Month: April 2020

News You May Have Missed this week continues to identify the costs of the pandemic for the most vulnerable people and to insist on the context of events–so that we are not simply bounced from outrage to outrage. We offer you resources toward clarity and options for action.

Though the news cycle produces a series of blinking alerts, we need to keep the short- and long-run pictures in focus. Among these: Can the Democrats retake the Senate? Read the fine print in Chrysostom’s elections roundup–and see what you think.

DOMESTIC NEWS

1. “Dreamers” ineligible for federal coronavirus assistance

Congress allocated $6 billion in coronavirus relief funding to colleges, who were then to release these funds to students to cover coronavirus-related educational expenses. Although the original legislation did not contain such restrictions, the Department of Education has barred any distribution of these monies to students who don’t qualify for federal aid., Politico points out. That might sound benign, but “do not qualify for federal aid” is bureaucratese for “undocumented.” This restriction will potentially make hundreds of thousands of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) ineligible for support, despite the fact that they have work authorizations and protections from deportation under existing law. S-HP

You can tell the Secretary of Education that our DACA students deserve our support during this pandemic: Secretary Betsy DeVos, U.S. Department of Education, 7W301 LBJ Building, Mail Number 0100, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, Washington DC 20202, (202) 401-3000.

2. ICE has DACA recipients’ personal information

One of the basic understandings of the current DACA Program is that applicants’ information will not be shared with other government agencies—particularly with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This policy was honored during the Obama administration and, despite its hostility to immigrants of all stripes, the Trump administration has claimed it is also honoring this policy. ProPublica now reports that emails obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the organization “Make the Road New York” show that those promises—which were made to Congress, as well as DACA recipients—were “incomplete or misleading.” In an internal memo written shortly before Trump announced his administration’s compliance with protections on the personal information of DACA applicants and recipients, an employee at the Department of Homeland Security noted that “ICE already has the information. There is no way to take that back.” Several weeks later, that fact was deliberately removed from talking points for ICE testimony before Congress, calling the information “not essential… and likely to generate considerable anxiety among DACA requestors.” S-HP

You can insist on a recommitment to safeguarding the information provided by DACA applicants and ask for Congressional information on the administration’s misrepresentation on this issue and any actions it has taken making use of DACA information. Addresses are here.

3. Court victories for detainees at risk from coronavirus

On April 20, a federal judge ordered ICE to evaluate all those it is holding in detention centers, taking into account their risk factors for COVID-19. The sweeping judgment, in response to a request for an injunction by the Southern Poverty Law Center and other advocates, requires ICE either to put new precautions into place to protect detainees or to release them. The judge criticized what he called the deficiencies in the way asylum-seekers are housed,  “many of which persist more than a month into the COVID-19 pandemic,” he wrote. As he put it in his decision, “…the Court concludes Defendants have likely exhibited callous indifference to the safety and wellbeing of the Subclass members [detained immigrants at risk]. The evidence suggests systemwide inaction that goes beyond a mere ‘difference of medical opinion or negligence.”

Then on April 23, another federal judge ordered ICE to reduce the number of detainees at the Adelanto facility in California, where 1300 people are held, in order to make social distancing possible. In response to an ACLU lawsuit, the court found that the conditions in which asylum-seekers are held are “’inconsistent with contemporary standards of human decency.” ICE must release 100 of the most vulnerable people by April 27 and another 150 by April 30, Newsweek reported. 

The ACLU and the San Francisco Public Defender’s office have also sued ICE to release 400 asylum-seekers in other California facilities, arguing that because they are in such close proximity and lack cleaning materials, they are at acute risk from the coronavirus, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. RLS

You can write to your elected representatives demanding swift action in response to these rulings and requesting careful Congressional monitoring of that action and of conditions for detained immigrants as the pandemic continues. Addresses are here.

4. Trump’s ban on immigration challenged in court

On April 25, a coalition of immigration lawyers filed an emergency motion to stop Trump’s ban on immigration, arguing that it keeps families who have already qualified for visas from accessing consular offices, according to the Innovation Law Lab. The effect will be to keep families separated at a time when legal immigrants are among those essential to the pandemic response. Trump’s policy advisor, Stephen Miller, told supporters that the 60-day ban foreshadowed a long-term change in immigration policy, the Washington Post reported.

What are your Congressmembers doing to protect immigrants and asylum seekers? You can ask them–addresses are here.

5. Judge again orders children in detention released

The judge supervising the government’s response to children in detention has found that it has not met its legal obligations to them under the Flores agreement, given pandemic conditions. Judge Dolly M. Gee issued an injunction to promptly release those children to family members and to cease imposing unnecessary requirements, such as fingerprinting, when children’s safety is not at issue,  according to the National Center for Youth Law. She will review on May 22 whether the government has complied. CBS News reported that there are still 2,100 children incarcerated without their parents and 342 in detention with their families, even though hundreds have been released due to coronavirus concerns. The judge cited medical expert Dr. Julie DeAun Graves, who said, “Postponing the release of children in facilities with known COVID-19 exposure is like leaving them in a burning house rather than going in to rescue them and take them to safety.” RLS

May 22 is almost a month away. You can ask your Congressmembers to investigate what progress has been made of releasing children in detention.

6. Citizens married to non-citizens denied stimulus checks

Most Americans are receiving $1200 coronavirus stimulus payments, but some are finding it difficult or impossible to receive that payment. As the legislation including the stimulus payment was written, only those with a valid Social Security number (SSN) are eligible for payments. Thus, immigrants in the process of getting citizenship who have not been assigned SSNs are ineligible for a payment—even if they are documented, have been living in the U.S. for years, and have consistently paid taxes, Slate explains. The inequality doesn’t stop there, however. If a married couple, one a citizen with an SSN and the other a legal immigrant without an SSN have been filing their taxes jointly, neither of them will be eligible for a stimulus payment, as that couple is treated as a single, non-SSN holding entity. In other words, American citizens are being penalized for marrying immigrants.

News You May Have Missed has also received information from one citizen/immigrant couple, both of whom have SSNs. One half of this couple is a U.S. citizen with an SSN; the other is an asylum applicant whose case is still being settled and who has a valid SSN, but no green card. The second of these two individuals is being denied a stimulus payment based on the lack of a green card, despite holding an SSN. The second of these individuals has been told they are not eligible for a stimulus payment because of the status of their spouse. This situation suggests a) that checks are being refused for reasons other than not having an SSN and b) that a wider range of U.S. citizens is being denied coronavirus payments than the SSN-based explanation would lead us to believe. USA Today reports that a group of four Representatives, Lou Correa, Judy Chu, and Jimmy Panetta from California and Raúl Grijalva from Arizona have introduced the No Taxpayer Left Behind Act (no number yet), which would allow non-citizens who are legally in the U.S. and paying taxes to receive a Coronavirus stimulus payment Via their Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). S-HP

To address this issue, you can urge your Representative to support the No Taxpayer Left Behind Act and tell your Senators you want to see similar legislation introduced in the Senate. Addresses are here.

7. Stimulus checks diverted to pay debts

Many Americans who anticipated receiving coronavirus stimulus payments instead found that money being redirected to banks and private debt collectors, depriving them of funds they need during this global crisis to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. Forbes reports that a group of fourteen Democratic Senators and a separate pair of Republican Senators have both written to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin asking that the Treasury exempt conoravirus payments from private debt collection. S-HP

You can join these Senators in calling for coronavirus stimulus payments to be exempted from private debt collection. Write or call Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington DC 20220, (202) 622-2000

8. VA employees exposed to coronavirus required to come to work. Masks seized by FEMA.

A new Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policy requires coronavirus-exposed employees to continue coming into work, under threat of being found absent without leave (AWOL) and/or losing pay, Government Executive reports.. VA hospitals have been hard hit by the coronavirus. At least 5,000 patients in VA hospitals and over 1,600 VA facility staff have tested positive for COVID-19. More than three hundred patients and twelve staff members have died as a result of COVID-19. Employees at half a dozen VA facilities reported being denied access to masks and similar personal protective equipment either because it was being reserved for use by other groups of employees or because of fears that broad-scale wearing of masks would alarm patients and visitors. Five million masks ordered by the VA were recently seized by FEMA, according to the Daily Mail. Some facilities are requiring staff who worked with patients who would subsequently receive COVID-19 diagnoses to continue working until they display COVID-19 symptoms–at which point they can be tested for the disease. S-HP

You can call for better treatment of our veterans and the healthcare staff serving them, and object to the seizure of masks from the VA. Addresses are here.

