Georgia Today: Immigration arrests in Georgia; Log Off movement; James Beard Awards

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Monday, Jan. 27. I'm Peter Biello. On this podcast, you'll hear the latest reports from our GPB news team. Your feedback and story tips are appreciated. Email GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. On today's episode, immigrant advocacy groups in Georgia help their communities prepare for federal immigration sweeps. A student-led group offers help with ending mindless doomscrolling; and 12 Georgia restaurants are nominated for the prestigious James Beard Awards.

Andrew J. Ripley: We're a neighborhood bar. We're not looking for awards or anything. We — we do what we do, but our main focus is definitely on our community.

Peter Biello: These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Caption

The Drug Enforcement Administration's bureau in Atlanta participated in an operation supporting the U.S. Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security with immigration enforcement efforts in Savannah, Georgia.

Credit: US Drug Enforcement Administration

Story 1:

Peter Biello: Immigrant rights and advocacy groups in Georgia are working together to prepare the communities they serve for possible deportations. This after a weekend of reported sweeps by federal agencies around Georgia. GPB's Sofi Gratas has more.

Sofi Gratas: President Trump's expedited removal policy has U.S. residents without legal status on high alert. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency arrested over 900 people nationwide and detained over 500 this weekend, including an undisclosed number from around Georgia. Jean-Luc Rivera with Atlanta's Latino Community Fund says people should know their constitutional rights and prepare for interactions with law enforcement.

Jean-Luc Rivera: One of my biggest worries is that people are going to stop accessing resources that are vital to having a successful life here in Georgia, such as, like, being able to go to the hospital. All you can do right now is essentially try to move forward and have a plan in place.

Sofi Gratas: It's unclear whether local law enforcement have been involved in sweeps so far. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: Sweeps like those described in Sofi's story aren't new. They happened under previous presidents, including former President Biden. But Atlanta immigration attorney Charles Kuck says what is different is the reaction among immigrants.

Charles Kuck: We've been inundated since the day after the election with calls and meetings with people that are truly scared about their current situation, how to resolve it. Many are long-term residents of the United States.

Peter Biello: Details about the arrests weren't immediately known, although one pastor told CNN one of them took place at his church in Tucker, east of Atlanta, during the church service.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: Two Georgia-based Army units are heading to the U.S. southern border to assist the federal government's efforts at border security. The U.S. Northern Command says one military police company and one armored combat engineer company from Fort Stewart were headed to the region. The Georgia-based units are part of a larger deployment to the border that began just a few days after President Trump was sworn in for a second term last week. Before this, there were no active duty troops working along the roughly 2,000 mile border. The active duty forces will join the roughly 2,500 U.S. National Guard and Reserve forces already there. The government says these new troops will support enhanced detection and physical barrier repair and construction. Officials said last week there was no plan for the troops to do law enforcement, which would put them in a dramatically different role for the first time in decades. Troops are prohibited by law from doing law enforcement duties under the Posse Comitatus Act, but that may change. Trump has directed through executive order that the incoming secretary of defense and incoming homeland security chief report back within 90 days if they think an 1807 law called the Insurrection Act should be invoked. This would allow those troops to be used in civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil. The last time this act was invoked was in 1992 during rioting in Los Angeles in protest of the acquittal of four police officers charged with beating Rodney King.

​​​​​​​Story 4:

Peter Biello: Members of Georgia's congressional delegation are pushing the parent company of the BioLab facility in Conyers for updates on its investigation into last September's fire. In a letter sent earlier this month, Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and congressman Hank Johnson asked consumer products to release the results of any debris testing, share reimbursement data and extend the deadline for Georgians to file damage claims, which expired at the end of last year. The fire at BioLab last year led to 17,000 evacuations, interstate closures and weeks of overnight shelter in place orders. A company spokesperson says they're reviewing the letter, adding, quote, "BioLab will continue its community engagement and looks forward to working constructively with authorities, regulators and elected officials."

​​​​​​​Story 5:

Peter Biello: Atlanta City Council has introduced a resolution calling for a moratorium on homeless encampment sweeps. GPB's Amanda Andrews reports, the move comes after the death of an unhoused resident.

Amanda Andrews: The resolution would require the Atlanta Continuum of Care to report on their encampment clearing practices and share the findings publicly before resuming. Cornelius Taylor was killed during a sweep earlier this month, sparking outrage from his family and the community. But Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari says the CoC needs more caseworkers to meet the needs of the city's unhoused residents.

