FAIRNESS, INCLUSION, and EQUALITY. The Supreme Court lowered the bar passage score for the California bar exam 2 months after the February 2020 bar results were made public. If the passing score on the Feb. 2020 exam had been reduced to 1390, five percent more white test takers would have passed the exam, but eight percent more Latinos, seven percent more Asians and 13 percent more Blacks would also have passed. The percentage of woman applicants have not been disclosed by the committee. Please support recent eligible applicants who have passed previous bar exams with the new cut score of 1390 to 1439 but are unable to retake the exam due to the high fees and costs associated with taking the exam, wildfires, and the numerous issues caused by the pandemic from unemployment, school closures, and the novel Corona virus. Make California attorneys more representative of the state and provide greater access to justice for low- and middle-income Californians in need of legal assistance. The State Bar of California does not want to make the exam retroactive because they will lose money. The State Bar of California will not make admissions retroactive without guidance from the Supreme Court. Please sign this petition, share with friends and family, and support our future generation of legal minds during these times of social injustice. DID YOU KNOW- The State Bar of California will receive $317,080 in test fees from the 376 repeater applicants that have to retake the online October 2020 exam to receive the same score the received in February 2020. Bar Exam fee: $677; Laptop fee: $153; Total to retake online OCT bar exam $830. Bar preparation courses range from $2,500-$10,000. Law school graduates are required to take the California bar exam after graduating from law school and passing moral character and an ethics exam if they want to practice law in the State of California. Support this petition so this new generation of legal advocates can make an impact in the legal field.

Hispanic immigrant business owners face significant exposure from the coronavirus-induced economic downturn. They accounted for 51% of all Hispanic-owned businesses in 2016, shares similar to the percentages of Hispanics who are immigrants. They are now closing their businesses at a staggering rate. Historically, there are racial and gender inequalities in business ownership. Nationally, people of color represent about 40% of the population, but only 20% of the nation’s 5.6 million business owners with employees. The U.S. could have millions more businesses if women and minorities became entrepreneurs at the same rate as white men. Now, with the COVID-19 crisis, millions of “missing businesses,” are facing a massive potential disruption and some risk permanent closure. There is not the same urgency to address it—COVID-19’s impact on minority-owned small businesses—, because it is already established that’s been built up over decades, even if closing these disparities would result in the creating of millions of new small businesses.

A spike in apprehensions of migrant children crossing the U.S. southern border without a parent or guardian is threatening to overwhelm the systems set up to care for them, and has reinvigorated debate over the detention of minors. The Donald J. Trump administration has called the influx of asylum seekers—both adults and minors—a national security threat, and has implemented a suite of policies meant to deter migrants and combat human traffickers. Critics, including many in Congress, say the administration’s response is exacerbating a humanitarian crisis in Central America, breaking U.S. law, and violating international human rights norms, according to on The Council on Foreign Relations.

In addition to hundreds of thousands broken families, the economic costs to American society from mass deportations are in disproportion to the economic benefits that Latinos bring to the US economy. While direct costs to taxpayers amounts to about $70 billion in enforcement agents, detention facilities, immigration judges and transportation, the Center for American Progress estimates that approximately $4.7 trillion is lost in economic output, nearly a trillion dollars in lost tax revenue over the next decade, while the conservative American Action Forum calculates some $2.6 trillion in lower GDP over 10 years, according to Unidos US. The increase in apprehensions has come as a growing number of migrants seek asylum. The demographic profile of those crossing the border has changed, too: People traveling in families, not single adults, accounted for the majority of those apprehended last year (56%). And most of those apprehended were from the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, which have struggled with violence and a lack of economic opportunities.

Due to COVID-19, 194,000 people have died in the US and other 6.5 million people have become ill with the virus, without knowing the long-term consequences of the disease. Following misleading information from the Federal Government, the disdain of many made of the pandemic a political flag, and little or no resources were offered, especially in minority communities. As usual, inequality takes its toll in our “hermanas” y “hermanos.” “For low-paid employees whose work is rarely if ever glorified — the people who clean the floors, do the laundry, serve fast food, pick the crops, work in the meat plants — having the jobs that keep America running has come with a heavy price. By the odd calculus wrought by the viral outbreak, they have been deemed “essential.” And that means being a target. Along with blacks, Latinos have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic in California and other parts of the United States, becoming infected and dying at disproportionately high rates relative to their share of the population. Health experts say one of the main reasons Latinos are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 is because many work in low-paying jobs that require them to leave home and interact with the public,” said the LATimes.

