TAKE ACTION: Demand a Ban on Assault Weapons

Assault weapons are uniquely lethal. They are designed to be lightweight, maneuverable, and fire quickly — allowing for the most murders in the shortest amount of time. Their increased lethality is why they are the weapon of choice for America’s mass shooters. These weapons of war have no place in civilian hands. The Brady Campaign urges us to tell Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. TAKE ACTION

How the US Far Right and Progressives Ended Up Agreeing on Military Spending Cuts

Progressives have recently found themselves in an unfamiliar position: in agreement with members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus. Some of the latter caucus’s members have recently called for re-examining the amount of money spent by the US military, echoing demands that progressives have issued for years. Although progressives are clear-eyed about their ideological differences with “America first” Republicans on foreign policy, they encourage a renewed debate over the Pentagon’s budget. MORE

US Finalizing Plans to Send Approximately 30 Abrams Tanks to Ukraine, Two US Officials Say

The US is finalizing plans to send approximately 30 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, according to two US officials familiar with the deliberations. The Biden administration's announcement to send the US-made tanks could come as early as this week. The timing around the actual delivery of the tanks is still unclear and it normally takes several months to train troops to use the tanks effectively, officials said. MORE

Nuclear Weapons Disarmament Is a ‘Pro-Life Issue’

Nuclear weapons disarmament is, by definition, an existential pro-life issue. A 300-kiloton intercontinental ballistic missile warhead targeting New York City would kill more than 1 million people and injure twice as many in the first 24 hours. Archbishop John Wester of Sante Fe asserts, “We are the people who designed and built these weapons of mass destruction. We were the first to use them. We must be the people to dismantle them and make sure they are never used again.”  MORE

The Doomsday Clock Moves to 90 Seconds to Midnight, Signaling More Peril Than Ever

The world is closer to catastrophe than ever: the Doomsday Clock, the metaphorical measure of challenges to humanity, was reset to 90 seconds before midnight this week. The science and security board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said the move — the closest to widespread calamity humanity has ever been judged to be — was "largely, though not exclusively" due to the war in Ukraine. MORE

Major Victory for Immigrant Workers in the US

In a major victory for workers, the United States Department of Homeland Security announced new guidance last week that allows migrant and immigrant workers who experience or witness workplace labor or civil rights violations to receive temporary protection against deportation and access to work authorization. MORE

U.S. Proposes Hiking Fees for Work-Related Immigration Applications to Fund Asylum Program

Earlier this month, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services published a new proposed fee schedule including higher application fees for employment-based visas and other immigration programs. The adjustment is intended, in part, to fund the adjudication of soaring numbers of asylum claims along the U.S.-Mexico border. The proposed rule would keep application fees for humanitarian immigration benefits, such as asylum, close to or at current levels. MORE

Americans Can Sponsor Refugees Directly Under New Program

Groups of Americans will be able to directly sponsor refugees for resettlement in the United States under a new program announced this month, a major shift that could bolster admissions and reduce government costs. Under the U.S. State Department program, which will be called the Welcome Corps, groups of at least five people will be expected to raise a minimum of $2,275 per sponsored refugee to support them with housing and other basic needs for the first three months they are in the country. MORE

TAKE ACTION: No More Offshore Drilling

Right now, the Biden Administration is finalizing its five-year offshore drilling plan. This plan determines how often the government will sell new rights to drill in federal waters to oil and gas companies. The latest draft shows that the Administration is undecided. The plan could allow anywhere from zero to 11 lease sales. 350 .org invites us to sign a petition to President Biden to ban offshore drilling. TAKE ACTION

Iowa GOP Lawmaker Pitches Bills to Restrict CO2 Pipelines

A spate of bills introduced in the Iowa Senate could severely restrict ongoing plans by companies to build pipelines to transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants in the state. Five bills introduced by Sen. Jeff Taylor, a Sioux Center Republican, would curtail eminent domain opportunities for hazardous liquid pipeline companies, limit their ability to conduct land surveys and negotiate easements for that land and require them to identify their investors. MORE

‘Assassinated in Cold Blood’: Activist Killed Protesting Georgia’s ‘Cop City’

Protests broke out in Atlanta over the weekend after a 26-year-old environmental activist was shot and killed by law enforcement. The police found Manuel Terán in a tent in a forest near Atlanta, taking part in a protest now in its second year, against plans to build a $90m police and fire department training facility. The forest had been named in city plans four years earlier as a key part of efforts to maintain Atlanta’s renowned tree canopy as a buffer against global warming, and to create what would have been the metro area’s largest park. MORE