9. Director of research fired for refusing to promote toxic drug

Dr. Richard Bright, who was summarily removed from his position as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), has been frank in expressing his view that he was reassigned because he resisted political pressures to support widespread use of hydroxychloroquine, a highly toxic, anti-malaria drug touted by Trump (who owns stock in the manufacturer) as a treatment for COVID-19, CNN reported.

In a statement cited by the New York Times, Dr. Bright asserted, “I rightly resisted efforts to provide an unproven drug on demand to the American people.” In fact, the most recent, and most stringent, studies of the effect of hydroxychloroquine show that COVID-19 patients treated with the drug fair more poorly that those not treated with it. A recent study of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment was ended early because of the drug’s toxic effects on those receiving it and its failure to improve disease outcomes, according to CNBC, which quoted the Journal of the American Medical Association as saying that the use of the drug had a “primary outcome” of death.

Many Congressional and healthcare figures are now calling for an investigation of Dr. Bright’s removal. Representative Frank Pallone, Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, was quoted by the New York Times: “Removing Dr. Bright in the midst of a pandemic would raise serious concerns under any circumstances, but his allegations that political considerations influenced this decision heighten those concerns and demand full accountability. Pallone has called for a Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General investigation of Dr. Bright’s removal from his position at BARDA, which was created to counter bioterrorism and infectious diseases. S-HP

You can demand an investigation of Dr. Bright’s removal from his BARDA post by the Inspector General of HHS and the Office of Special Counsel, which is charged with investigating complaints of retaliation against whistleblowers. Addresses are here.

10. Senator moves to protect Fauci and others against political firing

One of the things made clear by Trump’s endless coronavirus briefings is that the United States’ voice of reason during this pandemic is Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci has been striking a delicate balance between signaling deference for the President, something Trump demands, with an insistence on challenging the President’s misstatements/lies. Dr. Fauci has insisted that the virus will not be disappearing, as Trump claims, but will continue to be a severe challenge as we move into the fall and winter months. He has corrected grandiose claims on the availability of protective equipment for healthcare workers and coronavirus tests for the public.

Not surprisingly, Fauci has been receiving a great deal of criticism from Trump loyalists, some of whom are calling on Trump to fire Fauci. In fact, Trump recently retweeted one such call. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts has now introduced the National Institutes of Health Director Protection Act, which would allow the firing of Fauci and others in similar positions only on the grounds of malfeasance, neglect of office, or incapacity—rather than on the grounds of having the audacity to provide accurate coronavirus information, which is the way things appear to be headed, according to The Hill. There is no bill number yet for this legislation, but we can still urge that it be enacted as quickly as possible for the health of the nation. S-HP

You can urge your Senators to support the National Institutes of Health Director Protection Act and ask your Representative to support similar legislation in the House. Addresses are here.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & THE ENVIRONMENT

11. Is social distancing worth it?

There has been much national debate over the enormous financial costs that are imposed by restricting business operations in order to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. A substantial number of people, mostly on the right wing, say that the burden exceeds the economic damage the virus would do were it simply allowed to spread. Setting aside any ethical or moral arguments, is this true from a pure economics perspective? A paper soon to be published by the Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis says it’s worth it, to the tune of over five trillion dollars.

In order to make calculations of this nature, it is necessary to input a monetary cost for a human life. The federal government uses a figure of $10 million to represent lost productivity and costs associated with end of life, Ars Technica reports. The authors utilized this figure, then used an estimate of 1.2 million dead should we drop all safeguards and allow the virus to spread freely. In a scenario with that many lost lives, they then estimated the likely GDP drop versus the GDP drop we are estimated to have with social distancing costs. The result was a savings of 5.16 trillion dollars. To be sure, this is all based on things that are at this moment unknowable: We still do not have a good handle on the actual case fatality rate for covid-19 or the precise number of Americans now infected due to a lack of accurate testing. It’s worth remembering that every decision has costs, including the decision to open up for business. JC

12. Consumption of conservative media linked to COVID-19 misinformation.

A study conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Illinois at Champagne-Urbana and published in the Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review has found a strong link between consumption of conservative media and misinformation regarding the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The study was done using a survey of over 1000 adults and found that people who watched or listened to programming such as Fox News or Rush Limbaugh were more likely to believe in inaccurate information or outright conspiracy theories. Additionally, those who consumed news via social media posts or news aggregator sites were more likely to believe false information such as vitamin C being an effective treatment for the disease, Phys.org explains. Those who consumed news via traditional news outlets were generally more accurately informed on the relative danger of the virus as well as the need for hygiene and safety measures. JC

13. Deepwater disaster 10 years on: No lessons learned

This month marks the ten-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest ever in the U.S., which killed eleven people, released approximately five million barrels (or 210 million gallons) of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, devastating wildlife, local fisheries, and tourism along the coast. The spill was caused by the failure of a blowout protector that should have prevented such a spill. In 2016 the Obama administration created the Well Control Rule, which created three safety measures to prevent spills like Deepwater Horizon: additional backup mechanisms for equipment; increased testing of equipment; and the use of independent inspectors so oil companies could no longer police themselves. Since the start of the Trump administration, according to the Washington Post, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has granted 1,700 waivers to the Well Control Rule, claiming that its provisions unnecessarily burdened oil companies–despite the fact that such a spill has been demonstrated to be not just a possibility, but a reality.

You can demand an end to these dangerous BSEE waivers and urge your Congressmembers to stand up for appropriate safety measures on deep water drilling. Addresses are here.

RESOURCES

• The Americans of Conscience Checklist is tracking its impact. See their site to note what they have accomplished and to find quick, straightforward actions you can take.
• Sarah-Hope’s list has a number of action items not listed above, including for some stories run previously on deportations and farmworker wages.
• Martha’s list offers opportunities to comment for the public record and has news you won’t find elsewhere, including National Science Foundation involvement in the Arctic, a plan to replace the words “foreign national” with the word “alien” in Citizen and Immigration Policy manuals, rollbacks of EPA regulations–read through the list. You’ll be astonished.
• Rogan’s list suggests ways to object to how big companies absconded with the money intended for small businesses, to insist that more funding go to support essential workers and to make it possible for everyone to vote by mail in November, among other actions you can take.

This week we’re trying to remember that there is much more going on than the coronavirus. Trump has closed the border and essentially ended the possibility of asylum. Pipelines are being constructed and challenged. Essential workers are going without essentials. And as our colleague Crysostom reminds us, we are careening toward an election. See his site for news you won’t have seen about downballot races.

DOMESTIC NEWS

1. Freezing aid to the WHO possibly illegal, certainly unwise

As he flails about in an effort to draw attention away from his Administration’s failed Coronavirus response, Trump has settled on the World Health Organization (WHO) as a target. Politico reports that Trump claims WHO was not honest in reporting on the Coronavirus outbreak in China, going so far as to call WHO “very China centric.” Now Trump has ordered a halt to U.S. funding of WHO, a move similar to the one he made in freezing foreign aid to Ukraine.

The General Accounting Office determined in January that Trump violated the 1974 Impoundment Control Act by withholding funds for a policy reason. It is the legislative branch of the government, not the administrative,  that controls appropriations. And, of course, it was that freezing of aid and the subsequent cover-up that led to Trump’s impeachment by the House. Besides its potential illegality, Trump’s decision to withhold WHO funding in the midst of a pandemic is hugely shortsighted. WHO led the global response to Coronavirus and produced and distributed Coronavirus test kits—which were offered to and rejected by the U.S Moreover, the Washington Post reported on April 19 that American employees of the WHO were transmitting updates as they were available. S-HP

You can ask for Congressional censure of Trump for illegally withholding WHO funding and insist that the U.S. continue funding WHO to protect the health of the nation and the world. Contact your elected representatives–addresses are here.

2. Federal government seizing PPE from states that had purchased it

State governments have faced severe difficulties in obtaining personal protective equipment (PPE) for those working on the frontline of the coronavirus response. On a number of occasions, the federal government has seized PPE shipments before they could be delivered to the governments that were the original purchasers, a New York Magazine story explains, and has redistributed these supplies using opaque criteria that appear to have more to do with Trump’s whims (and those of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is leading the administration’s Coronavirus response) than with actual need.

