TAKE ACTION: Support the New Rule to Improve Federal Background Checks

Recently, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) proposed a new federal rule that would impact how firearms are sold. If the rule is finalized, more gun sales will be subject to a background check, closing some dangerous loopholes and increasing public safety by helping to prevent criminals from obtaining guns. Sandy Hook Promise invites us to tell the ATF to enact this lifesaving gun safety rule. TAKE ACTION

The Virtues of Restraint: Why the Use of Force Is Rarely a Sufficient Response to Terrorism

After Hamas’s horrific terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, it seemed inevitable that Israel would retaliate in a devastating fashion. The first, natural reaction to such an attack is revulsion, accompanied by a desire for revenge and exemplary punishment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acted on that desire, vowing to “destroy” Hamas, bombarding the Gaza Strip, and launching a ground invasion of the territory—even though it remains unclear how, if at all, Israel can eliminate Hamas militarily or ideologically. MORE

Invest in Communities, Not Violence

For far too long, the U.S. has clung to a budget that prioritizes war, deportations, detentions, and policing at the expense of human needs. It’s time to reinvest these taxpayer dollars into real human needs — healthcare, education, housing, and a just energy transition to name a few. The National Priorities Project details how legislators have splurged on militarism, and what could happen if those funds instead benefited people and communities. MORE

Why Is the U.S. Ramping Up Production of Plutonium ‘Pits’ for Nuclear Weapons?

On one side of the U.S. – on New York’s Staten Island – the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began this month to remove the radioactive remnants of Robert Oppenheimer’s Manhattan Project that produced early atomic bombs. Meanwhile, 2,000 miles away, at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, work is being ramped up to produce plutonium “pits” – spherical shells about the size of bowling balls that are a vital component of warheads in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. MORE

New Voices on Nuclear Weapons Fellowship: Creative Perspectives on Rethinking Nuclear Deterrence 

After decades of reductions in the number and salience of nuclear weapons, they are once again at the center of international security. It is more important than ever that the nuclear policy community recruit new voices from diverse demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds to bring new perspectives, skills, and ideas into the field. To empower new voices to start their career in nuclear weapons studies, the Federation of American Scientists launched the New Voices on Nuclear Weapons Fellowship.  MORE

Rate of ICE Detainments at Highest Level Since 2020 

The number of migrants detained in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities swelled to nearly 40,000 in November — the highest number since January 2020, with most held in Texas. Meanwhile, migrants in the electronic monitoring program have dropped to 190,090 — nearly 50 percent since December 2022. MORE

GAO Reinforces Call for Plan to Address Immigration Cases Backlog

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reinforced its call for the Justice Department to develop a plan to address the 2.2 million backlog of immigration court cases. This is four times the number of cases pending in 2017 when the GAO first made the recommendation.  The Executive Office for Immigration Reform has not had an agency-wide strategic plan since 2013. MORE

Congress Unlikely to Grant Pathway to Citizenship for DACA Recipients 

Pathways to citizenship for young immigrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program are unlikely to be included in a border deal lawmakers are trying to hash out in the final weeks of the year. Negotiators have been working on a deal that includes more border security measures and tighter asylum laws. MORE

TAKE ACTION: Halt Massive CP2 Fossil Fuel Project

President Biden and Secretary of Energy Granholm are currently considering the approval of a massive gas export project on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana called CP2 LNG – a proposed liquefied “natural” gas (LNG) terminal that would be the largest volume of LNG, or liquefied methane gas, ever approved for export. If built, CP2 would unleash the equivalent of the emissions from more than 42 million gas-powered cars or 51 coal-fired power plants. Presente urges us to call on the Department of Energy to stop CP2 and all new LNG permit approvals. TAKE ACTION

Raising Better Beef

No food is harder on the environment than beef. Climate scientists say the answer is simple: Eat less beef and raise fewer cattle. But even with the wide availability of plant protein and the popularity of initiatives like Meatless Monday, most people around the world are consuming more beef, not less. Meredith Ellis, a Texas rancher who raises cattle, wants to be part of the climate solution by implementing regenerative cattle ranching. MORE

Pollution from Coal Power Plants Contributes to Far More Deaths Than Scientists Realized, Study Shows

Research published in the journal Science estimates that pollution from coal-fired power plants killed roughly 460,000 people in the United States between 1999 and 2020, making it more than twice as deadly as other kinds of fine particulate emissions. After calculating annual exposure to fine particulates from 480 coal plants and examining Medicare death records, the researchers found that between 420,000 to 500,000 excess deaths in the U.S. over the past two decades were attributable to coal pollution.   MORE

Cyberscam Victims in Cambodia Find No Freedom in Rescue

Hundreds of thousands of people are being tricked into traveling overseas for respectable-sounding office jobs, only to find themselves sold to organized crime syndicates that operate investment scams and fake online betting sites. But even those who are rescued find the relief is short-lived, with many trapped for months on end in dire conditions in detention centers – sometimes alongside their traffickers – as they wait for cases to be processed. MORE

When Foster Care Kids Are Sex Trafficked, Some States Fail to Figure It Out

Foster care children are especially vulnerable to sex trafficking, and a 2014 federal law requires state authorities to screen missing children when they are found to determine whether they were sexually exploited. But a federal audit suggests that some states are failing in that duty, missing opportunities to connect kids with help and prevent further harm. MORE

Hundreds of Migrants Face Sex Attacks in Darien Gap

Sexual violence against US-bound migrants crossing the Darien Gap has spiked, Doctors Without Borders reports, noting the nearly 400 victims of sexual assaults it treated in the region between January and October represent a small fraction of the true number. "The figures, which were already alarming in previous months, increased sharply in October," the aid group says. MORE

The Holiday Season Is a Time to Look for Signs of Domestic Violence

Studies show that a third of women and a quarter of men in the United States have experienced some type of violence from an intimate partner. The holidays can be a crucial time for family members and friends to express concern or notice changes. Signs of domestic violence may include someone isolating themself more than they have in the past from the family, or if you're with someone and their partner is talking over them to the point of them shutting down. MORE

TAKE ACTION: Congress Must Pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 14) would modernize and revitalize the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Supreme Court has hampered the law by gutting provisions in 2013 and by making it harder to sue to stop discriminatory practices in 2021. The John Lewis Act would strengthen the law, moving us closer to ending discrimination in voting and guaranteeing equal access to the ballot. Public Citizen urges us to tell Congress to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. TAKE ACTION

California to Spend $300 Million to Clear Homeless Encampments

California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office has announced that the state, which has about half the nation's unsheltered population, will provide about $300 million to local jurisdictions throughout the state to clean up homeless encampments. Newsom denied they are merely  displacing people, saying, “We're trying to resolve the underlying issues in the first place and actually support people in getting them back on their feet to self-sufficiency." MORE

How Generous Are Each State’s Safety Net Programs?

Government-funded food assistance and cash transfers serve as crucial tools for alleviating poverty and inequality, with millions of families across the U.S. relying on social safety net programs to help meet their basic needs. States vary widely in their safety net supports: A typical single-parent family in states like Minnesota, Alaska, and Hawaii was eligible for more than $7,500 in combined cash and food assistance in 2019, compared with less than $5,000 in states like Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas.  MORE

Phillip Hancock is scheduled to be executed on November 30 by the state of Oklahoma for the murders of Robert Jett and James Lynch. Please hold Phillip, Robert, James, their families, and the people of Oklahoma in prayer. TAKE ACTION