President Biden and his administration promised to reunite children separated from their families and treat immigrants with the respect and dignity we all deserve, but in late February news broke that Homestead Child Detention Center may reopen soon. Reopening Homestead—or any child detention center—places young people in greater danger, especially in this pandemic. Detention centers are places where social distancing is impossible, health care is inadequate, and abuses are rampant. And studies have shown that detaining children causes lasting trauma. The cost of that to children, families, and our communities is incalculable. Environmental conditions at this detention center also pose potentially serious health and safety threats to the children who would be housed there, including possible exposure to toxic chemicals from a neighboring Superfund site. AFSC worked with partners and community members in Florida and across the country to shut down the detention center in 2019, when it held around 2,000 children under President Trump. Now we’re mobilizing to stop the Biden administration from reopening the center—and urging them to instead prioritize uniting migrant children with family members or sponsors and promote community-based alternatives to detention that are in compliance with the rights of children.

The Dream and Promise Act will cover some 3 million young immigrants and TPS holders, provide them with a path to citizenship, strengthen our economy, and keep families united. Their existence in this country has always remained in a state of limbo and it is time to protect undocumented immigrants from future challenges.

No child should have to worry about where their next meal will come from, but right now 1 in 5 kids across the United States are going hungry. One of the best ways to help is to make sure kids get good, free meals at school--free school meals are an incredibly effective way to fight hunger. There’s a bill in Congress that would give all kids universal free school meals -- breakfast, lunch AND dinner! Passing it would mean that kids no longer would have to worry about whether they can pay for lunch at school, and school districts no longer have to struggle to find room in their budgets to feed them. Sign the petition now calling on Congress to enact universal free school meals for all children.

When babies ingest toxic heavy metals, the results can be disastrous. According to the Environmental Working Group, it can increase the risk of cancer, lead to behavioral and learning issues and even slow growth and development. While the FDA hasn’t established limits for heavy metals in baby food in general, it has established a limit of 100 parts per billion of arsenic in rice cereal. Incredibly, one of the baby food brands highlighted by the report has nearly twice that much arsenic. The Food and Drug Administration has been studying heavy metals in food for years, but still hasn’t taken steps to keep babies and the rest of us safe. That needs to change – and we need your help to make it happen. Sign the petition now calling on the Food and Drug Administration to take emergency action now to ensure baby foods do not contain any dangerous heavy metals.

Jamaica Plain has grown in population over the last few years. As such, there are more folks and families living in our community. Though we have a large amount of open space, there is a not a designated place for dogs to roam and socialize. For folks without access to transportation, this raises equity issues and favors access to cars. We know the City of Boston would like to have a park within a 15 min walk from all folks, we would like a dog park within each neighborhood. We also know that there can be trauma or fear of and from dogs. Creating a space for dogs allows for all community members to use public space conscientiously and intentionally.

Covid-19 did not cause New York’s budget crisis; it simply deepened a long-standing wealth gap that resulted from decades of cuts to housing, health care, education, and other essential services while New York billionaires continued to grow their unreasonable wealth. Everyone, including the Governor of New York, must be held accountable for their actions. And every allegation of sexual misconduct must be fully investigated, no matter who the subject of the allegation is. It is time to bring the power back to the hands of the people.

Child sexual abuse livestreaming has been a growing harm to kids for years, and lockdowns and isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic have made children even more vulnerable to abuse. This type of abuse is especially hard to fight because it doesn’t leave a record to help law enforcement rescue victims and catch predators. Simple changes like better privacy controls and stronger collaboration with law enforcement would help keep kids safe -- but Skype hasn’t done these things. Its critical that Microsoft take further steps to address Skype’s role as the most popular platform for livestreaming child sexual abuse.

President Trump’s Justice Department chose to look the other way as yet another Trump appointee abused her public office for private gain, according to new reports. Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has been accused by the department’s inspector general of repeatedly using her position to help her family and their shipping business, Foremost Group. The inspector general’s 44-page report detailed dozens of these instances. To name just a few -- she used Transportation Department resources to arrange a trip to China for her father and sister; she tasked staff with promoting her father’s public appearances; and she even had her employees perform chores for her father, like updating his Wikipedia page. [1] Plus, according to the report -- Sec. Chao did an interview with a Chinese-language television station just to help boost her father’s profile and promote Foremost Group. The inspector general referred these serious allegations of nepotism to Trump’s Department of Justice for a possible criminal investigation -- but in the last few weeks of the administration, the department declined to take action. That’s outrageous -- it’s clear that the Trump administration was rife with corruption. We’re calling on Biden’s Department of Justice to take up this investigation and hold Sec. Chao accountable. Plus, the Senate must pass the For the People Act (S. 1), a bill that was recently passed in the House that includes strict ethics requirements for appointed and elected leaders. We can’t let the Senate -- and especially Sec. Chao’s husband, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell -- shut down this important legislation. 1) https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/03/us/politics/elaine-chao-inspector-general-report.html