The Chairs of the House Homeland Security and Oversight and Reform Committees have asked Peter Gaynor, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to explain the seizure of medical supplies from states, as have Virginia’s senators, according to the Virginia Mercury. They have also asked him to clarify Jared Kushner’s role in handling supplies, especially given rumors that distribution depends on personal connections. They have asked FEMA to provide all documents related to these two issues. One response to this irresponsible administration behavior would be passage of the Medical Supply Chain Emergency Act, S.3568, which is currently with the Senate’s Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. S.3568 would require Trump to use his powers under the 1950 Defense Production Act to generate emergency production of medical equipment, including PPE, to address the coronavirus outbreak. S-HP

You can thank House Committee Chairs for investigating federal seizure of PPE, urge swift, positive action on S.3568 by the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and encourage your Congressmembers to continue pushing for an increase in the production of medical equipment and supplies and for an investigation into federal disruption of existing supply chains. Addresses are here.

3. Remain (infected) in Mexico

As of April 17, 17 of the 3,000 asylum-seekers required to wait in the crowded camp in Matamoros, Mexico, have symptoms of coronavirus, according to Border Report. The camp does not have testing facilities so these cases and those to come cannot be confirmed. Though asylum-seekers with symptoms have been quarantined, the camp lacks sanitary facilities and running water; what medical care there is is provided by a volunteer organization, Global Response. Human Rights First has urged the Department of Homeland Security to permit those required to “Remain in Mexico” to enter the US, where many of them have families, rather than having to risk both violence and infection both in the camp and when they must travel as immigration courts reopen. RLS

4. Deporting COVID-19

The US has deported thousands of asylum-seekers since the coronavirus became a concern, including children and teenagers without their parents–and refused to admit 377 children so far during the pandemic, according to the Intercept. They are most often being sent away without testing, the AP reports, endangering the local populations and the fragile local health care systems Some number of asylum-seekers sent to Guatemala have tested positive for the virus, according to the New York Times. Guatemala’s health minister said that the deportees have driven up the infection rate in Guatemala, ABC News reported, noting that on one flight, 75% of those deported tested positive.

While Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico have asked the US to halt the flow of asylum-seekers back to their countries, Trump instead declared that any country that doesn’t accept these deportees will incur sanctions, regardless of the ability of their health care systems to manage an outbreak. Father Juan Carbajal, the director of the Catholic Church’s Pastoral of Human Mobility in Guatemala, told El Faro, an on-line newspaper in El Salvador, “[The deportations] show a lack of ethics and a lack of respect for international rights, especially amidst this crisis.” Carbajal added, “there have been deportations that are being carried out without any concern for their health.” Earlier in April, the Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee led by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) launched an inquiry into the Trump administration’s decision to unilaterally shut the border and freeze all asylum proceedings. RLS

5. Detaining COVID-19

As of April 14th, there were 19 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the San Diego Otay Mesa Detention Center, where masks were not distributed to asylum-seekers until two weeks after a staff member tested positive. At first, detainees were asked to sign a release of liability before being given masks; those who objected were pepper-sprayed and put in isolation, according to KPBS. 

In the Heartland Alliance facility in Chicago, 37 children and two staff members had tested positive for the virus as of April 14, the number of cases having doubled overnight, ProPublica reported. As Holly Cooper, co-director of the Immigration Law Clinic at the University of California, Davis, pointed out, the priority should be to release the children, since protecting them against the virus is impossible when they are in close quarters.

On March 28, U.S. District Court Judge Dolly M. Gee ordered that children in detention be released to families and sponsors as quickly as possible and told the government to report on April 9 what the progress had been. No information is available on how many children have been released, but the lawyers for the  Center for Human Rights & Constitutional Law, which is representing detained children, announced on Twitter April 10 that they were back in court. RLS

 ISLA (Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy) in Louisiana is urging people to write the governor to ask that those in detention be released. The address is here.

6. Price-gouging in a pandemic

At least two different sets of anti-price gouging legislation have been introduced in Congress. The chief difference between them appears to be the way in which they define price-gouging. The Disaster and Emergency Pricing Abuse Prevention Act (H.R.6457/S.3576) defines price-gouging during an emergency as an increase in price greater than 20% and provides for civil penalties of up to $10,000 per incident. Text for the second, the Price Gouging Prevention Act (H.R.6450/no number yet in the Senate), is not yet available, but press releases indicate that it will define price gouging as an increase of 10% or more in essential goods or services; it was introduced in the Senate by Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, CNBC reports. The material currently available does not indicate what penalties for violations might be. The committees receiving this legislation are Energy and Commerce in the House and Commerce, Science, and Transportation in the Senate. S-HP

If you are inclined to tell leadership of the appropriate committees and your Congressmembers that you want to see swift action on anti-price-gouging legislation, their addresses are here.

7. Biden and Warren’s visions for coronavirus recovery

Both Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren have recently had proposals for coronavirus recovery in the New York Times. Biden’s piece calls for measures we can all support: increased testing; preparing hospitals for likely virus flare-ups; establishing worker safety protections; and addressing racial disparities in the impact of coronavirus. However, his proposal does not outline specific protections for ordinary Americans facing the challenges of coronavirus: job loss; inability to pay rent or make mortgage payments; water and utility shut-offs; the lack of universal healthcare and family leave; and the impact on small businesses.

Warren’s piece addresses these topics and more. Besides protections for ordinary Americans, Warren highlights necessary systemic protections and changes. Warren calls for strengthened oversight of coronavirus relief funds. She wants conflict-of-interest rules attached to coronavirus funding and wants companies receiving government relief to commit to retaining employees as their primary concern. Finally, Warren emphasizes the importance of establishing election protections before November so that all eligible voters can safely and easily vote in the Presidential election. S-HP

You might want to suggest that Biden to take a closer look at Warren’s proposals for protecting workers, small business owners, and voters, and ask him to incorporate some of Warren’s provisions in his own plan. Joe Biden, PO Box 58174, Philadelphia, PA 19102.

8. Essential Workers Bill of Rights

Current reports indicate that workers in essential services—healthcare, transportation, grocery workers, and more—are contracting COVID-19 at higher rates than the general public. In response, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Ro Khanna have proposed an “Essential Workers Bill of Rights” that should be added to any new coronavirus response/relief funding. Warren explains, “Essential workers are the backbone of our nation’s response to the coronavirus. We have a responsibility to make sure essential workers have the protections they need, the rights they are entitled to, and the compensation they deserve.” The Essential Workers Bill of Rights would include:

• Access to adequate health and safety protections
• Robust premium compensation
• Protection of collective bargaining agreements
• Truly universal sick leave, as well as family and medical leave
• Whistleblower protections
• An end to the inappropriate use of the “independent contractor” title to deprive workers of health and other benefits
• Health care security
• Support of childcare
• Treatment of workers as experts in the fields
• Corporate accountability from those receiving Coronavirus relief funds, including giving taxpayers and workers a say in how these funds are used. S-HP

If you want to tell your elected representatives that any new Coronavirus legislation include the Essential Workers Bill of Rights, you can find their contact information here.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

9. What an election in a pandemic could look like

South Korea had record voter turnout–66.2%–in last week’s election, despite the country’s recent bout with the coronavirus, the South China Morning Post reported. Voters were required to stand three feet apart, wear disposable gloves and have their temperatures checked. President Moon Jae-in won by a landslide, as tensions in his administration were outweighed by perceptions that he had successfully handled the coronavirus outbreak. The country had just eight new cases of the virus on April 19, according to CTV. RLS

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & THE ENVIRONMENT

10. Poor quality tests are muddying already murky waters.

Readers may have seen a news story about a study from Santa Clara county in California claiming that a very large number of asymptomatic cases were found, suggesting that the virus’ spread is much further along than expected and lowering the case fatality rate for COVID-19 all the way down to something slightly more deadly than seasonal flu, as an article in the journal Nature explains. This would be very positive news were it true; however, there have already been serious criticisms of the study on the basis of the kind of test it used to gather its data. In the rush to fill the insatiable demand for accurate data about this outbreak, many different types of serum antibody tests have been devised and manufactured under relaxed quality control standards, one of which was used in the California study. These tests look for an immune response in blood serum that indicate that the person had been exposed to the covid-19 virus.