Liliana Bakhtiari: If we had had them, then Cornelius would have been housed. It shouldn't have taken a year — a year of outreach and him not to be housed. And if anyone tells you he didn't want to leave, that has nothing to do with it. I don't care. I don't care if he was an addict. I don't care if he was struggling with addiction. Everybody in this room is struggling with something.

Amanda Andrews: The Atlanta CoC is also in charge of the annual Point in Time Count of the city's unhoused residents and ongoing outreach. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews.

​​​​​​​Story 6:

Peter Biello: About 50 Savannah area businesses have donated items to an auction to help victims of the California wildfires. The effort is spearheaded by Savannah hand embroidery and block printing artist Molly Campbell. She says the storm hurt her sister's family in North Carolina.

Molly Campbell: And as I reflect back on, you know, the perspective that talking to my sister and talking to her family afforded me to just, you know, really understand that the devastation goes beyond the physical; there's emotional and mental lingering effects, basically, when you are dealing with the natural disaster. And, you know, having that perspective from my family going through it and then, you know, like I said, just seeing what artists and businesses that I'm following on social media were dealing with, immediately, it really kind of challenged me to kind of step outside myself and say, "You know, this is bigger than me." You know, essentially it made me kind of work through the overwhelm that I think can happen. And then I've heard from several business owners through this. You know, they say, "I want to help."

Peter Biello: The funds will support four Los Angeles organizations that help restaurant workers, artists, fire victims and firefighters. The auction runs through Wednesday and includes artwork, restaurant and retail store gift cards and other items. It's called "Savannah Loves L.A." on Instagram and BetterWorld.org.

​​​​​​​Story 7:

Peter Biello: A dozen Georgia restaurants, bars, chefs or cocktail professionals have been nominated for the prestigious James Beard Awards. The awards announced their semifinalists last week. Only two nominees are from outside metro Atlanta, and both are in Savannah. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports.

Benjamin Payne: Andrew J. Ripley was surprised as anyone when he found out his Lone Wolf Lounge was named a semifinalist for Outstanding Bar. The co-owner said he had no idea his tucked-away tavern was even on the James Beard Foundation's radar.

Andrew J. Ripley: One of my friends contacted me to let me know completely out of the blue, We don't have any kind of like, PR department. We're a neighborhood bar and we were not looking for awards or anything. We — we do what we do, but our main focus is definitely on our community.

Benjamin Payne: This marks the first time a bar in Savannah has been nominated for a James Beard Award, sometimes known as the Oscars of the food world. Lone Wolf Lounge won't be the only establishment representing the host city at this year's awards. The restaurant Common Thread is up for best chefs in the Southeast. Winners will be announced this summer at a ceremony in Chicago. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.

​​​​​​​Story 8:

Peter Biello: Public schools in Northwest Georgia's Floyd County will not be opting out of a new Georgia law aimed at limiting how much of a home's increasing value can be taxed. The school board this afternoon decided to keep the tax relief provided in HB 581, even as many school districts across the state are opting out, citing its impact on school budgets. Some state lawmakers are threatening to introduce legislation to force their local governments to comply if they use the escape hatch the law provided.

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Social media

​​​​​​​Story 9:

Peter Biello: Nearly half of American teenagers say they are online, quote unquote, "constantly." That's despite concerns about the effects of social media and smartphones on their mental health. That's according to a new report published earlier this month by the Pew Research Center. A new youth-led group is trying to change that. The Log Off movement aims to help kids, teens and young people build healthy relationships with social media and online platforms. Emory University student Clara Wasserman is a co-founder and deputy director of Log Off, and she was recently named to the Forbes "30 Under 30" list. Clara, welcome to the program.

Clara Wasserman: Hi. Thank you so much for having me.

Peter Biello: The Log Off movement is about more than just logging off your devices. How do you get people to engage differently with social media?

Clara Wasserman: Log Off is more about redefining our relationship with technology. We're not anti-social media. We're not anti-technology. We just recognize that the way that we're currently using technology, it's not ... like we have the power; it's more technology is using us. And our health is not the primary concern of these companies that are making these products for us. How we get people to engage and change their behaviors is through our campaigns, engaging with our content online, consuming our podcasts, consuming our think pieces on our website, as well as engaging with our chapters, university chapters, high school chapters. [It's] all about being part of activities that take you off your phone and maybe have you focus more on human connection.

