What many Puerto Ricans have long suspected is now official: Hurricane Maria was the deadliest hurricane in modern history to strike the U.S., leading to many more deaths than originally estimated. The government of Puerto Rico this week officially embraced a sweeping study conducted by researchers at George Washington University….
Archives: Voices
Head Smacker: States suing to end DACA would lose billions
As reported by our friends at the Center for American Progress (CAP), 10 states suing to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program stand to lose billions of dollars if they “win” their lawsuit. These states are arguing that they will lose money if DACA continues because of…
CHN commends Senate’s appropriations vote; urges future House-Senate conferees to avoid poison pill amendments
Editor’s note: Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs, issued the following statement Friday, Aug. 24 in response to Senate passage of the combined $854 billion Labor-HHS-Defense-Education appropriations bill. “We commend Senate passage of the Labor-HHS-Defense-Education appropriations bill on a bipartisan 85-7 vote. The bill includes additional…
Join Us: Sept. 6 CHN Webinar To Preview New Census Data
Unemployment is down, but workers’ pay is losing ground. Did low-income people make gains in 2017? What is helping? What is standing in the way? On Thursday, Sept. 6 from 2-3:30 p.m. ET, CHN will host its annual Census webinar to help prepare advocates for the new data coming out…
Protecting immigrant children from abuse
On Aug. 16, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing on what federal agencies are doing – or rather, aren’t doing enough of – to protect unaccompanied migrant children from abuse and human trafficking once they enter the U.S. Witnesses from the U.S….
GOP tax law isn’t just about taxes — it’s undermining American health care
Editor’s note: The op-ed excerpted below was written by Frank Clemente, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness, and Margarida Jorge, co-director of Health Care for America Now! It was originally published by The Hill on Aug. 9. On Aug. 12, the New York Times editorial board published a piece titled,…
Comment now to stop thousands from being kicked off Medicaid
If the Trump Administration and some state officials have their way, hundreds of thousands of low-income people could be kicked off Medicaid and left without any health insurance coverage. That’s because several states are pushing to add harsh work requirements to Medicaid assistance. We’ve written in the past and compiled…
We did it! 250,000 comments submitted. You demanded a fair and thorough 2020 Census.
We’ve been telling you about efforts by the Trump Administration to include a citizenship question on the 2020 Census – you can read earlier posts about this issue here and here. Together with a broad and diverse coalition of groups, we asked our supporters to submit comments to the U.S….
Seven reasons the Trump Administration’s short-term health plans are harmful to families
Editor’s note: This piece was written by Cheryl Fish-Parcham, Director of Access Initiatives at Families USA. It was originally posted on Families USA’s website on August 1. For more information on the so-called “short-term insurance” plans and other threats to the Affordable Care Act, see the July 23 Human Needs Report. …
Deadline for Telling the Commerce Department to Junk its Census Citizenship Question is Tuesday, August 7
You can file comments online here, and your voice is needed to make sure everyone is counted. The Coalition on Human Needs submitted comments today to the Commerce Department voicing our strong opposition to the inclusion of a question about citizenship in the 2020 Census. Such a question, as the…
Journeys: Timely New Book Examines Immigrants’ Stories
Editor’s note: The following blog post is authored by CHN intern Paige Brigham, a rising senior at Allegheny College. The story of Ahmed Ahmed began in his home country of Somalia, where his father worked his way out of poverty to provide a comfortable life for a family of ten….
Zero Tolerance at the Border a Disaster for Families
At Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on “Oversight of Immigration Enforcement and Family Reunification Efforts,” Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) minced no words. He said, “If families and children are going to be kept in federal custody they must be kept in facilities where they will be treated humanely, and with…