Unfortunately it has become clear that the accuracy standards for these tests can be quite lacking, with very high rates of false positives. Even a very few false positives in these types of studies can skew results to the point of being meaningless. As the Washington Post points out, more than 90 antibody tests are on the market, none of which have been vetted by the FDA. Additionally, simple observation of real numbers in New York City make the study’s proposed findings very implausible: if the virus were that much more widespread with commensurate lower fatality rate, then in order for New York City to have had 15,000 deaths in a month, it would require that the entire city be infected plus another 50%. Given that there is currently a serious push to re-open the economy, complete with “astroturfed” protests, there is danger in cherry-picking these kinds of studies based on potentially fatally flawed data.  JC

11. Constructing pipelines under cover of COVID-19

In early April, Trump signed two executive orders intended to speed up construction of pipelines and other projects for the production and transportation of oil and gas at a time when the wise move would be to reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels. As the New York Times explains, one order would make it more difficult for states to use the Clean Water Act to fight federally approved projects. The other proposal would remove the State Department from the process used to approve international projects. These executive orders will exacerbate an ongoing rush by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to implement eminent domain allowances for private energy companies to complete and expand pipeline projects. One current proposal is “Double E Pipeline, LLC; Notice of Availability of the Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Double E Pipeline Project” (because federal regulators are not hired for their ability to coin clear, concise proposal titles), which would allow a pipeline running from New Mexico to Texas. Comments must be received by May 1.

If you have something to say about this pipeline project, you can comment for the public record here. [Note: be sure to refer to Document Number 2020-06560 in your comment]

12. Pollution clearing but standards dropping

While air, water and noise pollution is dropping markedly during the slowdown of economic activity due to the coronavirus, the Atlantic reports, the administration has formalized its rollback of Obama-era fuel efficiency regulations, according to the AP. President Obama responded to this announcement noting “We’ve seen all too terribly the consequences of those who denied warnings of a pandemic. We can’t afford any more consequences of climate denial.” This rollback will ultimately cause more deaths from air pollution and exacerbate the climate crisis. While many automakers have confirmed a commitment to raised fuel standards in a deal brokered by the state of California, others, including Ford, GM, and Chrysler, have not. S-HP

You could ask automakers who have not yet committed to improved fuel standards to put the health of the planet before profits and keep the standards as close as possible to the Obama-rule levels. Addresses are here.

RESOURCES

• See the Americas of Conscience Checklist for an update on the primaries and to advocate for safe ways for Native Americans to vote.
• Martha offers ways to comment for the public record. About this week’s list, she says to look for more border wall land grabs, more ways the Trump administration is using COVID-19 as cover to waive rules, including EPA waiving pesticide regulations. There are some urgent deadlines for commenting–including tomorrow.
• Sarah-Hope’s list for postcarding has some of the above action items–and more.
• Rogan’s list offers clear, concrete actions you can take.

We can be appalled–if not surprised–by the depth of corruption that has emerged almost simultaneously with the pandemic; this administration will use anything to advance its agenda. See the specifics below. If attending closely to elections seems like the appropriate response to corruption, note Crysostom’s round-up of state and congressional election issues.

On the other side of the same coin, Heather Cox Richardson writes about how the responses to the coronavirus reveal the disparities in impacts on various communities as well as to access to healthcare and basic services (April 11). Week by week, we try to identify those most disadvantaged: First Nations communities, grocery workers, farm workers, contract workers, coal miners, students at for-profit colleges–the list continues.

DOMESTIC NEWS

1. Native American tribe disestablished for Trump supporters’ casino

According to their website, “the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, also known as the People of the First Light, has inhabited present day Massachusetts and Eastern Rhode Island for more than 12,000 years. After an arduous process lasting more than three decades, the Mashpee Wampanoag were re-acknowledged as a federally recognized tribe in 2007.”

Why, then, has Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt essentially disestablished the tribe, removing their 321 acre reservation from federal trust? The decision also takes away the land’s sovereign status, meaning the Wampanoag would have to disband its police force and social services program and would be forced to pay federal taxes. Ostensibly, this decision was made based on a court ruling—but that litigation is still making its way through the courts and no ruling is definitive at this point.

So pervasive are the financial tendrils of Trump and company that if you pull any thread along the East Coast and let it unravel far enough, you’ll find someone Trump-connected at the end. Esquire traces the links. The Mashpee-Wampanoag are in the process of applying for a casino license, the last remaining casino license in the state of Massachusetts. And the Mashpee-Wampanoag lands, where the casino would be based, are near the Massachusetts-Rhode Island border. Over that border lie—a pair of casinos held by a private company, Twin River Worldwide Holdings. The President and Chief Marketing Officer of Twin River Worldwide Holdings are both former employees at Trump’s Atlantic City casino (the one that went bankrupt, remember?) and active Trump supporters. 

Last May, the House passed H.R.312, the Mashpee-Wampanoag Reservation Reaffirmation Act, intended to override the current court battle between Twin River and the Mashpee-Wampanoag. H.R.312 had a bipartisan group of thirty-five cosponsors and easily made it through the House to the Senate. And in the Senate, Mitch McConnell has placed the legislation “under general orders,” which is Congress-speak for “I am not assigning this legislation to any committee and therefore condemning it to the black hole of things-that-have-no-hope-of-being-voted-on.” Prospects for H.R.312 didn’t always look bad in the Senate, but that was before Trump tweeted in opposition to the legislation, falsely tying it to that Republican’s Boogie(wo)man, Elizabeth Warren.Cedric Cromwell, the tribe’s chairman, told Boston.com that the tribe is continuing to fight the order and has in addition sued Interior Secretary David Bernhardt for not considering factual evidence. “We have survived, we will continue to survive,” Cromwell wrote. “These are our lands, these are the lands of our ancestors, and these will be the lands of our grandchildren. This Administration has come and it will go. But we will be here, always.” S-HP

You can write to Bernhardt and him to reverse his decision, and remind your Senators that H.R.312 is being held in legislative limbo, asking them to act in support of the legislation. Addresses are here. In addition, the Mashpee-Wampanoag have a letter via MoveOn that they would like you to sign.

2. Native American communities vulnerable to coronavirus

As we continue to learn, coronavirus does not impact all communities equally. For under-resourced communities; communities with high rates of heart disease, respiratory illnesse, and diabetes; communities with lack of access to healthcare, lack of internet and phone services, coronavirus is particularly deadly. This is proving true on sovereign Native American lands. The Indian Health Service (IHS), the largest Native American healthcare provider, runs only one-sixth of the approximately 423 health clinics on Native American lands, Politico explains. Since the rest are run by local organizations, tracking Native American coronavirus cases depends on reports from hundreds of small, often underfunded facilities.

Because households on reservations are often multigenerational and share relatively small homes, social distancing is an impossibility in many locations, the Washington Post explains. Remote housing on reservations may not include running water, complicating basic hygienic procedures, according to the New York Times. Over one week in March, the Navajo Nation saw its coronavirus cases rise from 1 to 110. As of April 11, there were 698 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 24 deaths, in Navajo communities in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, CNN reported. Like states, sovereign Indian Nations are receiving little help from the federal government in their fight against the pandemic. Many of the healthcare challenges facing sovereign Indian Nations are the legacy of U.S. colonialism and many Indian Nations have long histories of disproportionate morbidity resulting from both pandemics and the deliberate introduction of disease. S-HP.

You can insist on a well-funded, effective federal response to the impact of coronavirus on Sovereign Indian Nations. Write the Secretary of the Interior and your Members of Congress here.

3. Corruption Watch: The relief bill

In the way it was designed, the $2 trillion corona relief fund undermines Church-State separation. The relief includes $350 billion for Small Business Administration (SBA) loans that are largely forgivable, making them more like grants. In a statement describing businesses that would be eligible for these loans, the SBA announced that “Faith-based organizations are eligible to receive SBA loans regardless of whether they provide secular social services.” Because these loans are processed through the Paycheck Protection Program, at least 75% of the funds must go to cover paychecks. Connect the dots and what you get is the government providing forgivable “loans” to be used in paying salaries for pastors, rabbis, imams, and others in similar positions. 