National Survivor Study Reveals Valuable Insights

Polaris has recently released a report titled, In Harm’s Way: How Systems Fail Human Trafficking Survivors which reveals that survivors of human trafficking are not thriving. The systems that were supposed to protect them before, during, and after their human trafficking situations failed and failed miserably. Systems such as child welfare, criminal justice, and legal systems — failed. And few survivors have access to services — notably mental health and employment supports — they need to heal and thrive. MORE

Racism and Human Trafficking: Why People of Color Continue to Be Vulnerable

In 2020, of all juvenile detention prostitution arrests, 57.5 percent were Black children, and 40 percent of sex trafficking victims were Black women. The disparity of race and human trafficking mirrors not only current racism overall but is a vestige of colonial exploitation and historical slavery. Anyone can become a victim of human trafficking and slavery but the truth is that people of color, especially women and children, continue to be the most vulnerable and endangered. MORE

‘We Are Not Afraid’: Indigenous Brazilian Women Stand Up to Gender Violence

In 2021, at least one person called the national police emergency number in Brazil every minute to report domestic violence. From 2016 to 2021, the rate of femicide – defined as the intentional killing of a woman, motivated at least in part by her gender – was reported to have increased by over 44 percent. In the state of Amazonas, of all women killed intentionally by another person, more than one in five were cases of femicide. Now UN-backed initiatives, and a change in the law, are encouraging them to seek protection. MORE

Kyrgyzstan's Miss Universe Contestant Pressured into Apology for Highlighting Gender-Based Violence

Kyrgyzstan’s entry to the Miss Universe beauty pageant contest has been compelled, amid a welter of public criticism, to issue an apology after using the event as an opportunity to highlight the problem of violence against women in her home country. The furor surrounds Botoyarova’s choice of the cape she wore during the swimsuit category of the pageant held on January 14. The cape carried the stylized image of a woman in traditional Kyrgyz dress being smothered by hands — an apparent allusion to the problem of gendered violence. MORE

TAKE ACTION: Tell Governors Abbott and DeSantis to Preserve and Expand Medicaid Coverage to Keep Their Residents Insured

Starting in April, as many as 15 million people are at risk of losing Medicaid benefits.  If states don’t step up to help, the most pain will be felt in places like Texas and Florida, which both have some of the highest uninsured rates in the country. The Coalition on Human Needs urges us to tell Governors Abbott and DeSantis to preserve and expand Medicaid coverage in their states. TAKE ACTION

Proposed HUD Rule Intends to Address Segregation

For 55 years, the Fair Housing Act, meant to address housing discrimination, has required communities to certify that they are working to reduce government-sponsored segregation. But for decades, there has been little accountability to ensure cities were following through.  Last week, the housing department proposed a new rule that would require communities to create plans to address local housing discrimination or face a penalty, including the potential loss of billions of dollars in federal funding. MORE

Iowa House Pushes 'Profoundly Cruel and Petty' Food Benefit Restrictions

New legislation has been introduced in the Iowa House this month that would impose a slew of restrictions on the kinds of food people can purchase using SNAP benefits, sparking outrage among local groups who say the measure would exacerbate hunger in the state. Anti-hunger advocates say that if the bill passes Iowans could no longer use their SNAP benefits to purchase meat, nuts, and seeds; flour, butter, cooking oil, soup, canned fruits, and vegetables; frozen prepared foods, snack foods, herbs, spices—not even salt or pepper. MORE

Wesley Ruiz is scheduled to be executed on February 1 by the state of Texas for the murder of Mark Nix. Please hold Wesley, Mark, their families, and the people of Texas in prayer. TAKE ACTION

Leonard Taylor is scheduled to be executed on February 7 by the state of Missouri for the murders of Angela Rowe, Alexus Conley, AcQreya Conley, and Tyrese Conley. Please hold Leonard, Angela, Alexus, AcQreya, Tyrese, their families, and the people of Missouri in prayer. TAKE ACTION

John Ballentine is scheduled to be executed on February 8 by the state of Texas for the murders of Edward Mark Caylor, Kai Brooke Geyer and Steven Brady Watson. Please hold John, Edward, Kai, Steven, their families, and the people of Texas in prayer. TAKE ACTION