Immigrants make our communities stronger: Tell Congress to reject the “No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act”
On the day of his inauguration for a second term, Donald Trump issued a flurry of Executive Orders targeting the LGBTQ community, civil rights protections, and immigrant communities. Meanwhile, Congress is echoing the new administration’s attacks on immigrant communities with a proposal to punish whole cities or states if they choose not to join in the attack.
The No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act would force cities and state governments across the country to participate in mass deportation actions or potentially risk losing money for programs such as:
Department of Education grants, National School Lunch Program funding, and other forms of federal support for schools, which are not allowed to refuse enrollment by undocumented students.
Emergency Medicaid, which provides states with funding for emergency care for people ineligible for Medicaid due to their immigration status. In the case of public hospitals run by a city or county, all federal funding for uncompensated care, such as Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital Payments, could be at risk.
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, Commodity Supplemental Food Program, Emergency Food Assistance Program, and other nutrition programs that support food banks and other community partners that do not restrict help by immigration status.
Violence Against Women Act grants, such as those supporting violence crisis centers that do not turn away people based on their immigration status.
Cutting funding for these programs would take away critical care for tens of thousands of people.This would disproportionately impact low-income and marginalized Black and Brown communities, further deepening poverty and widening inequality.
This overreach by the federal government would be devastating to community programs and set a dangerous precedent on how cities and states are allowed to operate autonomously. We must stop this overreach before it can be implemented.
Listeners will hear from two members of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council: Dr. Courtney Plasden from Portland, Maine, the council’s clinical director, and Art Rios Sr., the Chair of the National Health Care Consumer Advisory Board based out of Portland, Oregon. In addition, we are joined by Steve Berg, the Vice President of Policy and Programs at the National Alliance to End Homelessness in Washington D.C. Steve shares how advocates at the grassroots and federal levels must continue to push forward policies during the budget reconciliation process and economic recovery legislation that could make a real difference in the lives of those at risk of, or facing, homelessness. All three speakers encourage listeners to contact their elected officials during the budget process to let them know that investing in programs and policies to combat homelessness is an issue of importance to their constituents.
Stay tuned for our upcoming episode of the Voices for Human Needs podcast, launching next week! In this episode, co-hosts Abigail Alpern Fisch and Leo Nguen will discuss issues of housing, health care, and policy to address the challenges for those experiencing poverty and facing homelessness. You will hear from two members of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council: Dr. Courtney Plasden from Portland, Maine, the council’s clinical director, and Art Rios Sr., the Chair of the National Health Care Consumer Advisory Board based out of Portland, Oregon. Courtney and Art share how their lived experiences with homelessness influence their ongoing work providing direct services to homeless populations both before, and during, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last week, Voices for Human Needs discussed recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse survey that showed the first round of child tax credits – distributed beginning July 15 – caused a significant drop in hunger and economic hardship. Now the Census Bureau, as reported by the Economic Security Project, has released brand new data, collected after the second installment of payments was distributed in August. And the news is even better. The new figures show that hunger among families with kids has now dropped from 11 percent before the expanded CTC payments to 7.7 percent – last month, that figure was 8.4 percent.
Chandra Campos works as a caregiver in San Luis Valley, a picturesque part of south-central Colorado punctuated by the Rio Grande River, whose headwaters lay just north. Caregivers in that part of the state are in short supply – meaning Chandra has lots of work helping clients dress themselves, bathe, and making sure they get enough to eat – the things that enable people to live independently at home instead of in long-term care facilities.
The CTC-and-SNAP-to-the-rescue edition. The Delta variant is spreading rapidly, making up more than 98 percent of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. The daily death rate is roughly double what it was at the beginning of August. Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi are seeing their highest daily caseloads since the start of the pandemic. Alabama has run out of ICU beds. “It’s absolutely due to delta; it’s absolutely due to unvaccinated people,” said David Wohl, a specialist in infectious diseases at the University of North Carolina. “There is an incredible increase in hospitalizations across the spectrum, from just needing oxygen and some care to needing serious interventions to keep people alive. If everyone was vaccinated, our hospitals would not be anywhere near where we are.”
Endia Villar, a working mom in Allen, Texas, with a two-year-old daughter and a baby on the way, was recently asked how she spent the $300 child tax credit deposit she received last month. “Groceries,” she said. “I am pregnant, and I eat like a teenage boy. We needed more food. So it – it worked out perfectly.” Endia is not alone. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Household Pulse survey, 47 percent of parents receiving the expanded benefit used at least some of the funds on food.
In conjunction with the We Are Home campaign, People’s Action and the Coalition on Human Needs this week launched a national week of action to urge Congress to include Dreamers, immigrants who came here fleeing natural disasters or violence in their home countries, and essential workers, including farmworkers, in the Senate’s budget resolution.
Today the second round of monthly benefits under the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) began landing in the bank accounts of millions of families with children aged 0 to 17. The Coalition on Human Needs, working with Public News Service, is telling the stories of communities and families that are benefiting from the CTC expansion. Here are three stories that have been produced this past week.
In the early hours of Wednesday, August 11, the U.S. Senate voted along party lines in favor of a budget resolution that CHN said “provides a blueprint for our nation’s future that will do unprecedented good for the vast majority of Americans.” CHN, in a letter addressed to members of the Senate, said the legislation “will significantly raise living standards and economic security for most of us. Your vote for it is a vote for more opportunity, dramatically less poverty, and a growing middle class.”
The August Awakening edition. Yes, COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are way up – a trend experts say may continue into the fall. Yet there is also evidence of an awakening – an awareness, finally, that the vaccine can protect them against a disease that’s hitting closer and closer to home. Alabama and Arkansas – two states with low vaccination rates – have seen their daily rates of vaccinations double in the past three weeks. Louisiana, which now leads the nation in new infections per capita, has seen its daily vaccination rate nearly quadruple in the past few weeks.
Congress is embarking upon an extended recess this month and beyond – but advocates for better health care and paid leave for every worker are using the August recess to advocate for a budget bill that includes their priorities. Protect Our Care has announced a 19-state tour that kicks off in Bangor and Portland, Maine this Monday, August 9. The nationwide tour – its third – will call for lowering health care costs, expanding coverage, and reducing racial disparities in care. And Paid Leave For All kicked off its bus tour with a stop in Providence, Rhode Island on Monday, August 2.
Just one day before a federal moratorium on evictions expires, House and Senate Democrats, the Biden Administration, housing advocates and local and state officials in some jurisdictions scrambled Friday to avert a nationwide humanitarian disaster. But one slim hope was dashed. The House of Representatives could not find the votes to pass an extension of the moratorium on its last day before recess.