A legal remedy to this breach is unlikely. In 2018 the Trump administration made Federal Emergency Management Agency funds available to churches, synagogues, mosques, and similar organizations for facility repairs and reconstruction—a move which the Supreme Court declined to take into consideration. This is the first time federal monies will be used to pay the salaries of religious figures, a plan that appears to violate the “establishment clause” of the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This clause is understood to mean not only that the state cannot establish an official religion, but that it cannot act in a way that advantages one religion over another or even privileges religious institutions over non-religious ones, according to Cornell Law School. In an NPR interview, Alison Gill of American Atheists noted that this funding “directly contradicts the establishment clause of the First Amendment. This is the most drastic attack on church-state separation we have ever seen.” S-HP

You can make a case to administration figures and your Congressmembers that any additional SBA funding for coronavirus relief must preclude the payment of salaries for religious leaders. Addresses are here.

4. Almost all asylum-seekers turned away at the border under CDC rules

A leaked Border Patrol memo obtained by ProPublica citing the CDC has essentially closed the US-Mexico border to asylum-seekers, citing coronavirus fears. 10,000 people had been turned away as of April 9, according to the Washington Post. Though asylum law says that people cannot be returned to areas where they might be harmed, it is being almost completely ignored, unless asylum-seekers can persuade a Border Patrol agent that they are in danger of being tortured. There is no medical screening of asylum-seekers and no information on what happens to people who are turned away. Because it is so difficult to get information, ProPublica reported, there is not yet a legal case against the policy. As Kari Hong, an immigration attorney, put it, “By invoking these emergency orders, the Trump administration is simply doing what it’s wanted to do all along, which is to end asylum law in its entirety.” RLS

Note that you can comment on this new policy–and only 13 comments had been received as of April 12.

5. Corruption watch: Inspector General who would have had oversight fired

The House insisted on careful oversight for the big-business part of coronavirus relief, while Trump claimed things would be just fine under the complete control of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. The House won that battle in the short term, but now Trump is actively working to undermine the oversight provisions in the legislation–along with the entire Inspector General system, the New York Times notes. Glenn Fine, the acting Inspector General for the Department of Defense, was chosen by a team of Inspectors General to become head of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee—that was before Trump fired him. The Committee head must be an Inspector General, so Fine is no longer eligible for the role, despite his colleague’s respect for him, the New York Times explains.. Lawfare suggests “the reason for Fine’s removal, it isn’t subtle: Fine is the kind of guy who will make trouble.” Though we might well reword “will make trouble” with “would have approached his oversight role with integrity.” S-HP

Now would be the time to ask what steps your Congressmembers are taking to assure proper oversight of coronavirus funds now that Trump has removed Inspector General Fine. Addresses are here.

6. Corruption Watch: Another Inspector General fired

When he fired Michael Atkinson, the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, from his position, Trump made it clear that he was taking that action in response to Atkinson’s decision to share the whistle-blower report on Trump’s Ukraine phone call with the House Intelligence Committee—as Atkinson was required to do under law. Atkinson was the last Senate-appointed official in the Director of National Intelligence’s office. The office is now being run solely by individuals who have not gone through Senate confirmation and is headed by Acting Director Richard Grenell. Now Politico reports that Adam Schiff, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, is questioning “political interference in the production and dissemination of intelligence.” Schiff is concerned that substantial changes to the Office of National Intelligence are being made without informing Congress. Schiff has written to Acting Director Grenell pointing out that “it would be inappropriate for you to pursue any additional leadership, organizational, or staffing changes to ODNI [Office of the Director of National Intelligence] during your temporary tenure.” In addition, Schiff is demanding a written explanation of all organizational changes in ODNI by April 16. S-HP

If you wish to thank Schiff for taking these actions and urge closer Senate oversight over the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the addresses are here.

7. Grocery store workers, farm workers, at high risk

Workers given “extended first responder” or “emergency personnel” status are “prioritized for testing and provision of personal protection equipment during the coronavirus outbreak,” according to the Boston Globe. (Whether such tests and equipment are actually available for anyone is another question.) At the moment, we are all dependent on workers in the food system. For this reason, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and Albertson Companies are calling for grocery workers to be given such status. Farmworkers, who play a key role in our food system, have been largely left out of coronavirus relief legislation thus far, and they would also benefit from special status regarding access to tests and protective equipment. Reveal describes the contradictions that surround them, being declared essential after years of being deportable, working in unsafe conditions without protective equipment.

Meanwhile, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue are looking for ways to lower the wages of foreign “guest” farmworkers (about 10% of the farm workforce) as a form of coronavirus “aid” to agriculture. Farmworkers are already not covered by federal minimum wage rules and many workplace safety regulations, and are at significant risk given their workplace conditions, KATU explains. As NPR notes, this proposal puts a significant portion of our food supply workers under additional financial pressure at the time when we need them most. S-HP

If you want to recommend that grocery workers and farm workers be given “extended first responder” or “emergency personnel” status—our lives depend on them—and insist that wages for all farmworkers, including guest workers remain at current levels or, better yet, be raised because of the hazards of such work at the present moment, appropriate addresses are here.

8. Coal miners threatened by COVID-19, coal companies crying poor

Coal miners, especially current or former miners with black lung disease, are particularly vulnerable during the coronavirus pandemic. If coal companies have their way, these miners may soon face increased financial vulnerability as well. In 1969, the Nixon administration established the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund (BLDTF). Coal mining companies signed a two-part agreement with the federal government that as long as they operated, they would pay benefits to their retirees and that they would pay an excise tax on coal extraction to cover pension benefits for miners with black lung disease whose former employers have gone out of business. As this agreement plays out now, pensions for minors with black lung disease typically receive about $700 a month. For every ton of coal mined (coal is currently selling at $34 per ton) coal companies pay an excise tax of $1.10 that goes to BLDTF. They pay a lower rate of 55¢ per ton for surface coal—these monies are intended to support the BLDTF.

For years, the BLDTF has been unable to meet its obligations to miners and has been borrowing from the Treasury. At the moment, the BLDTF has a debt to the Treasure of $4 billion. Now, citing difficulties related to the coronavirus pandemic, coal companies are calling for a 55% cut in the excise tax funding the BLDTF and also asked for a suspension of a separate fee that goes toward the clean-up of abandoned mines. Mine companies say these fee reductions would save them about $220 million. The Washington Post reports that miners receiving BLDTF pensions and their advocates worry that the proposed cuts will quickly raise the BLDTF debt, making the fund appear unsupportable during a time of economic pressure. S-HP

You could tell your Members of Congress to object to lowered excise taxes for coal companies, insist that they continue to pay their fail share for black lung disease pensions and abandoned mine clean-up, and call for legislation to make the BLDTF solvent over the long term.

9. Stanford terminates contract workers

In late March, that Stanford Daily ran an editorial on the differential treatment of “regular” Stanford employees and “contracted” Stanford employees during the coronavirus pandemic. Contracted employees are employees who work on the Stanford campus, but are not directly hired by Stanford. The largest such group are janitors hired through the national custodial service, UG-2. But the bottom line for these workers is that if Stanford eliminates their positions, they will be unemployed during the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. At this point, 150 such employees have been terminated. Regular Stanford employees have been assured that they will continue to receive their full salaries and health benefits, regardless of the effect coronavirus has on their actual hours. With an endowment of $27.7 billion, Stanford could extend this treatment to their contracted workers, but has chosen not to do so.

You could ask your own workplace–and Stanford–to do the right (and for them, affordable) thing and extend pay and benefits to contracted workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Addresses are here.

10. Corruption watch: Congressmembers and their stocks

We pointed out previously (March 22, first story) the multiple stock sales and purchases by Congressmembers who were part of an early coronavirus briefing. These included sales of travel-related stocks and purchases of health-related stocks, Bloomberg notes. While these sales and purchases are being investigated, we need to deal with the larger issue: Congressmembers who hold individual stocks (as opposed to mutual funds) and are in a position to benefit from information not yet released to the public. Whether or not the timing of these activities was coincidental, as some Congressmembers claim, we cannot risk such profiteering. The answer: a ban on individual stock holding by Congressmembers. S-HP

You could urge immediate action by the House and Senate that bars Congressmembers from owning individual stocks while in office.

