Action Alert Digest - July 7, 2021

July 7, 2021

Action Alert Digest

TAKE ACTION: Ban Privately Funded Military Forces

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem will use a donation from a megadonor in Tennessee to fund a deployment of National Guard troops to the southern U.S. border in Texas. This action sets an incredibly dangerous precedent: anonymous millionaires calling on their — or any — governor to fund the deployment of the National Guard with little oversight or accountability. Win Without War urges us to tell Congress to ban private funding for any U.S. military force. TAKE ACTION

This Dad Tricked Ex-NRA Head Into “Graduation Speech” for Empty Chairs

The parents of a student killed in the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School duped a former president of the National Rifle Association into giving a high school graduation speech defending gun rights in front of 3,044 empty white chairs — one chair for each student who could not graduate this year because they were killed by gun violence. David Keene, who still serves on the NRA board, thought he was giving a rehearsal speech for graduating students at the James Madison Academy in Las Vegas, but no such school exists. MORE

The US Nuclear Weapons Program Left ‘a Horrible Legacy’ of Environmental Destruction and Death Across the Navajo Nation

Despite the stunning beauty of the 27,000 square-mile Navajo Nation, which encompasses parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, the land is marred by a toxic history: a “horrible legacy” of uranium mining and processing that began in 1944, with the U.S. nuclear weapons program and has slowly killed Navajo miners and their families, littered the land with 523 abandoned mines and tainted pristine aquifers with radioactive ore and the dry air with radioactive dust. MORE

NPT Review Delayed Again

The pivotal 10th review conference of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) has been postponed again, until sometime in 2022. The meeting, which typically occurs every five years and involves hundreds of representatives from most of the 191 states-parties to the treaty, was originally set to begin in April 2020 at UN headquarters in New York. But for a third time, the COVID pandemic has caused the gathering to be postponed yet again. MORE

Trump-Era Missile Defense Spending Continues

The Biden administration’s fiscal year 2022 budget request would continue the Trump administration’s plans for missile defense. The administration is asking for $8.9 billion for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). The MDA request would be a decrease of 18 percent from the fiscal year 2021 level of $10.5 billion appropriated by Congress but is similar to the roughly $9 billion the Trump administration was planning to request. MORE

Deported Veterans Initiative Could Fulfill Biden Promise to 'Bring Them Back'

Veteran and immigrant rights advocates this week applauded a Biden administration initiative acknowledging the injustice of deporting noncitizens who served in the U.S. military and seeking to return them and their relatives to the United States. The new initiative will identify deported veterans and ensure that military members are able to remain in or return to the United States and remove barriers to naturalization for those eligible. MORE

Biden Administration to Close Some Emergency Shelters for Unaccompanied Migrant Children

The federal government is preparing to close some emergency shelters for unaccompanied migrant youths after testimonials from minors complained of subpar conditions. The shelters were opened in the spring to accommodate the influx of minors crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. MORE

Virus Cases Are Surging at Crowded Immigration Detention Centers in the U.S.

Immigration detention centers are reporting a surge in COVID-19 infections among detainees. Public health officials note that few detainees are vaccinated and warn that increasingly overcrowded facilities can be fertile grounds for COVID-19 outbreaks. MORE

TAKE ACTION: Tell Iowa's Representatives to Support the Mississippi River Restoration and Resilience Act

The Mississippi River provides drinking water to 20 million people, habitat for 780+ species, $500 billion in annual revenue and employment of 1.5 million people, and recreation for all who live near and visit the river. The Iowa Environmental Council invites us to tell our Representatives to support the Mississippi River Restoration and Resilience Act (MRRRI) which would provide critical funds to increase climate resiliency, improve water quality, and more. TAKE ACTION

Burst Pipeline Causes Bubbling, Steaming "Eye Of Fire" To Emerge In the Gulf Of Mexico

