ACTIVE NONVIOLENCE & PEACEMAKING

Hate-Crime Violence Hits 16-Year High, F.B.I. Reports

Personal attacks motivated by bias or prejudice reached a 16-year high in 2018, reports the F.B.I., with a significant upswing in violence against Latinos outpacing a drop in assaults targeting Muslims and Arab-Americans.  Overall, the number of hate crimes of all kinds reported in the United States remained fairly flat last year after a three-year increase. MORE

Data Shows How Focused Deterrence Can Keep At-Risk People from Crime

In 2013, the Detroit Police Department decided to tailor its response to violent hot spots with an intervention model called focused deterrence, in which police use data to directly intervene with people who are at high risk for involvement in violent crime. Officers partner with social workers and parole officers to arrange call-ins with at-risk people, where they work to steer them to social service programs like GED courses and job training.  MORE

NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT

TAKE ACTION: Stop the President from Starting a Nuclear War 

Under the Trump administration, the threat of nuclear war has grown. The Restricting First-Use of Nuclear Weapons Act is common-sense legislation to prevent this president, and future presidents, from starting a nuclear war without congressional approval. Peace Action urges us to tell our members of Congress to co-sponsor and support this critical legislation. TAKE ACTION

These Are the Universities That Help To Build U.S. Nuclear Weapons

Nearly 50 U.S. universities are involved in the research and design of U.S. nuclear weapons, largely in secret and in contradiction of their mission statements. Universities across the United States are implicated by this new report for work on nuclear weapons, ranging from directly managing laboratories that design nuclear weapons to recruiting and training the next generation of nuclear weapons scientists.  MORE

IMMIGRATION

USCIS’ Denial Rates for H-1B Petitions Have Quadrupled

The H-1B visa allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations such as the science and tech industries.  Over the last four years, denial rates for H-1B petitions have quadrupled from 6% to 24% which actually serves to undermine the U.S. economy.  In the final analysis, such policies motivate companies to relocate operations abroad to locales where it is easier to gain access to high-skilled workers.  MORE

New Trump Administration Proposal Would Charge Asylum Seekers an Application Fee

The Trump administration has proposed hiking fees for those seeking legal immigration and citizenship, as well as implementing an application fee for refugees.  The rule would increase citizenship fees more than 60%, to $1,170 from $725, for most applicants. For some, the increase would reach 83%. If the government also begins charging asylum seekers for applications, it would make the US one of four countries to do so.  MORE

U.S. Must Provide Mental Health Services to Families Separated at Border

A federal judge has ruled that the government must provide mental health services to thousands of migrant parents and children who experienced psychological harm as a result of the Trump administration’s practice of separating families.  The decision marks a rare instance of the government being held legally accountable for mental trauma brought about by its policies.  MORE

ENVIRONMENT

TAKE ACTION: Stop the KXL Pipeline

Amidst legal challenges and public pressure against the Keystone XL pipeline, the State Department has opened yet another 45-day comment period on an impact statement for the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline extension.  Last week, the already-operating Keystone Pipeline leaked for the twentieth time, coating over 300,000 gallons of crude oil across North Dakota.  Oil Change US urges us to submit a comment to help stop the KXL Pipeline.  TAKE ACTION

NASA Flew Methane Gas Detectors Above California, Found ‘Super Emitters’

Over the course of three years, NASA flew a plane carrying gas-imaging equipment above California and made a discovery that surprised even the state’s own environmental agencies: A handful of operations are responsible for the vast majority of methane emissions.  Scientists estimate that 10% of the places releasing methane -- including landfills, natural gas facilities, and dairy farms -- are responsible for more than half of the state’s total emissions. MORE

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Bangladesh’s Child Marriage Problem Is the World’s Human Trafficking Crisis

For tens of thousands of girls in Bangladesh, highlighting the link between child marriage and sex trafficking should be impossible to ignore. Traffickers prey on the vulnerable, and child marriage is what makes girls vulnerable in the first place.   The country has the highest rate of marriage involving girls under the age of 15 in the world, and 150,000 to 200,000 children and young women have been trafficked into prostitution. MORE

Conflict, Climate Change Enables Human Trafficking To Flourish

Some 72 percent of detected trafficking victims are women and girls, and the percentage of child victims has more than doubled from 2004 to 2016. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued a call to re-affirm a commitment to end human trafficking.  He pointed to armed conflict, displacement, climate change, natural disasters and poverty as factors that "exacerbate the vulnerabilities and desperation that enable trafficking to flourish”.      MORE

Maids for Sale: How Online Slave Markets Work

They aren’t visible on the streets of Kuwait but pick up a smartphone and one can easily search thousands of pictures of domestic workers, categorized by race, and listed by price. Put up for sale for a few thousand dollars.  A booming black market for migrant domestic workers exists in Kuwait, facilitated through mobile apps. Using hashtags to find listings of the women, those searching to buy a domestic worker can then negotiate the sale through private messages.  MORE

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT

 
TAKE ACTION: Tell Senator Ernst to Prevent Domestic Violence

Senator Joni Ernst has said she won't be advancing the House's bipartisan Violence Against Women Act reauthorization bill — which includes life-saving provisions to disarm abusive dating partners and stalkers.  Everytown for Gun Safety urges us to tell Senator Ernst to make legislative decisions that close the loophole and protect victims of domestic violence.  TAKE ACTION

Man Charged in Sexual Assault of Woman on a Flight

A 32-year-old man was accused of sexually assaulting a female passenger during an American Airlines flight, prompting it to be diverted to allow for his removal.   After the plane landed, the man was charged by the airport police with public intoxication, and on Friday he was also charged by federal prosecutors with abusive sexual conduct. In 2017, there were 63 in-flight sexual assaults reported, an increase from 38 in 2014. MORE

POVERTY & SOCIAL JUSTICE

In States Such As California and Maryland, Poverty May Be Worse Than You Think

In 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau began to publish the supplemental poverty measure, a measure that takes into account geographic variations in cost of living, expenses such as medical costs and taxes, and anti-poverty subsidies like food stamps and unemployment insurance. After adjusting for these measures, the U.S. poverty rate rises from 12.3% to 13.1% – an increase of 2.7 million people. A newly issued report ranks the states by supplemental poverty.  MORE

Apple Will Give $2.5 Billion to Address the Affordable Housing Crisis in Silicon Valley

Apple has announced it will contribute $2.5 billion to try and alleviate California's housing crisis, raising the bar for tech companies to commit to the communities in which they reside.  The announcement comes as Silicon Valley communities put more pressure on tech companies who have rapidly expanded in the Bay Area and contributed to the displacement of local residents who can't afford skyrocketing housing prices. MORE

DEATH PENALTY

Rodney Reed is scheduled to be executed on November 20 by the state of Texas for the murder of Stacy Stites. Please keep Rodney, Stacy, their families, and the people of Texas in prayer.  TAKE ACTION