Action Alert Digest - July 28, 2021

July 28, 2021

Action Alert Digest

Biden Says US Combat Mission in Iraq to Conclude by Year-End

President Joe Biden said this week that the U.S. combat mission in Iraq will conclude by the end of the year. The announcement comes on the heels of Biden’s decision to withdraw fully from Afghanistan nearly 20 years after the U.S. launched that war in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Together, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have heavily taxed the U.S. military. MORE

Utah Company Halts Sales of Lego Handgun Case Kits After Cease and Desist

A Utah company has stopped selling a kit that encases Glock handguns in Lego blocks, amid uproar and after the Danish toymaker demanded it cease and desist. The handgun company made the Lego Block “coverings” kits for guns in a twisted push to promote gun rights. Fortunately, Lego didn’t like that one bit. MORE

Is a War with China Inevitable?

The statements coming out of the Department of Defense and the upper ranks of Congress these days make it seem that way. “China poses the greatest long-term challenge to the United States,” the Pentagon’s 2022 Defense Budget Overview asserts. On this basis, the Pentagon requested $715 billion in military expenditures for 2022, with a significant chunk of those funds intended for a potential all-out, “high-intensity” war with China. MORE

TAKE ACTION: Urge Your State Representatives to Speak Out Against Nuclear Weapons

The Back from the Brink campaign has initiated a sign-on letter for local elected officials to express their support for bold action on U.S. nuclear weapons policy. Over 100 elected officials have signed the letter so far. Physicians for Social Responsibility share their online opportunity to tell our state elected officials to speak out on nuclear weapons. TAKE ACTION

Dems Urge Biden to Seize 'Watershed Moment' and Cut Nuclear Stockpile

A group of 21 Democratic lawmakers has urged President Biden to "reject a 21st-century arms race" with key actions including making reductions in the nation's nuclear arsenal and confirming a no-first-use policy. The letter came as the Biden administration drafts its nuclear weapons doctrine, or Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), which is expected to take several months. MORE

TAKE ACTION: Act to Evacuate and Protect our Afghan Allies

The State Department confirmed that approximately 2,500 Afghans — 700 nationals who aided the U.S. war effort and their families — will be temporarily housed at a U.S. army base in Fort Lee, Virginia. This is a welcome step, however, it is vital that all of our Afghan allies (18,000 plus about 53,000 family members) be flown to U.S. territory as well. Church World Service asks us to tell Congress to protect these Afghans who saved so many American lives. TAKE ACTION

The Origins of American Immigrant Detention

The U.S. incarcerates more noncitizens than anywhere else in the world. On any given day in the U.S., thousands of people — adults and children — are in government custody, sometimes for indefinite periods of time. The evolution of America’s immigration system originates in a quest to sort desirables from undesirables. Bloomberg CityLab explores the roots of this system, laid a long time ago. MORE

TAKE ACTION: Stop the Line 3 Pipeline

The Anishinaabe people of northern Minnesota have waged a seven-year effort to stop the Line 3 pipeline from being built in the heart of territory where they retain the rights to hunt, fish, and harvest wild rice and other plants. The proposed pipeline would carry 760,000 barrels of tar sands of oil per day, destroying sacred places and locking in decades of rising climate pollution. EarthJustice urges us to tell the Biden administration to stop the Line 3 pipeline. TAKE ACTION

Maine Becomes First State to Pass Law That Charges Corporations That Do Not Use Sustainable Packaging Materials

Maine has become the first U.S. state to pass a law requiring manufacturers to pay the cost of recycling some types of consumer packaging, shifting the burden away from taxpayers. The law forces companies that use less-than-eco-friendly packaging materials, such as plastics, to pay for each ton of those materials that they send into the state. That money then gets passed along to cities and towns to pay to recycle those materials. MORE