11. Mail ballots essential in 2020

In case we need further proof of the need for mail-in ballots during a pandemic (or at any time), consider last Tuesday’s primary election in Wisconsin. Republican lawmakers blocked a request by governor Tony Edwards to either move back the date of the election or to provide absentee ballots to all voters, due to the coronavirus pandemic. With no action on the state level, requests for absentee ballots subsequently went up. Concerned about inefficient mail service hindering the distribution and return of absentee ballots, the danger of coronavirus transmission, and the substantial drop in the number of available poll workers Wisconsin, Governor Tony Edwards next attempted to expand the period over which absentee ballots would be accepted. Republicans, who have adopted a strategy of winning elections by disenfranchising voters, filed suit over this move, as the Washington Post describes the situation. The Governor’s move was upheld in a lower court, but the case ultimately reached the Supreme Court of the U.S., which in a narrow, 5-4, technical ruling squashed the extension on the grounds that federal judges are not entitled to change a state’s absentee-voting procedures shortly before an election. In a dissent Ruth Bader Ginsburg excoriated the majority for forcing voters to choose between risking their own lives and the lives of others to vote in person or to forgo their right to vote.

Elections proceded—but not smoothly—in Wisconsin on Tuesday. Seven thousand individuals who usually serve as poll workers were unavailable on election day, causing the closure of many polling places. The city of Milwaukee, population 600,000, which has the state’s largest minority population, normally has 180 polling stations. On Tuesday a total of 5 polling stations were open across the city—97% fewer than usual. Three bins of absentee ballots that had never been distributed were found in one Milwaukee post office, according to the New York Times. Panicked voters who had not received absentee ballots that they requested two weeks or more before the election as required in the state tied up phone lines trying to talk to state and county officials. Many ballots dropped at post offices on election day didn’t get postmarked until the next day, invalidating those votes. One city clerk reported that almost half the ballots she received from the post office were not postmarked at all, invalidating those votes as well. A reminder that Trump won Wisconsin in 2016 by 23,000 votes. In November, the U.S. will almost certainly be experiencing the continued effects of the coronavirus pandemic but a nation-wide system of mail-in ballots is not in place–Politico describes how chaos could overtake the 2020 election. According to NPR, Elizabeth Warren has a plan. S-HP.

Do you think that all voters be able to exercise their franchise using a mail-in ballot in the 2020 election? If so, you can speak up here.

12. Corruption watch: For-profit colleges

Many businesses are apt to benefit from coronavirus stimulus funding—including for-profit colleges that have been accused of fraud and misuse of federal student funding, according to an exclusive report from MarketWatch. A small group of senators has raised concerns about the distribution of coronavirus stimulus monies to for-profit colleges. The coronavirus stimulus for educational institutions is based on the number of enrolled students at that institution receiving Pell Grants, a federal needs-based scholarship. Ben Miller, of the Center for American Progress, has estimated that for-profit colleges will be receiving approximately $1 billion in stimulus money.

A MarketWatch analysis headed by U.C. Merced sociologist Charlie Eaton looked at the top 100 for-profit colleges eligible for stimulus monies. Seventy-nine of these schools have had fraud complaints filed against them by former students—a total of 12,000 complaints among the schools. Twenty-three of these schools have be characterized as “failed” by federal regulators because students graduating from them are unable to find employment sufficient to make student loan payments. In the past, such schools were not eligible for stimulus payments, but Education Secretary Betsy DeVos rescinded that rule in 2019. S-HP

If you wish to urge that DeVos stop supporting predatory, for-profit schools and encourage your Congressmembers to investigate the amount of stimulus money going to for-profit schools engaging in malfeasance, the pertinent addresses are here.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & THE ENVIRONMENT

13. Climate change denial predicted coronavirus denial.

Decades of climate crisis denial set up patterns of speech and thought that anticipated the way the coronavirus was dismissed in the crucial early weeks, Inside Climate News points out. Trump’s strategy of blaming China and ignoring scientists set into motion right-wing propaganda insisting that the virus was no worse than the flu, threatening scientists and claiming the virus was a hoax.

The connection among pandemics, climate and habitat is well beyond patterns of rhetoric, however. As humans encroach on animal habitats–through deforestation, invasive agriculture, and global trade in wild animals–pandemics that originate in animals will become much more frequent, as the Washington Post points out. Some 70 per cent of diseases come from animals, and there could be 1.67 million as-yet-undiscovered viruses, to which LiveScience alerted us in 2018, of which as many as half could infect humans. As the Guardian points out, the same processes that lead to pandemic are those that lead to climate change, and diseases–including those carried by insects–can be more widespread as the world warms, according to New York Magazine. RLS

14. Food waste and hunger in the pandemic

Tens of millions of ripe vegetables, millions of gallons of milk, tens of thousands of eggs are being dumped by farmers in the U.S. who have no ways to sell their products now that restaurants and institutional buyers are closed. Dairy farmers in Canada are doing the same.At the same time, cars have been lined up for miles outside food banks in San Antonio, Pittsburgh and other cities, as food banks in the U.S. face acute shortfalls, Common Dreams reports. In Canada, too, food programs report skyrocketing demand, according to the Globe and Mail. Farmers told the New York Times that they have donated to food banks and charities, but that these organizations have limited ability to absorb perishable food. The same crops will be replanted, in the hope that distribution will possible again after the next harvest.

In Ontario, FoodShare and other groups have invented programs to bring food from local farmers to consumers, and accept donations for food boxes for those who are coping with food insecurity.  Mother Jones points out that the U.S.government could ramp up the Commodity Credit Corporation, the depression-era agency that provides for the redistribution of food from farmers who cannot get it picked and to market to food assistance programs. The Trump administration did so in 2019 for farmers affected by the trade wars with China. It has not done so now. RLS

15. Mountain lions extinct?

Mountain lion populations across California, but particularly on the California Central Coast and in Southern California, are at risk of extinction due to loss of habitat and fragmentation of the habitat remaining, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. Environmental groups have been fighting to have the mountain lions covered by California’s Endangered Species Act, which is a two-step process. First, the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife must determine that such protection may be warranted. After that, the state’s Fish and Game Commission decides whether to give mountain lions the “endangered” status and the protections that come with it. Step one has been accomplished. Now the Fish and Game Commission is making the final call. S-HP

You could ask the Fish and Game Commission to protect California’s mountain lions, particularly on the Central Coast and in Southern California, by giving the species endangered status. The Center for Biological Diversity is suggesting that you sign their petition and write a letter.

RESOURCES

• The Americas of Conscience Checklist is posting every other week. See the site for easy actions you can take.
• Sarah-Hope’s action items for postcarding are in her full list.
• Rogan’s list has opportunities to advocate for front-line workers, address the disparities in diagnosis and treatment of communities of color, support the needs of people with disabilities in the pandemic, and much more.
• Martha’s list this week tries to keep track of the moving target of regulations, some suspended or rolled back. HUD-faith-based initiatives, EPA rollbacks, the EPA’s so-called “strengthening transparency in regulatory science” (which would in fact block some scientific data from being used ) are closing to comments soon.

As Heather Cox Richardson puts it in her quiet way, “While we are all focused on the pandemic, there is a lot going on.” Her recent posts describe various voter suppression activities, starting with the Reagan era, and explains why it matters that Trump fired Intelligence Inspector General Michael Atkinson. Her April 5 column reminds us that “We are surrounded by ordinary people who are giving themselves to serve others.”

This week’s issue of News You May Have Missed continues to track the impact of the coronavirus and policies surrounding it on many of those others–while still noting what else is going on. 

DOMESTIC NEWS

1. Farmworkers struggle because of COVID-19, left out of relief

U.S. farmworkers are in grave difficulty as a result of the coronavirus and policies surrounding it. They are considered “essential” workers, according to the New York Times, but have few protections and are at high risk of contracting COVID-19. The United Farm Workers union describes their situation vividly. In an op-ed piece for the New York Times, Greg Asbed, a founder of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and a McArthur fellow, points out the risks that farmworkers face:

• in general, they live in crowded condition where social distancing and isolation of the sick are impossibilities;
• they often travel to work in crowded buses provided by growers;
• they have been suffering from the effects of inadequate healthcare for years;
• many are undocumented and at risk of deportation, so they fear attempting to access social services that are helping others during the pandemic;
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement has continued to raid immigrant communities during the pandemic.
• Farmworkers have been left out of coronavirus pandemic relief legislation thus far, and their vulnerability makes our entire food system vulnerable. S-HP

You can insist on coronavirus legislation that includes farmworkers and on an end to immigration raids. Addresses are here.