A gas leak west of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula broke out of an underwater pipeline, causing bright flames to appear to boil up to the Gulf of Mexico's surface and create what many described as an "eye of fire." Gas started leaking from the pipeline in the Campeche Sound at roughly 5:15 a.m. on Friday, according to a statement from the company that owns the pipeline, Petróleos Mexicanos, otherwise known as Pemex. MORE

In Rare Bipartisan Move, Senate Approves Bill to Help Farmers Profit on Climate Action

The Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill to help shore up private agriculture and forestry carbon markets. The bill — a rare example of bipartisan action on climate — asks the Agriculture Department to create a program to help farmers, ranchers and foresters make money by selling carbon credits. Such landowners can generate the credits by changing their operations to cut emissions or pull more carbon dioxide from the air into soil or trees. MORE

TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to Abolish Slavery

The 13th Amendment of the US Constitution aimed to abolish slavery, but in reality, the amendment allowed slavery to remain legal. The “Exception Clause” made it possible for slavery to be used as a method of punishment, allowing the government to legally subject people incarcerated across the United States to forced labor. Freedom United invites us to tell Congress to outlaw slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. TAKE ACTION

Racism and the Anti-Trafficking Movement

The Human Trafficking Legal Center, based in Washington, DC, recently conducted a survey of trafficking survivors. The answers to the survey questions exposed deep concern about racism among trafficking survivors, especially among survivors who identified as People of Color. Of the people who answered yes to the question, “Did racism make you more vulnerable to trafficking?,” 93% identified as People of Color. MORE

Turkey's Istanbul Convention Exit Sparks More Protests

Thousands of people in Turkey took to the streets to protest the country's official withdrawal from a treaty designed to prevent violence against women. Some conservatives in Turkey deemed the accord a threat to family structures, saying it promoted homosexuality with its principle of non-discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. But critics of the move say it will leave women at greater risk, noting that violence against women is prevalent in Turkey. MORE

Beijing Subway Adopts Anti-Sexual Harassment Ads to Educate Public

Beijing’s state-run women’s rights organization has installed posters and videos at subway stations to educate and inform riders about sexual harassment. Incidents of sexual harassment have proven so rife on Beijing’s subway that the city’s police department deployed plainclothes officers to monitor misconduct during commutes. Between January to August last year, the police’s “pervert hunter” squad detained 285 people for crimes involving molestation. MORE

Women Protest ‘Rape Culture and Impunity’ In Senegal

Rape was criminalized in Senegal in January 2020. Previously, it was considered a ‘minor offense’ with a maximum prison sentence of ten years; the new law sets a minimum of ten years and a maximum of life. But the law is not being used, say activists. But now young people who have never been involved in feminist activism have been coming out to show their support at demonstrations. MORE

Secretive ‘Dark Money’ Network Launches Anti-Critical Race Theory Campaign

A deep-pocketed “dark money” group is spending “well over $1 million” on an ad campaign against the inclusion of racial justice topics in K-12 curricula. The Concord Fund is a conservative dark money group that registered Free to Learn Action as a “fictitious name”. Free to Learn’s website describes itself as a “nonpartisan” group dedicated to promoting education without “pressure to subscribe to…a political agenda.” MORE

The Struggles of Low-Wage Work

Millions of workers have jobs with low pay, few if any benefits and limited opportunities for advancement. Part-time workers are paid 29.3% less in wages per hour than full-time employees from similar backgrounds. In addition to low pay, part-time workers also have limited support such as health insurance, retirement, or paid leave. Unstable schedules make it difficult for workers to hold a second job, manage their budgets, and obtain quality childcare. MORE

Federal Execution Moratorium a “First Step” Toward Biden Administration’s Abolition Promise

Attorney General Merrick Garland ordered a moratorium on federal executions last week, marking the first death penalty-related action by the Biden administration, which had campaigned on a promise to “eliminate” capital punishment. The move from the Department of Justice comes after the Trump administration carried out an execution spree that lasted into the final days of his presidency. MORE