For some perspective on the LIU issue, we also spoke to its former chairperson, Dominique Noralez - who is currently studying in Germany.
She explained that while she was disappointed in the abrupt discontinuation, she wasn't surprised, especially since the program was not popular with the general public.
She went on to explain that there is a misconception that the program pays gang members, but it's much more nuanced than that since it also targets those who are vulnerable. She added that the clients should have been treated with more dignity and allowed to transition rather than just be cut off. She spoke with us via Zoom.
Dominique Noralez, Former Director & Chairperson, LIU
"I think when people are engaged in a program where there's an expectation, a reasonable expectation that they will be compensated and it's not necessarily a salary right, the money isn't like a full salary, it's closer to a stipend than a salary, and these are people who need the money. There's this misconception that LIU is all gang members but no, you have people who come to LIU, go through the interview process, go through the sign up process, and are put in programs based on their specific needs and vulnerabilities. we're a program that was created, as I understand it when I came on in 2023 to ensure that people who are more vulnerable to joining gangs have a way from that. That's what the program was created and so when you take that safety net away from people and do it as abruptly as it was done, as I am told it was done because clients, former clients of mine still reach out. It puts people in precarious situations like you expect this money every two weeks. It doesn't come. You are not told why, you are not transitioned to another space. There's just nothingness, that puts people, at risk. But it also puts people into vulnerabilities. And we can't think of it as an individual impact. These people have dependents. Some of them have elderly parents, some of them have young children. Some of them have pregnant partners. The list abounds. And so those things I think should have been taken into consideration despite that feelings about the challenges that you face in terms of its operations, you have to, you're dealing with people. These are not plants or inanimate objects. These are people with real lives. And I think it would have been more dignified to treat people the way human beings are to be treated."
