Action Alert Digest - November 10, 2021

November 10, 2021

Action Alert Digest

Why Is Military Spending Increasing When We Can't Afford Anything Else?

While critics of the Biden administration’s Build Back Better plan to increase funding for U.S. education, healthcare, and action against climate catastrophe say the United States can’t afford it, there are no such qualms about ramping up funding for the U.S. military. MORE

Biden Administration Notifies Congress of $650 Million Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia

The State Department notified Congress of a proposed arms sale to Saudi Arabia, which would be the second to the country under the Joe Biden administration. It would include 280 missiles that the State Department said are for air defense and cannot be used to attack ground targets. MORE

TAKE ACTION: Tell President Biden to Use the Nuclear Posture Review to Move Toward a World Free from Nuclear Weapons

The Biden administration is currently assembling its Nuclear Posture Review, to be released early next year. This document sets how the U.S. decides what kinds of nuclear weapons it will have, how it will use them, and how they fit in with the rest of its military and foreign policy plans. Peace Action invites us to tell our elected officials to work for a Nuclear Posture Review that moves us toward a world free from the threat of nuclear weapons. TAKE ACTION

What's Known—And Not—About India's Nuclear Weapons Budget

In India, acute poverty persists against a backdrop of urgent development priorities that jostle for financial resources. Meanwhile, India’s lack of transparency around nuclear weapon expenditures carries on. Indian taxpayers deserve to know how much their government spends on nuclear weapons, particularly compared to spending on education and health. MORE

U.S. Discloses Nuclear Stockpile Numbers

The Biden administration has publicly released the total number of nuclear weapons in the U.S. stockpile, a sharp reversal of the previous administration’s refusal to do so for the past three years. The U.S. stockpile of nuclear warheads was at 3,750 as of September 2020. The report indicates an approximate 88 percent reduction in the stockpile from its maximum (31,255) at the end of fiscal year 1967. MORE

U.S. Rescinds Trump-Era Rules That Limited Processing of Asylum-Seekers at Border Crossings

The Biden administration revoked rules that allowed U.S. immigration authorities to limit the number of asylum seekers processed at official border crossings, known as metering. The administration said this is part of a strategy to provide humane pathways to migrants seeking access to protection in the United States. MORE

GEO Ordered to Pay $23.2M In Detainee Minimum Wage Cases

Private prison company GEO must pay $23.2 million after being accused in two lawsuits of not paying immigrant detainees the minimum wage in its Washington state facility. The judge said that’s how much the company unjustly enriched itself since 2005 by paying detainees just $1 a day, instead of the state minimum wage. MORE

U.S. To Send Deportation Case Notices To 78,000 Migrants Who Were Not Fully Processed

The U.S. government is set to launch an operation this week to send court documents to 78,000 migrants who were not processed for deportation after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization this year. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plan, dubbed "Operation Horizon," is designed to place tens of thousands of migrants who received ad hoc processing near the southern border into deportation proceedings. MORE

TAKE ACTION: Demand a National Biodiversity Strategy

Recently, the U.S. government declared 23 more species extinct, and thousands more species could disappear due to climate change and habitat loss. This extinction crisis means fewer pollinators for agriculture and disappearing old-growth forests, which provide a long-term, low-cost source of clean air and water. EarthJustice invites us to urge the Biden administration to establish a National Biodiversity Strategy to comprehensively address this crisis. TAKE ACTION

More Than 20 Countries at COP26 Promise to End Financing for International Fossil Fuel Projects

The United States and 20 other countries announced that they would stop spending tax dollars to support international fossil fuel projects, a move that could divert $18 billion a year toward clean energy. The decision to curb public spending on fossil fuels — announced at the major U.N. climate conference in Glasgow — will further restrict investments in drilling, power plants, and other projects by international publicly funded institutions. MORE

Trafficking of Plastic Waste Is on the Rise and Criminal Groups Are Profiting

Americans like to think their plastic waste is being recycled, but too often, that waste is shipped overseas, sometimes with the help of organized crime groups, where it litters cities, clogs waterways or is burned, filling the air with toxic chemicals. Tons of low-quality, difficult-to-recycle plastic scrap is still finding its way to developing countries, in part, because waste exporters are circumventing the regulations. MORE

Mother, Biracial Child Stopped by Police After Southwest Employee Accused Them of Human Trafficking

A mother and her 10-year-old daughter were stopped by officials at a Denver airport in October after an airline attendant reported what they thought was a human-trafficking incident. Mary MacCarthy, who is white, boarded a Southwest Airlines flight from San Jose, California, to Denver, Colorado, with her daughter, Moira, who is biracial. They were on their way to Denver to attend the funeral of MacCarthy's brother, who had died suddenly the day before. MORE

Nestle, Mars and Hersey Accused Of ‘Using Child Labor to Get Cheap Cocoa’ In New Court Papers

A new lawsuit has been filed against chocolate companies Nestle, Cargill, Hershey, Olam, Mars, Mondelez, and Barry Callebaut over allegations that they benefitted from cheap cocoa harvested by forced child labor. The suit was brought by eight Malian citizens who say they were trafficked as children to work on cocoa plantations in Cote D’Ivoire. A recent study found that 1.56 million children are harvesting cocoa, primarily in Cote D’Ivoire and Ghana. MORE

TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress Members to Co-Sponsor the Child RESCUE Act

The documentation and distribution of child sexual abuse material online is a global crisis, with more than 65 million images and videos reported in 2020. The National Response to Exploitation and Sexual Abuse of Children in Unaddressed Emergencies Act (Child RESCUE Act) is the critical first step toward saving these children. The RAIIN Network urges us to ask our congressional representative to co-sponsor the Child RESCUE Act. TAKE ACTION

Teen Rescued After Showing Domestic Violence Hand Signal Known on TikTok

A missing teenage girl was rescued in Kentucky after using a hand gesture that signals distress or domestic violence to capture the attention of a passing driver. The 16-year-old was spotted traveling inside a car about 150 miles southeast of Louisville. A driver called police after noticing the girl in the vehicle making hand gestures that are known on the social media platform TikTok to represent violence at home – I need help – domestic violence.” MORE

Big Pharma Spending $263M To Keep Drug Prices High

The pharmaceutical industry has spent nearly $263 million on lobbying so far this year, employing three lobbyists for every member of Congress, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks money in politics. Millions of those dollars are in the form of campaign donations. "They have really endless resources to throw at shaping the outcomes of legislation," said Sheila Krumholz, the executive director of OpenSecrets. MORE

What's In the $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill?

The House passed the long-awaited infrastructure bill last week, with a goal of restoring American transportation systems, fighting climate change, and increasing access to high-speed internet service. Among other projects, funding will support a network of electric vehicle chargers, clean drinking water, grid modernization, and "environmental remediation," which will address idle energy sites that are disproportionately closer to Americans of color. MORE

David Cox is scheduled to be executed on November 17 by the state of Mississippi for the murder of Kim Cox. Please hold David, Kim, their families, and the people of Mississippi in prayer. TAKE ACTION

Julius Jones is scheduled to be executed on November 18 by the state of Oklahoma for the murder of Paul Howell. Please hold Julius, Paul, their families, and the people of Oklahoma in prayer. TAKE ACTION