2. Farmworker children at risk

Agricultural workers are excluded from basic protections provided under federal employment law, and this lack of protection extends to child workers, who may legally begin agricultural work as young as age 12.  Farmworkers under the age of 18 are killed in workplace accidents at four times the rate of other underage workers. Women—and this includes girls—doing agricultural work are particularly vulnerable to sexual assault. In addition, according to EarthJustice, children are highly vulnerable to the pesticides used in agriculture, which have been documented to cause lowered IQs, developmental delays, and a higher risk of both ADHD and cancer. H.R.3394, the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety Act, would address these issues by doing the following:

• raising the minimum age for farm work to 14
• limiting hazardous tasks to farm workers age 18 and older
• prohibiting farm work by children before 7a.m. and after 7p.m.

This legislation has been with the House Education and labor Committee since June of 2019. S-HP

You can urge swift, positive action on H.R.3394 by the House Education and Labor Committee and encourage your Congressmembers to stand up for children working in agriculture by supporting H.R.3394 or similar legislation. Addresses here.

3. Trump resists oversight of coronavirus relief funds. Pelosi persists.

Trump had wanted the recent $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill, included $500 billion dollars for “corporate relief,” under the sole control of Treasure Secretary Steven Mnuchin. To ensure that this money was allocated appropriately and not used as a slush fund to benefit Trump and his cronies, the House insisted that the distribution of these monies be under the supervision of an oversight committee and an inspector general. However, Politico reports that, when signing the legislation, Trump added a signing statement, “‘I do not understand, and my Administration will not treat, this provision as permitting the [inspector general] to issue reports to the Congress without the presidential supervision required’ by Article II of the Constitution…. Trump also indicated he would treat as optional a requirement in the bill that key congressional committees be consulted before Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of State or U.S. Agency for International Development spends or reallocates certain funds.” Days later, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced the formation of a select committee with subpoena powers to oversee the handling of relief funds. According to the Washington Post, the committee is specifically charged with “rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.” S-HP

If you are so inclined, you can insist to Trump and Mnuchin that they honor the legislated oversight for these funds and thank Pelosi for acting to ensure these monies will be used appropriately. Addresses are here.

4. Immigrants pepper-sprayed in pandemic briefing, denied safe conditions

The struggle against inhumane immigration policies and the use of immigration detention has intensified during the coronavirus pandemic. A number of human rights and medical organizations have called for immediate action to prevent the spread of coronavirus in both U.S. detention campus and in the informal, and chaotic, camps where those subjected to the “Remain in Mexico” policy are forced to stay. These groups include Amnesty International, Doctors without Borders USA, Human Rights First, Physicians for Human Rights, Refugees International, the Women’s Refugee Commission, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Their specific requests include:

• that the U.S. stop violating its own refugee laws and treaty obligations;
• that the “Remain in Mexico” policy be abandoned as it presents a greater public health threat than releasing asylum applicants in the U.S.;
• that the poor health conditions in U.S. refugee detention centers be addressed, rather than used as a reason for continuing “Remain in Mexico”;
• that proper legal processes be followed for asylum requests;
• that asylum and immigrant applicants not be allowed to fall out of status (the legal timelines for processing applications) during the coronavirus pandemic.

         The Southern Poverty Law Center is citing multiple examples of individuals in immigration detention being denied adequate access to soap and water and hand sanitizer, not being provided information on avoiding coronavirus transmission, and kept in facilities within which the recommended social distancing guidelines are an impossibility. To this situation, add the fact that as, Mother Jones reports, in at least three instances, detainees have been pepper-sprayed in privately run GEO Group facilities. These are facilities with lack of adequate access to soap and water. Anyone hit with pepper spray is immediately going to start producing tears and mucous—and this is happening in overcrowded facilities during a viral pandemic. (If you need yet another reason to be appalled, see GEO Group’s self-promotion claiming respect for human and civil rights and corporate social responsibility. If you click on “locations,” you’ll see aerial shorts of all 129 GEO Group facilities, which contain a combined total of 95,000 beds.)        

There are currently some 6,600 children being held in immigration detention—3,600 in facilities for unaccompanied minors, and other 3,000 in family detention. As of March 30, at least four unaccompanied children in immigration detention had tested positive for coronavirus. After appeals on behalf of children in immigration detention, U.S. District Court Judge Dolly M. Gee has ordered swift—but not immediate—release of children in immigration detention, according to the New York Times. She has ordered that the Office of Refugee Resettlement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement provide an accounting by April 6 of all efforts they have taken to release detained children. S-HP

You can write to the GEO Group and demand investigations by Congress and the Homeland Security Inspector General regarding GEO Group’s use of pepper spray in immigration detention centers during the coronavirus pandemic. You can also join the groups calling for release of those in immigration detention, particularly children, and for immediate provision of appropriate care, supplies, and space for those in detention. Addresses are here.

5. ICE harassing immigrants during pandemic

While California continues to live under “shelter-in-place” rules, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has continued to raid immigrant communities. California has ordered all “non-essential” businesses and services closed, a policy which raises the question of why harassing these communities and worsening a climate of fear is essential. In addition, in doing this work, ICE is making use of N95 medical masks, which are under high demand and which the Surgeon General has said should be reserved for frontline medical workers, according to the LA Times. In fact, on March 25, ICE put in a request for 45,000 N95 masks, the SF Chronicle reported.

The Chronicle quotes Brian Grady, a physician and president of the San Francisco-Marin Medical Society, as saying the request “flies in the face of all the public health measures to combat and minimize the spread of COVID-19…. We are currently experiencing a severe shortage of PPE [Personal Protective Equipment], particularly N95 masks, for health care workers. Requisitioning a large number of these to further the effort to arrest and detain people sends exactly the wrong message at this time.” S-HP

You can write to your elected representatives asking for an end to immigration raids during the coronavirus pandemic and insisting that N95 masks and other PPE be reserved for medical use.

6. State Dept. to require DNA tests of immigration applicants

A proposed Federal Rules Change from the Department of State, “Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Affidavit of Relationship,” would require DNA testing for all “anchor” immigration applications: “Anchor” immigration being immigration allowing a parent or child to join other family members already living legally in the U.S. The cost of this testing would be borne by the “anchor” (U.S. resident) or other family members. In the case of successful applications, individuals may be eligible for reimbursement. As of April 4, no comments had been submitted regarding this proposed rule change. Official comments are due by April 20. S-HP

You can comment on the burden DNA testing would place on immigrants applying to reunite with family members. Be sure to refer to the docket number.

7. Black people dying at higher rates from COVID-19

Chicago’s public radio station, WBEZ, reports that “while black residents make up only 23% of the population in the county, they account for 58% of the COVID-19 deaths.” These kinds of statistics are echoed around the country, according to Axios, which says that poor communities and communities of color are experiencing a disproportionate impact. Poverty and environmental conditions in those communities lead to higher rates of high blood pressure, respiratory problems and diabetes, all risk factors for more severe cases of COVID-19. Lack of access to health care, crowded living situations, and the inability to work from home all compound the risks. RLS

You can demand immediate coronavirus relief targeted at communities of color and insist that accessible healthcare and expanded preventative medicine for these communities must be national goals, regardless of any other challenges we face. You could also write any of the caucus co-chairs on Black and community health and thank them for their continued work on this issue. Addresses are here.