Right now, the Trump administration is in a mad dash to build a border wall before the elections in order to rally an increasingly violent racist base of supporters, seizing public and private lands and tossing aside over 40 federal laws. The flagship piece of the wall runs right through the city of Laredo, TX a densely populated city right on the Rio Grande river. If built, the wall would stoke further anti-immigrant hatred across the country, and impose destruction on border towns and cities for generations. There is no "national emergency" happening in Laredo. That is a manufactured story created by the administration. Laredo is actually safer and more peaceful than most US cities. The wall serves no actual security purpose. In truth, the wall is a symbol meant to stoke racism across the country. It also has lasting, devastating impacts on the communities in which it is built. The border wall in Laredo would carve a path of destruction through Laredo, TX destroying public spaces, historic structures, public parks, private homes, places of worship, even a children's home run by Catholic nuns. The wall is not just a fence, it would be a 30 foot tall prison wall more than twice the height of the Berlin Wall. It is a 200 foot wide security corridor, that would militarize the entire waterfront of Laredo, which is precious to the people of Laredo, and has been theirs for for 265 years. Laredo depends on the Rio Grand for 100% of it's drinking water. If built, the zone would not only cut off all 250,000 residents from accessing their river, the now federally owned zone would void over 25 federal laws protecting water, land and air quality. Stand with the vets who are defending their city. Please sign this petition to have our vets' backs. Also, CLICK HERE TO WATCH an epic video of the actions that vets and the community are taking to stop the wall. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=325605755230333 Thank you! FOLLOW US on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Vets-United-To-Stop-The-Wall-111198500719227 Once you sign the petition, there are 3 other things you can do: 1) Send the vets a PERSONAL LETTER OF SUPPORT https://forms.gle/L2rZdn2e8YJc1EcP7 2) SIGN UP with No Border Wall Coalition for updates on the Vets' actions: www.noborderwallcoalition.com All solidarity is welcomed, Deepest thanks, Vets United to Stop The Border Wall, The No Border Wall Coalition, Laredo, TX

The HLF5 are five innocent humanitarians who were unjustly tried, and whose innocence is widely accepted by politicians, academics, and human rights advocates around the world; but politics keep them imprisoned, deprived of their families and freedoms. They were tried by the US Government in a case full of injustices, and evidence proving their innocence was not allowed in the courtroom. Their sentences ranged from 15 to 65 years in prison. They've exhausted all legal options, and their only hope for freedom is a presidential order. The Palestinian-American community and the Muslim-American community are pushing for this campaign promise in the strongest terms. ALL people of strong moral conscience, regardless of your faith or ethnicity, should support the freedom of the innocent Holy Land Five. After signing this petition, you will receive an email for our upcoming national call. For details on the case, watch The Holy Land Five documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJJkaWVENTg

UFW is working around the clock to assist farm workers already dealing with repercussions from the pandemic and a dangerous heat wave. Now with the recent wildfires, the danger is escalating. Cal/OSHA is supposed to be protecting the workers, but according to what we are hearing, many workers just aren’t protected. Legislation passed last year mandates the grower provide N95 or equivalent masks if the Air Quality Index is over 150. Sadly, we are hearing again and again of cases where this just isn’t happening. According to a poll of farm workers the UFW conducted three days ago, 84% of farm workers have not been given N95 masks from their employers. A KPIX story from earlier this week said, shared the story of Antonia, a Watsonville strawberry picker, who said her employers “do not provide any of the workers with masks, gloves or other protective equipment, which is a violation of California law, according to Cal/OSHA officials.” The UFW is reaching out to our union growers to ensure they are acting to protect union members—even if it means going above and beyond legal requirements. At contract companies, we are hearing reports of N95 masks being distributed or work being halted. We also regularly communicate with tens of thousands of farm workers, most of them non-union, and enlisting the help of workers and supporters to find and report the locations of violations. We’ve secured 50,000 N95 masks and will be distributing them -- through our organizers and local groups in fire-affected areas -- to the workers who need them most. We should NOT have to be doing this. It’s the employers’ obligation, and it’s OSHA’s job to make sure they do it. Cal/OSHA is publicizing what the law is -- but that’s not enough. They need to be proactively in the fields making sure that the necessary protective gear makes it to the workers. Cal/OSHA’s inaction is putting the workers in grave danger. Sign the petition TODAY. Tell Cal/OSHA they need to be in the fields right now to ensure the people who labor so hard to feed us are kept safe.

