering the signatures that allow the decision to be placed in the hands of the voters in the November election of 2022.
Chamba Sánchez, the political science professor at Los Angeles community colleges, cited among the most relevant events of the year the failure of the campaign to remove Newsom.
“The recall election visibly moved the governor to the left and led him to sign progressive policies: SB 8 is the proof.”
The Housing Crisis Act signed in September, expedites the creation of more homes throughout the state.
He also cited as another relevant fact the federal criminal accusations of corruption filed against Councilor Mark Ridley Thomas who led him to be suspended from office.
“Clearly, he said, the homeless problem has been affected by the departure of Ridley Thomas as he was a leading voice who addressed this difficult issue. ”
Failed immigration reform
Biden’s first day as president of the United States was historic for immigrants because he presented an immigration reform proposal with a path to citizenship for 12 millions of undocumented persons.
It also proposed giving immediate citizenship to the beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and the Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and to farm workers.
However, the only thing that had been possible until November was to include in the Build Better Act bill, a provision to give undocumented immigrants, a temporary work permit instead of a path to citizenship.
It all fell apart when a week before Christmas, an employee d the Senate known as the parliamentarian, refused to include Biden’s migration plan in the Build Better Act.
Juan José Gutiérrez, leader and pro-immigrant activist cited that a very important achievement this year was that Governor Gavin Newsom gave undocumented immigrants who pay taxes an economic stimulus check for between $ 600 and $ 1, 200.
“A year before they had been given $ 500 of state aid, but it was not enough for all and the handover was a mess because the nonprofits didn’t have the cape city to deliver them. ”