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:
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.
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When Congress returns next week, senators are tentatively scheduled to consider a measure that could extend $600 million in emergency nutrition assistance to Puerto Rico. About half of the 1.35 million Puerto Ricans who receive NAP benefits began experiencing cuts earlier this month; by today – Friday, March 22 – all 1.35 million recipients will be feeling the cuts.
CHN just released another edition of the Human Needs Report. Read on for a detailed analysis of President Trump’s FY20 budget request, plus the latest on the loss of food aid for millions, the Trump emergency declaration, a new bill to protect Dreamers, and more.
The cost of child care is generating an economic and moral crisis within the United States. With yearly prices soaring above the cost of in-state college tuition in 28 states, parents are forced to spend large portions of their income on child care at a time when they have accumulated little wealth.
For the Puerto Rican coastal community of Loiza, the hits just keep coming. First there was Hurricane Irma, which sideswiped the eastern part of the island, where Loiza is located, late at night on Sept. 4, 2017. Not even two weeks later, Hurricane Maria came ashore, scoring an even more direct hit than Irma, and once again, Loiza absorbed the worst of the storm’s fury. Now the community faces a new threat as residents face cuts to their Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
President Trump’s budget for FY 2020 is consistent with his presidency so far. It is all about denying help to those who lack power or wealth and lavishing advantage to those who have both.
Waldemiro Velez Soto of San Juan, Puerto Rico didn’t know his family’s food rations were being cut. Velez Soto and his family survive off of their NAP benefits. (NAP is Puerto Rico’s version of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.) With few jobs available in Puerto Rico, Velez Soto cannot earn enough for him and his family to survive. And based on our conversation, he is not the only Puerto Rican forced to live like this.
A second federal judge blocked the Trump Administration from including a question about citizenship status on the decennial Census, saying, “The inclusion of the citizenship question on the 2020 Census threatens the very foundation of our democratic system.”
A new crisis is sweeping across Puerto Rico. Unlike Hurricanes Maria and Irma, however, this one is entirely man-made. More than one out of every three Puerto Ricans receives benefits from the island’s Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP), the island’s version of SNAP (once known as food stamps). Earlier this month, however, recipients began receiving sharp cuts in benefits because Congress has failed to extend assistance that was first approved as part of post-hurricane recovery.
Upcoming Webinar: The Trump Budget — What You Need to Know Thursday, March 14th 2 P.M. EDT, 1 P.M. CDT, 12 P.M. MDT, 11 A.M. PDT Register Here Even if you can’t attend, you should register to get access to the webinar recording with captions, slides, and follow-up information. Each…
CHN just released another edition of the Human Needs Report. Read on for the latest on early FY20 budget talks, the potential loss of food aid for millions, a blow to low-income consumers, ongoing immigration battles, and more.
Could the U.S. cut child poverty in half over the next ten years? Yes – and on Thursday, Feb. 28, a panel of experts explained how. The experts, convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine at the request of Congress, spent two years studying child poverty in the U.S. and identifying evidence-based programs and policies to reduce the number of children in poverty.
In a letter signed by CHN Executive Director Deborah Weinstein and sent to every member of the U.S. House, CHN this week urged Congress to vote in favor of a resolution to terminate the President’s national emergency declaration regarding the border. This is CHN’s letter.