Privatized ICE detention exacerbates the mass incarceration crisis created by the U.S. prison-industrial complex. Mass incarceration allows those in power to continue to exploit, forcibly displace, abuse and profit from people who are marginalized, disenfranchised, criminalized, and silenced. As one particularly brutal wing of this privatized system, ICA-Farmville has a history of failing inspections, failing to prevent and contain disease outbreaks, and failing to treat our immigrant friends, family, and neighbors with basic human dignity. Their profit-focused management has resulted in maggot-infested food, mumps and COVID outbreaks, and repeated inappropriate and unnecessary uses of force. Join our call to tell the investors who made this operation possible that profit from pain is inhumane.

Every year at the “Border Security” Expo in San Antonio, HUNDREDS of companies feature the “hottest gear” — THOUSANDS of military-grade weapons and surveillance products. And it’s all for sale. Lucky for these vendors, the Trump administration is willing to pay with dollars AND our civil liberties. Trump’s secret police in Portland included Department of Homeland Security agents, who beat and arrested Black Lives Matter protestors with impunity and without cause. This has got to be the LAST straw. Expos like these are one place militarization thrives and we need to shut them down— the arms dealers, the surveillance companies, and the dehumanizing us vs. them rhetoric. All of it. Planning is ALREADY underway for the 2021 Expo. But just like any big industry conference, the Expo is built on corporate sponsorships. So we’ve got to get LOUD and to tell last year’s lead sponsor — Verizon Wireless — if they support this event again, they’re only doubling down on hate and militarism. Tell Verizon Wireless: Stop fueling CBP’s hate and abuse! Make 2020 the last year you sponsor this Expo.

The Black Lives Matter movement means more than just stopping police-related death of people of color at the hands of law enforcement. It means looking at how racism plays into every aspect of American life. It is time that as Americans, we take a hard look at our racist institutions and ask ourselves if we’re willing to fight for long-lasting, systemic changes or if we are willing to continue with reformism and business as usual. Defunding the police does not mean less public safety. It means that instead of spending exorbitant amounts of money on policing the ailments of society, which solve nothing, we should be investing in programs that directly benefit over-policed, POC, and marginalized communities. Please sign our petition to show the Santa Cruz City Council that they need to do more than performative gestures!

We've told you about the dire situation happening at Primex Farms, a nut company in Wasco CA. The situation is escalating. According to a July 26 CNBC article, 150 of the 400 workers have now tested positive. In addition, a UFW census shows 49 of their adult family members and 34 children have tested positive for COVID-19. Sadly, one Primex worker has since died. A second worker, who tested positive, was removed from life support and sent home for palliative care; she is not expected to survive. Protesting Primex's flawed response to the virus, employees walked out on strike and formed a picket line. Workers were requesting safety measures, including social distancing procedures, company provision of personal protective equipment such as face masks and payment of sick leave for infected or exposed employees. The company promised improvements, but when they did not happen, workers -- including those in quarantine with the virus -- defied the company and held a virtual press conference. Now the major pistachio and almond processing company is retaliating against key groups of outspoken workers. This company uses several staffing agencies to supplement their direct hire workforce. Many of the workers who spoke out worked through USA Staffing. On July 22, Primex told the dozens of workers employed by USA Staffing that they were terminated because “production had dropped” -- but then they brought in new workers the same day! Brisdey Nieto is one of these fired workers. She tells us, “The company's anti-union consultant told us that due to the union taking the actions it had taken the clients had heard and therefore production had dropped. They were firing us. I could not believe that. I saw that same day they hired new workers and that they had started working. If production had dropped; why hire new workers?” The UFW immediately filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board for the company illegally retaliating against the workers for union activities and joining together to improve conditions. Workers don't want to wait; they want their jobs back now and they want to be protected on the jobsite. They're asking you to sign their petition telling the company to rehire them, with appropriate coronavirus protections in place. Workers are hoping to turn in thousands of signatures in the next few weeks. Will you add your signature today?