Many Inner-City Neighborhoods Highly Vulnerable to Soaring Temperatures

Even well-prepared cities are struggling to mitigate the onslaught of record-breaking heatwaves this summer. In many American cities, the summer heat has highlighted how climate change, the urban heat island effect and a history of disinvestment in communities of color are playing out in deadly concert as officials scramble to keep their most vulnerable populations cool—and alive. MORE

Qatar's Hotel Accused of Hospitality Workers Abuse

With a staggering increase of hotel rooms by 26,000 just for the 2022 World Cup, there is a concurrent increase in hotel workers. Migrants make up over 90% of the workforce in Qatar but unfortunately have historically been unprotected against labor and other human rights abuses due to the kafala system which is customary in the Gulf Region, and elsewhere, and binds employees to their employers, leaving them vulnerable to exploitative situations. MORE

Human Trafficking During a Pandemic: What We Can Learn from a Snapshot in Time

It is hard to get more essential than food. So as businesses and borders began to close, the U.S. government quickly declared that the migrant agricultural workers who help feed our nation were themselves essential and therefore allowed into the country. But we did not at the same time protect them from significant trafficking and abuse. MORE

Florida Sting: 29 Victims Recovered, 363 Human Trafficking Arrests

The Florida Sheriffs Association (FSA) Task Force announced the results of Operation Breaking Chains, a strategic initiative in 16 Florida counties that focused on reducing human trafficking throughout the state and prosecuting those responsible for trafficking individuals. The FSA says during the month-long operation, 29 victims were recovered, 31 traffickers were identified, and a total of 363 arrests took place. MORE

Why Femicide is on the Rise in Mexico

Unique among countries in the world, Mexico considers Femicide as a crime distinct from homicide. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, the documented numbers of Femicide in parts of Mexico have skyrocketed. An audio story for UN Dispatch covers the increased frequency of Femicide and actions that local groups are taking to fight back against this trend. MORE

How Domestic Violence Became the No. 1 Cause of Homelessness for Women In LA

The majority of unhoused women across the nation — 57% according to recent data — say domestic violence is the direct cause of losing their permanent home. In L.A, almost 40% of women who are homeless say they’ve experienced abuse in the last 12 months. The choice they’ve been forced to make: Stay in danger with their abusers — or escape, with nowhere to go. MORE

Judge Blocks $4 Billion U.S. Debt Relief Program for Minority Farmers

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Biden administration from making loan forgiveness payments to minority farmers as part of a program intended to address a long history of racial injustice in American farming. The judge found that Scott Wynn, a white farmer in Jennings, Fla., who had challenged the program in a lawsuit in May, was likely to succeed on his claim that the program violates his right to equal protection under the law. MORE

Billionaire Pandemic Wealth Gain Could Pay for Biden’s American Families Plan

Over the last 16 months, since the beginning of the pandemic lockdown, the combined wealth of U.S. billionaires has surged by $1.8 trillion, a gain of almost 60 percent. Billionaire wealth gains during the pandemic alone could fund nearly the entire American Families Plan. By raising the corporate tax rate, curbing offshore tax dodging, and taxing wealth like work, experts say we can easily afford these important investments — and make our country more equal in the process. MORE

The Farmers’ Market on Wheels Tackling One of America’s Worst Food Deserts

In a 2012 study, researchers found 88% of food retailers in Washington DC are fringe or unhealthy “fringe” food retailers. Corner stores and liquor shops are able to self-code as groceries or supermarkets, and there is little oversight to ensure they are in compliance. Fresh food would be nowhere near some of these neighborhoods if it was not for the bright green truck that brings a mobile produce market every two weeks, organized by a local non-profit. MORE

John Ramirez is scheduled to be executed on September 8 by the state of Texas for the murder of Pablo Castro. Please hold John, Pablo, their families, and the people of Texas in prayer. TAKE ACTION

Rick Rhoades is scheduled to be executed on September 28 by the state of Texas for the murders of Charles Allen and Bradley Allen. Please hold Rick, Charles, Bradley, their families, and the people of Texas in prayer.