damian trujillo: hello, and welcome to "comunidad del valle." i'm damian trujillo, and today, again, the great news we've all been waiting for about daca. there is some help. not everything was resolved, but there is some help today on your "comunidad del valle." ♪♪♪

damian: we begin today with a show by the peninsula ballet theatre called "carmen & frida." with me on "comunidad del valle" today is zenon barron, the artistic director of ballet ensambles of folklorico de san francisco. he joins us now on the show. zenon barron bienvenido-- welcome to "comunidad del valle." zenon barron: muchas gracias. thank you very much for the invitation. damian: yeah. thank you for being here. well, tell us--first of all, before we get into your group--your dance group, tell us about this new performance that you all just had over the weekend. zenon: well, peninsula ballet and ensambles ballet folklorico, we are coming together to perform this new production "carmen & frida," and we are trying to put this aspect about those powerful women from spain and mexico and we are working very hard to do this coming show this coming weekend.

damian: tell us about carmen for those of us who might not know who carmen-- zenon: well, carmen is from spain. the peninsula ballet tried to put with a classical music the opera music from carmen. so we're trying to do about how was her life when she was still alive a long, long time ago, and we try to combine those aspects from spain and mexico and we make a very good fusion about classical ballet and opera ballet in mexican and different indigenous music from mexico, too. damian: how difficult is that? that doesn't sound like it can be easy because you're mixing a lot of different epics, genres quien sabe que. zenon: correct. so it was not easy. it was very difficult because finally after the pandemic we

tried to put this show together, and it was very proud and amazing opportunity for me to work together with the peninsula ballet. this is my first time that i'm working with classical ballet, and i'm--and greg, he's the artistic director of peninsula ballet. we try to combine those different aspects about the indigenous community in mexico and the classical ballet from spain about carmen. so we try to do our best on this coming weekend. damian: and you are the artistic director, again, the ballet ensambles folklorico. what is your background? tell us about how you grew up in the industry. zenon: well, i'm a--i was a professional dancer when i was very young. i was part of the ballet folklorico de méxico de amalia hernández, and i have different techniques that i was studying a long, long time ago and i'm trying to combine the indigenous

music, the mexican folk dance traditions and we try to put this together. and i'm trying to take some pictures from frida's life, and we're still--we're talking about the el corset. we have frida frente al espejo frida in front of the mural; and we have the two fridas. so i'm trying to take those kind of pictures she did long, long time ago and to make some movements about those paintings. yes. damian: oh, that's wonderful. again, this is a great performance put on by the ballet ensambles folklorico de san francisco. there is the information on the screen. there is the website. we'll be back and talk to el maestro zenon barron on "comunidad del valle." so stay with us. ♪♪♪

damian: we're back here on "comunidad del valle" with el maestro zenon barron of ballet ensambles folklorico de san francisco here on "comunidad del valle." so the background that you have is the ballet folklorico de amalia hernandez. it's called ballet. so there are some ballet--some traditional ballet that's involved in the dances with amalia hernandez? zenon: yeah. well, do you know what? i'm trying to put my -- about my work. so i'm trying to combine flamenco technique, mexican -- tradition from mexico, and then i'm trying to put those things together with different techniques. again, we use ballet, we use contemporary dance to do this kind of shows because most of the frida's painting--she was on pain when she did those famous paintings. so i'm trying to figure out how was her life long, long time ago

and put together these ideas. damian: and, again, did you have--so this is your creation. is this the first time it's ever been tried, or did you have to read about it? somebody made great-- zenon: well, i did a long time ago. on 2012 i did the show about diego rivera and frida kahlo painters and movements. so i did on--i mean, 11 years ago. and when i got a call from the peninsula ballet to make this production together, i said, "yes. why not?" so--and when they mentioned carmen and we are on the woman's mind, so i said, "yes, we can do that." so we try to do--each company make fusion about this show, and we try to be ready for this weekend. damian: so peninsula ballet is very fortunate that you're there. is there any way to expand this? maybe other ballet companies can adopt this and bring it to their communities. zenon: well, my--in my mind is to try to make more community

about the different companies around the bay area and mix our traditions. i mean, you can do whatever. you can do ballet with mexican folk dance. you can do ballet with contemporary dance. you can do ballet with flamenco. so it's about a new aspect about dance styles. so we--i hope people come to--this weekend and they can really enjoy the show. damian: and what can they expect in a show like this? what treat are people in for when they show up? zenon: well, you know what? this is a spectacular show because we have beautiful colors from different costumes from mexico, and peninsula ballet make a new costumes from--to make alterations about the flamenco, traditional costumes to adapt it to a ballet classical. so we have beautiful music. we have beautiful background.