Peter Biello: One of the campaigns you're running now is called "Forks Up, Phones Down." Can you tell us about that one?

Clara Wasserman: That's our first big campaign. It's all about reprioritizing human connection while you're at the dinner table. So you see it all the time at restaurants, where people are looking at their phones or answering a text instead of just being in the moment with the person that they are sharing a meal with. And it's all about gently correcting that behavior in a way that makes people want to communicate and set their phones aside.

Peter Biello: Do you encourage a hard and fast limit on how many hours or even minutes people should be using social media, say, in a given week?

Clara Wasserman: There are so many more educated and more specialized researchers that are prioritizing that discussion. For us, it's more about really listening to your body and really listening to your mental health and what you feel when you are engaging on these platforms. A reason why we're not anti-social media, not anti-technology is because we recognize that you being online does not have the same impact on you as in you doing research for a project versus you scrolling on TikTok for hours and hours on end. So it's all about really distinguishing: Are you intentionally using the technology and the tools that you have to really do something new, do something, challenge yourself, learn and grow? Or is it just mindlessly scrolling, consuming content that honestly leaves you more anxious than how you began?

Peter Biello: What drew you to Log Off?

Clara Wasserman: So I actually was living in the Netherlands. I went to high school in the Netherlands, and during that time it was the COVID pandemic and we were all locked in our homes and I started feeling the mental impacts of just being hours and hours on end, with no direction, on social media, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram. And I just felt like it was having a negative impact on my mental health. And ironically, I found Emma —

Peter Biello: Emma is the co-founder and director of Log Off.

Clara Wasserman: Yes, Emma Lembke, yes. — via a YouTube channel called Jubilee. And she was having a discussion with other teens about how social media was impacting her and other people. And she talked about Log Off. And that really inspired me. And I thought, "This girl is so smart, I want to help her in her mission." And that's where I joined Log Off and we kind of remade it, made it something new.

Peter Biello: So how do you know the Log Off movement is working?

Clara Wasserman: Right now we're in the process of growing. In the next couple of months, we're really gearing up and really pushing out our campaign as well as starting chapters in multiple universities. And that's really going to be our main way of gauging "Are we making an impact?" Already we have a chapter in Singapore, I believe, and it has evolved in a way that we never imagined it would evolve. We kind of always thought it would be more — not a TED Talk chapter where students kind of, not preach to other students like, "Hey, get off your phones," but more of a — more of a student-to-student support system. But it has evolved into ways where now there's ping pong tables ... in an international school in Singapore. And instead of kids being online while on their breaks, they're playing ping pong together. And that was all started by a girl with an initiative to really bring the Log Off mission to her school.

Peter Biello: Clara, thank you so much for speaking with me. I really do appreciate it.

Clara Wasserman: Thank you so much for having me.

Peter Biello: That's Clara Wasserman, Emory student and co-founder of the Log Off movement.

​​​​​​​Story 10:

Peter Biello: This final story before we go today: Coca-Cola is adding a new flavor. The Atlanta-based beverage giant says Coca-Cola Orange Cream will go on sale in the U.S. and Canada on Feb. 10. That'll add another choice to the menu for folks who like their Coca Cola flavored with a little extra something. However, pour one out for Coca-Cola Spiced, the not terribly spicy coke flavor that was meant to taste like raspberry but never quite caught on. Introduced around this time last year, Spiced was only on the market for seven months. Now, for what it's worth, I am still mourning Coca-Cola's OK Soda, which some Gen-Xers and millennials may remember from the '90s. If you've never heard of it, look it up. It's got a Wikipedia page and everything. Some flavors, I suppose, just have to live on in our hearts.

Peter Biello: And that's it for this edition of Georgia Today. Tomorrow on the program, a conversation with journalist Matt Schaer, host of a new podcast about the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center that opponents call "Cop City." The podcast reveals information that could change the outcome of the excessive force lawsuit filed by the parents of a protester killed two years ago. You don't want to miss this. So subscribe to Georgia Today now, and we'll be there for you tomorrow afternoon. For the latest news, check GPB.org/News. Better yet, bookmark that page. We appreciate having you as a listener. Thanks again. I'm Peter Biello. We'll see you tomorrow.

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