Here’s what Ramona said (she’s 8): “I have been thinking a lot what it would be like if I was taken away from my mom and I think I would miss her a lot and I think I would be really scared.” Ramona and her very good friend Chloe were…
Archives: Voices
CHN on Janus vs. AFSCME: ‘Workplace standards for millions will be at risk’
Editor’s note: Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs, issued the following statement Wednesday, June 27 in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus vs. AFSCME. “Today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling continues almost 50 years of attacks on workers and unions in the U.S. The…
CHN: Travel ban ruling overlooks anti-Muslim bias and anti-family agenda
Editor’s note: Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs, issued the following statement Tuesday, June 26 in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Hawaii vs. Trump: “In disregarding repeated statements showing the Trump anti-Muslim bias, the Supreme Court has affirmed an injustice. The decision recalls…
The tax law six months out: a ‘frontal assault on communities of color’
Friday, June 22 marked the six-month anniversary of President Trump signing the GOP tax bill into law. Some of the more unsavory aspects of the bill have been well-reported: for example, the fact that it will add $1.9 trillion to the nation’s deficit over the next decade, and the fact…
Code Red: The Fatal Consequences of Dangerously Substandard Medical Care in Immigration Detention
Editor’s note: CHN Intern Page Brigham, a rising senior at Allegheny College, contributed to this blog post. Katherine Bonilla will not get to see her father again. Arrested by ICE on his way to work at a construction job, in what may have been a case of mistaken identity, her…
House Farm Bill Will Make Millions Hungrier
Editor’s note: Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs, issued the following statement Thursday, June 21 in response to the House passage of the farm bill (H.R. 2), which contains deep cuts and harmful changes to SNAP/food stamps: “By a very slim 2-vote margin, House members voted…
CHN: Immigration bills are “an unacceptable rejection of American values”
Editor’s note: The following letter, authored by CHN Executive Director Deborah Weinstein, was sent to all members of the U.S. House on Thursday, June 21: Dear Representative: On behalf of the Coalition on Human Needs, I write to urge you to vote NO on the two bills related to immigration…
The Human Needs Report: Immigration bills in the House, a better bill for SNAP, FY19 spending, and more
CHN just released another edition of the Human Needs Report. Read on for the latest on immigration bills in the House, advocates fighting to stop family separations at the border, a better bill for SNAP, a spending cuts package, and FY19 spending work. Click here for a PDF version. Senate to Take up…
Gas prices are way too high. Here’s what we can do about it
Editor’s note: This piece was originally published by CNN on June 15. Americans now pay around $2.87 for a gallon of gas. That’s 46 cents more than last year’s average. And if trends continue, by August, the cost of gasoline may go up another five cents. As a result, the average family…
Children torn from their parents: vile federal actions we must reject
Here at the Coalition on Human Needs, we have been sharing information about the dreadful impact of the Trump Administration’s actions to take children from their parents if they cross the border illegally, even denying those who would seek asylum their legal right to do so. This powerful video, circulated by…
This is not America as we know it
Hundreds of activists and community organizers from across the United States rallied in Washington, D.C. Wednesday to protest the Trump Administration’s new policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at U.S. borders. Among the speakers was Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-WA, who is believed to be the only member of…
‘Puerto Rico wasn’t destroyed by Hurricane Maria. Puerto Rico was destroyed decades and decades ago.’
Puerto Rico’s battered infrastructure has made it more difficult to deliver social services to those most in need, including impoverished women who are at risk of domestic violence and sexual assault. That’s the finding of Vilma González-Castro, a women’s rights and domestic violence activist who has worked to try to…