8. Racial Disparities in COVID-19 testing

According to reporting by Nashville Public Radio, concerns have been raised about racial disparities in testing for those with coronavirus symptoms. In Nashville, three drive-through testing centers were set up in primarily minority communities, but their opening was delayed due to a lack of test kits and personal protective equipment. In other parts of the city, testing has predominantly been offered by Vanderbilt University Medical Center at its walk-in clinics, which serve more-affluent, predominantly white areas of the metropolitan area. One of these testing centers is being staffed by Meharry Medical College, the historically Black medical college located in north Nashville, the heart of the city’s historically Black community. Dr. James Hildreth, president of Meharry, has said that he has seen no overt bias, but instead views the delay in getting the testing centers up and running as part of ongoing disparities in healthcare services. Similar testing disparities have been noticed in Shelby County, TN, where Memphis is located, where screening is happening in the predominantly white suburbs, rather than the predominantly Black urban neighborhoods. Community activists have raised concerns about modes of testing (drive-thru testing requires a car) and of using social media to publicize the testing locations (which requires technical savvy and internet connection at home, with libraries and schools closed). JM-L

9. Concerns about bias in NYC Field Hospitals

New York mayor, Bill De Blasio has said that officials from the mayor’s office will monitor the field hospitals built in Central Park by the evangelical Christian charity, Samaritan’s Purse. Samaritan’s Purse is run by Franklin Graham, who is known for his anti-LGBTQ and anti-Islam views. De Blasio expressed concerns that the organization requires employees to sign statements of faith denouncing both same-sex marriage and abortion and declaring that people who do not follow Christian faith are condemned to hell, according to the Gothamist. The organization has affirmed that they will provide equal treatment to all New Yorkers, but given Graham’s statements and accusations that the group has used previous deployments as “covert conversion schemes,” De Blasio and speaker of the New York City Council, Corey Johnson, have expressed concern that LGBTQ people would not receive equal treatment at the facility. These concerns have drawn backlash from conservative media, which has accused De Blasio of being anti-Christian. The Samaritan’s Purse field hospitals have already accepted more than 30 patients. JM-L

10. Postal service, vote-by-mail in jeopardy

Democrats in the House have launched a new stimulus to keep the Post Office running past June. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Rep. Gerry Connolly, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations issued a statement that urgent action is needed to stave off bankruptcy. In remote areas, the Postal Service is essential for drug deliveries; it is also crucial for bill payment for those without reliable internet, the upcoming relief checks, and for integrated world-wide mail service. In addition, a shut down would leave hundreds of thousands of people without jobs at a vulnerable time in the economy, MSN reports. Especially urgent is that it would undercut the vote-by-mail system, which will be increasingly essential to cope with COVID-19 risks in the fall. The Brennan Center, a non-partisan non-profit, has mapped out what would be necessary in terms of logistics and funding, to expand vote-by-mail. Trump is, of course, opposed to expanding voting access, claiming that it would ensure that Republicans would never again be elected.

The stresses on the Post Office increased when Congress required it to pre-fund benefits for all current and future employees, as CNBC explained in 2011; the Post Office is required to be entirely self-sustaining and does not receive taxpayer funds. The most recent stimulus bill permitted the Post Office to borrow up to $10 billion, it does not include any debt or emergency support, according to Business Insider. RLS

If you want to ask your members of Congress to keep the U.S. Postal System running both during this pandemic and after, their addresses are here.

11. Navy captain relieved of duty tests positive for COVID-19

Navy Captain Brett Crozier, who brought attention to the coronavirus crisis on the ship he commanded, has been relieved of duty. Simply put, Crozier sacrificed his career to get his sailors off USS Theodore Roosevelt and save as many as possible from the virus. On top of that, he has now tested positve for the coronavirus, according to the New York Times.

The sailors who has been under his command loudly cheered Crozier as he disembarked from the USS Theodore Roosevelt, NBC News reports. In contrast, the ACLU notes, Trump’s pardons of war criminals are undermining the entire military justice system. S-HP

If you want to ask your congressmembers to call for the reinstatement of Captain Crozier, their addresses are here.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

12. Trump neglects to order equipment, seizes it from other countries

Trump has forbidden 3M, which produces desperately needed n95 masks for medical use, to export them to Canada and Latin America, according to the CBC. The move could cause retaliatory trade responses and overlooks many reciprocal agreements. As Canadian prime minister Trudeau pointed out, thousands of nurses cross into Detroit from Canada daily to work. German and French officials also accused the Trump administration of diverting medical supplies headed for their countries, NPR reports. Even within the US, states with governors who are allies of the president are more able to get medical supplies from the federal stockpile, the Washington Post notes. Vox points out that the U.S. did not even begin ordering masks and ventilators until mid-March, though Trump received a briefing on the coronavirus on January 3. RLS

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & THE ENVIRONMENT

13. Pregnant women, new mothers of color, impacted by coronavirus

A piece in We•news highlights the negative impact the coronavirus pandemic is having for U.S. women, particularly women of color, who are pregnant, giving birth, and breastfeeding. Social distancing and hospital restrictions on “visitors” mean more women are giving birth without doulas (medically qualified birthing assistants) or without partners who have prepared to be with them as they give birth. Depending on the situations at birthing centers and hospitals, some women are making plans for c-sections, rather than vaginal births, in hopes of having improved chances of receiving appropriate levels of care; some are trying to arrange last-minute home births; others, who can afford to, are travelling hundreds or thousands of miles in hope of giving birth at a facility that is not already stretched to its limits by coronavirus.

The complications continue after birth. Breastfeeding is the most reliable way of feeding infants in an emergency and the World Health Organization recommends that women continue to breastfeed with protections. However, the lack of access to lactation consultants and per-based breastfeeding support programs mean women are choosing not to breastfeed—and this at a time when infant formula is already scarce, due to panic buying. The anxieties surrounding the coronavirus pandemic are also likely to trigger increased premature births and rising rates of post-partem depression. These problems aren’t just unavoidable byproducts of the pandemic; they are the direct results of the failed federal coronavirus response. Kimberly Seals Allers, the author of the We•news piece calls for:

• providing immediate access to video conferencing with doulas and lactation consultants;
• decriminalizing home-birth midwives in states that have not yet done this;
• establishing birthing centers in appropriate alternate facilities;
• requiring that emergency planning include those who are pregnant or birthing.

Seals Allers also recommends donating to several organizations that support birthing women of color:the Black Mammas Matter Alliance, the National Association of Peer Lactation Supporters of Color, and the National Association to Advance Black Birth.

In addition, the California Association of Licensed Midwives–CALM–is calling on Governor Newsom to provide greater access to midwives and require that insurance companies cover the cost of their services in order to permit birthing women with low-risk pregnancies to stay out of hospitals during the pandemic. You can email the Governor here. S-HP

You may want to ask that the federal coronavirus response include planning for individuals who are pregnant, giving birth, and breastfeeding. Key addresses are here.

14. US testing rate has stalled

It’s not news that the US has lagged behind other countries in testing for COVID-19 and because widespread testing is increasingly looking like an important facet to keeping fatalities low, this failure is going to cost lives. Throughout March, the number of tests done by US labs rose steadily from a few hundred to 100,000 a day;  unfortunately, the number of tests has stalled at that rate for the past week. In comparison, while Germany tests 50,000 a day, that is about twice the U.S. per capita testing rate, and their case fatality rate is also much lower, according to Ars Technica. The tests that are being performed are increasing in one key, if troubling, metric: The percentage of positive results. The week of March 15, 13% of tests returned positive results, while last week it was 17% and this week was 22%. It’s not necessarily the case that the actual rate of positive numbers are increasing accordingly; it could be that medical professionals are getting better at screening candidates for testing. JC

15. Economic effects of COVID-19 may last decades

Economists at the University of California, Davis have written a paper published by the Federal Reserve bank of San Francisco, drawing on historical data from previous pandemics that claimed at least 100,000 lives. They found the economic aftershocks can last for decades. From the Black Death of the 14th century to the Hong Kong flu epidemic of the 1950’s, researchers found that real interest returns decreased after the diseases had passed. This pattern suggests that investments will earn less as people shy away from risk and attempt to rebuild wealth and save, a phenomenon actually opposite of the after-effects of war. Wage growth, however, stands to grow modestly as labor asserts itself in the wake of these events. According to Phys.org, the researchers caution that this pandemic may depart from previous ones because of the disproportionate death rate among elderly populations that were a far less numerous demographic historically than is the case today. JC

RESOURCES

• The Americas of Conscience Checklist has ways to advocate for people coping with gun violence at home during shelter-in-place orders, speak up for Indigenous communities, urge protection for immigrant healthcare workers–and more.
• If you postcard, you can work through Sarah-Hope’s list. Most of the items are with the pertinent news summaries above.
• Martha has identified various important items on which to register a public comment. If you can comment on April 6, there is a proposal to dredge San Francisco Bay. In addition, there is a chance to comment on the Trump administration’s proposal to grow GMO crops in wildlife refugees. Also take a look at the Community Reinvestment Act.
• Rogan’s list has ways to object to the rollback of environmental protections, donate for food relief, find solutions to Zoom attacks, along with many good news links.