we have beautiful musicians. so i think people can really enjoy it and see about those -- women together on stage. damian: so in this area i would imagine that people know more about frida than they do about carmen. when they know about frida, can they expect to see something that they might remember or recall from her paintings? zenon: oh, yes. so i know when people come and see the show, as soon as they can see the first piece they can figure out about--it's about frida show because now at this point frida she's very famous around the world. so as soon as they can see the background, they can see the paintings on stage, they can see, "oh, it's frida's show." and then--again, we have different aspects from carmen too. so yeah. damian: all right. well, thank you so much. any final thoughts, maestro zenon barron, before we let you go? algo más, anything else you want to add? zenon: wow.

we invite all people from the--around the bay area to come to this performance, and don't miss it because it's an amazing opportunity to see a great, great, great show. damian: all right. well, thank you so much for being on the show and for bringing this to the bay area. zenon: thank you. damian: gracias. maestro zenon barron here on "comunidad del valle." again, for more information, you can log on to their website, peninsulaballet.org. it's called "carmen & frida." some great performance there. up next here on "comunidad del valle," some anticipated news about daca and how you can get some help.

damian: big news for daca recipients. we want to bring in from the mendoza law firm now andrew newcomb. he's a staff attorney there with the law firm. and jorge de la cruz also works for that law firm, but he's also a daca recipient. they join us on "comunidad del valle." welcome to the show, gentlemen. jorge de la cruz: thank you, damian. andrew newcomb: pleasure to be here. damian: thank you. we'll start with you, mr. newcomb.

talk about what's the latest. what should people know about where daca stands right now? andrew: well, where we are right now is that for initial daca applications that has been put on pause, which isn't to say that somebody can't send in an initial application. they can. however, uscis or immigration will not process it. they'll simply keep it on hold until some final decision is made regarding initial daca applications. for those daca recipients who already have applied and are in the process of renewing their daca, they are still able to renew their daca at this time. however, even that ability is now being challenged within the fifth circuit. there's been a negative ruling striking down the ability of dreamers to renew their daca, which is now on appeal in the fifth circuit court. damian: and you were mentioning, sir, that the fifth circuit isn't very friendly when it comes immigration issues. andrew: that's correct. unfortunately, for those of us that are immigration advocates--i'm reporting live from san jose, which is at--within the ninth circuit, which is one of the more favorable circuits.

the fifth circuit is where we see, you know, a lot of injunctions that are done by activist judges, many of whom are trump appointees, in order to shut down legislation that the biden administration has attempted to move forward. so we've come to kind of regard the fifth circuit with a fair amount of dread with all of the negative precedent that they're coming out with that really can harm the immigrant community. damian: yeah. and let me bring in jorge now. because you are a daca recipient, jorge, how does that make you feel listening to that? jorge: yeah. you know, of course it's a worry. right? it's always in the back of my mind. right? as we move forward, as we work with families here at the law firm helping them adjust their statuses and really find that pathway, right, for a peace of mind, i can't help but think about my peace of mind, right, about, you know, being a dreamer and being--you know, checking all the boxes that it requires to be a dreamer; going to school, graduating, you know; then going for higher education, graduating, getting a job. right?

right? growing within your profession and, you know, checking all the boxes, having no criminal records. right? and then here we are in limbo, right? and it just makes you wonder, you know, how stable it's going to be tomorrow. right? are we going to wake up and see breaking news about the dreamers not being able to renew anymore? it's a worry. it's a worry that we have, myself and my colleagues here at the firm. damian: i mean, as a recipient--as a daca recipient, you have--families are married. they bought homes. they've done everything any american family does, and that is in limbo. jorge: right. exactly. i mean, you know, a lot of us, you know, these past 10 years, right, have gone through school, have, you know, created our own--families of our own, you know, purchased homes, contributing to society, right, not just from our--from a work perspective but from a person perspective as well. right? contributing--we're part of our communities. we're part of our churches.

we're part of our everyday lives. right? our children have friends for those that have children right now, you know. and it's a very unfortunate and uncomfortable situation that more than 600,000 dreamers are in right now. damian: right. so even with that said, the nervousness--mr. newcomb, if your daca application from 2 years ago is expiring, you need to renew it. so you're offering that free service on your website. andrew: that's correct, mr. trujillo. unfortunately, you know, people that have daca are now subjected to this terrifying paradigm where there's really a fight on their hands. i mean, we saw national support, for example, for the roe v. wade presidential decision was over 70%, but the supreme court struck that down all the same. so we have a fight on our hands. and what we'd like to do in the interim while there's--exist this uncertainty--you know, sometimes families are paying 500 up to 1,000 and northward for attorney assistance for their daca packet because it is a bureaucratic process. it is difficult for some folks to be able to do, and that's

