English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in El Cajon, CA

Contributors: Charlotte Radulovich / Video Journalist

The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 promising democracy.

Iraqis who fled to El Cajon, California are questioning whether they can find democracy there.

“People come here, they think that this country has a lot of democracy. ‘We can talk. We can express.’ There are different kinds of democracy here.” Dilkhwaz Ahmed said. “So here we have freedom of expression, but my voice will not go out of the door.”

The documentary “Baghdad, California” follows her efforts to get her fellow Iraqis counted by the 2020 U.S. Census.

Though El Cajon had rapidly and visibly changed, transforming into what some community members call “Little Baghdad,” Ahmed said the local government believed Kurds only made up 2.3% of the county’s population. She thinks it’s more.

A lot was at stake, she told one mosque.

“If we don’t prove our real percentage in El Cajon,” the translation reads, “they will not provide us any services.”

Services like English as a second language and citizenship classes, or more funding for women’s shelters, said “Baghdad, California” co-director Rahmah Pauzi.

“These resources are not given to them because they simply, on paper, do not exist,” Pauzi said. “But on paper, those who exist are the ones with power, the ones with money.”

Census numbers don’t just determine how the government allocates resources and funding, but also where they draw political districts — lines that determine whether minority communities can elect someone who represents them.

The documentary says El Cajon District 4 — where many of the city’s immigrant communities live — has never been represented on the city council by a woman of color.

Ahmed was trying to change that. But COVID-19 interrupted the 2020 census.

Reports say minorities were even more undercounted than they were in 2010.

The city council said El Cajon’s demographics didn’t change enough. It kept its old political map.

The events take place years ago, but co-director Diego Lynch said the documentary is just as relevant this November.

“It’s not just a film about the systems the Iraqi-Americans are captured in. It's about the system of American democracy and the challenges we all face to, you know, have our voices matter,” he said.

The documentary will have two screenings:

Corrected: October 30, 2024 at 11:15 AM PDT

Editor's Note: An earlier version of the story reported that the documentary said El Cajon’s City Council has never included a woman of color. El Cajon District 4 — where many of the city’s immigrant communities live — has never been represented on the city council by a woman of color.

Last year in El Cajon, California’s first Nurse Navigation program began transferring non-life threatening medical 911 phone calls to a licensed nurse instead of dispatching an ambulance or the fire department.

The move saved patients thousands of dollars in medical expenses. After seeing success in El Cajon, the program is expanding to cities across East County.

Nurse Navigation, which went live on Jan. 31, 2023, is a partnership between El Cajon, American Medical Response and Heartland Fire & Rescue. Since then, it has connected more than 750 911 callers to the appropriate level of care, which has reduced patient demand in hospitals, according to Global Medical Response.

AMR’s Nurse Navigators are licensed in California, have professional experience in emergency nursing, and are trained to manage 911 medical calls.

“Nurse Navigation is an incredibly effective tool for providing 911 callers with the most appropriate care for non-emergency medical conditions,” Bent Koch, Heartland Fire & Rescue chief, said in a release.

For urgent and potential or life-threatening 911 calls, an ambulance and the fire department will be dispatched. But for callers with non-life threatening conditions, they have the option — at no cost — to connect to an AMR Nurse Navigator, who can aid in finding the needed treatment.

The program has reached La Mesa and Lemon Grove, so far, under the name “EMS Nurse Navigation Program.” It is expected to expand to the Grossmont Healthcare District, including Santee and the San Diego County, San Miguel, Alpine, Lakeside and Bonita-Sunnyside fire protection districts.

With the expansion, more than 600,000 residents now have access to the program.

“We’re grateful for the opportunity to work with fire chiefs and health care officials here in San Diego’s East County to expand this important service to more communities,” Paul Forney, San Diego’s AMR regional director, said in a release.

The program in El Cajon, known as El Cajon Community Care, has seen success since its launch.

Of the 776 callers who were connected to a Nurse Navigator, 297 did not require an emergency response or visit to the emergency room, saving them thousands of dollars in expenses.

More than 230 of the 297 were treated in their homes either through self-care instruction, a visit from a Mobile Urgent Care unit or virtually through a telemedicine call.

From February 2023 through September 2024, the El Cajon Community Care program saved roughly $735,000 in emergency care costs.

“We look forward to seeing how the expansion of the Nurse Navigation program will help ensure that those we serve have access to the most appropriate level of care for their medical needs,” said Jon Jordan, the division chief of the Lakeside Fire Protection District.