When Winter Storm Uri struck Texas, all 254 counties of the state issued winter storm warnings for the first time on record, with some counties experiencing temperatures colder than those in Alaska (1). At the peak of resulting power outages and water distribution disruptions, 4.3 million Texans were without power, and more than 14 million did not have access to safe drinking water (2,3). Like the rest of the state, the University of Texas at Austin community has suffered from the government’s lack of preparation for such an extreme weather event, with many students losing access to basic needs such as food, water, and electricity. While Winter Storm Uri was a singular weather event, it has not escaped the attention of many UT community members who learn and teach about climate change in the classroom: that climate change will continue to exacerbate extreme weather events (4) as it did with Hurricane Harvey in 2017 (5). This disaster shows that Texas desperately needs to mitigate its carbon emissions and update its energy infrastructure to prepare for increasing weather volatility. The University of Texas can lead the energy transition as an influential public institution representing its community. Yet, it still invests money into the fossil fuel industry and amplifies the climate crisis. The University of Texas System has the second-largest university endowment in the country. As of 2018, this amount was $32.4 billion (6). This money is used for various purposes, but most is invested by UTIMCO (the University of Texas and A&M Investment Management Corporation). UTIMCO is overseen by the UT Board of Regents, which manages policies impacting all UT and Texas A&M schools. Chevron, Exxon Mobil, BP, Saudi Arabian Oil Co, and Royal Dutch Shell are just a few examples of the oil and gas companies that UT supports financially. Furthermore, 90% of the Permanent University Fund, which is the largest of several funds UTIMCO uses to invest, is composed of oil and gas royalties that UT receives from leasing out University Lands for oil and gas extraction (7). As an educational institution that promises to “transform lives for the benefit of society,” UT has the resources and responsibility to lead the energy transition and drastically reduce its contribution to the climate crisis. The university must demonstrate its dedication to UT student's well-being and their futures. By incorporating the work and research that has already started on campus, UT can become a living laboratory and attract national attention as a leading flagship university in the fight against climate change. UT Administration, you must respond to our community’s growing needs. Rather than solely applauding “tireless efforts to help one another during the crisis,” (8) you must acknowledge and address the central cause of our struggle: climate change. We have begun the process of understanding our communities needs, and we now call on you to join us in implementing creative solutions to address them. Citations: 1) Elizabeth Findell and Ken Thomas, “Texas Cities Under Boil-Water Orders,” Wall Street Journal, February 19, 2021, sec. US, https://www.wsj.com/articles/texas-cities-under-boil-water-orders-11613671450. 2) “5 Million Americans Have Lost Power After a Devastating Winter Storm,” Time, accessed February 19, 2021, https://time.com/5939633/texas-power-outage-blackouts/. 3) Findell, “Texas Cities” 4) IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp. 5) Scott Waldman,ClimateWire, “Global Warming Tied to Hurricane Harvey,” Scientific American, accessed March 1, 2021, 6) UTIMCO. “UTIMCO Implements More Stringent Sanctions Compliance Procedures.” The University of Texas System, 23 Oct. 2018, www.utsystem.edu/news/2018/10/23/utimco-implements-more-stringent-sanctions-compliance-procedures. 7) Olson, Jon. “Hydraulic Fracturing Key to Educational Affordability.” The Daily Texan, thedailytexan.com/2019/03/31/hydraulic-fracturing-key-to-educational-affordability. 8) Received by Jay Hartzell, Lighting the Tower Orange in Honor of Our Incredible Community, 24 Feb. 2021.

With few interstate travel restrictions, a sick Texas means the pandemic continues unabated in the United States. 1. Only 1/5 of Texans have been vaccinated and the declaration that we have sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) does not square with the reality that teachers, domestic workers and other essential personnel continue without material or policy protections. 2. It is gratuitous to acknowledge that we have “adopted the daily habits that reduce risk of covid-19 exposure and transmission” and then to remove statewide mask mandates. We need to support Texans to continue safe practices. 3. Abbott draws equivalence with active cases in November. Test positivity now is where it was in November - around 11-12%. By January, it had escalated to 20%. This same pattern was noted over the summer. And now we want to open everything up again right before spring break. 4. Regardless of covid-hospitalizations, county governments across 254 counties are being denied purview over reducing capacity of any entity below 50%. With what public health rationale?

1. Only 1/5 of Texans have been vaccinated and the declaration that we have sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) does not square with the reality that teachers, domestic workers and other essential personnel continue without material or policy protections. 2. It is gratuitous to acknowledge that we have “adopted the daily habits that reduce risk of covid-19 exposure and transmission” and then to remove statewide mask mandates. We need to support Texans to continue safe practices. 3. Abbott draws equivalence with active cases in November. Test positivity now is where it was in November - around 11-12%. By January, it had escalated to 20%. This same pattern was noted over the summer. And now we want to open everything up again right before spring break. 4. Regardless of covid-hospitalizations, county governments across 254 counties are being denied purview over reducing capacity of any entity below 50%. With what public health rationale?

SB101 will tear families apart, lead to unconstitutional detentions, and make our communities unsafe. We urge you to stop SB101! - - - SB101 separará a las familias, conducirá a detenciones inconstitucionales y hará que nuestras comunidades sean inseguras. ¡Le instamos a que rechace la SB101!