more than what a typical family would pay in utilities. so you have right around when the time comes for somebody to renew their daca they may be faced with a tough choice between buying medicine for a family member, providing childcare, or renewing their daca in order to keep their job; and it's a dystopian choice that no family should have to make. damian: yeah. and just to be clear; this is not an infomercial for the mendoza law firm, this is important news that we wanted to make sure that the word got out. so when somebody is renewing their application, they're online on your website and they're stuck on something, can they call your office and say, "hey, i'm on your--i'm online. i need some help." and is that help free? andrew: yes, of course. our office line is on our website. if people--we have endeavored to make it as user-friendly as possible, but of course if there is some type of technical glitch or if someone is unable to complete their application they can call in, they can receive assistance, and hopefully it's something that can be solved very quickly. afterwards they can print out the packet, and all they've got

to worry about is the government filing fee of $495, which could be subject to an increase as well. damian: yeah. and that's something that's not in your control. but, again, for folks who are interested and who need to renew their daca applications there's a number of ways to do it, but the mendoza law firm is offering that free service online for you to renew it there online. we'll show you how you can get a pdf of that file and to show you the information of the mendoza law firm, if we can, just to show folks that they can log on and go on that website, there it is right there, and get--download that application and fill it out and send it in. we'll be back and talk about these new daca renewals when we continue. stay with us. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

damian: and if you want to get ahold of us here on "comunidad del valle," you can follow me on instagram. my handle is @newsdamiantrujillo, and on twitter it's @newsdamian. we thank you for sharing another part of your sunday with us once again. here's what's going to happen in this last segment of "comunidad del valle" this week. we're going to show you a clip that concludes this talk about daca. part of it, the first minute and a half, is in english, and then he's--there's some very important things in spanish, so we're going to transition from there to spanish so we can talk to our spanish-speaking viewers as well with that valuable information. and then a quick public service announcement from hijas del campo, who are helping farmworkers over in coco county followed by [speaking foreign language] we'll see you next week. damian: we're back with the mendoza law firm here on "comunidad del valle." mr. andrew newcomb is a staff attorney there, and jorge de la cruz also works at the law firm but is also a daca recipient.

so we were wrapping up that segment. we talked about the pdf--the applicants get a pdf, which they can then submit. is that right? andrew: that's correct, mr. trujillo. so after going through and filling out all of the information--we try to phrase it in a way that's very user-friendly, that's not legalese, that's available in english and in spanish. and people can go through. they can complete that application and -- print packet all set for them to just add two passport-size pictures, the money order, and send it up to immigration. damian: all right. you've been--if it's every 2 years, jorge, you filled it out four times or so. i'm not sure. jorge: i lost count. damian: but how complicated can it get, and how easy are you making it now? jorge: yeah. that's a great question. so, you know, it can get really complicated not just because of what needs to--the information that needs to be filled out, also keeping up with what immigration is changing. so whether the forms are updated or changed.

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[speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] damian: [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish]

[speaking in spanish] andrew: [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] damian: [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] andrew [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish]

[speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] damian: [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] marivel mendoza: i am one of the co-founders of hijas del campo. we are a nonprofit organization that was born during the

pandemic and as well as the fires that were happening here in california. janneeth pena: [speaking in spanish] marivel: we support with everything from weekly food despensas, health care support and access, build support for our families. ♪♪♪ janneeth: [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] marivel: it's incredibly heartbreaking the situations that our families have to go through. they are the people that are constantly working for us, for the community to get food on our plates.

janneeth: [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] ♪♪♪ marivel: what is climate change really doing to our community, and what does that mean for the viability of longtime work for our compassino community. ♪♪♪ marivel: we stand with compassinos, america's

underappreciated essential workers. for more information, go to hijasdelcampo.org. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ soy el jefe de jefes, señores. ♪ ♪ me respetan a todos niveles. ♪ ♪ ni mi nombre y mi fotografía. ♪ ♪ nunca van a mirar en papeles. ♪ ♪ porque a mí el periodista me quiere. ♪ ♪ y si no, mi amistad se la pierde. ♪ ♪ muchos pollos que apenas nacieron. ♪ ♪ ya se quieren pelear con el gallo. ♪

♪ si pudieran estar a mi altura. ♪ ♪ pues tendrían que pasar muchos años. ♪ ♪ y no pienso dejarles el puesto. ♪ ♪ donde yo me la paso ordenando. ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ you can b beat it! ♪♪ visit yoyoucanbeatitit.org or c call 833-42422-4255 visit yoyoucanbeatitit.org to a ask for mededication to t treat covidid-19. vi[music playing]titit.org right now on access hollywood with jennifer at his side, ben shares the wild secrets behind air as we take affleck and matt damon way back to where it all began. aniston brings the style to the murder mystery 2 premiere. sandler, not so much.