Author: Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

Allyson Felix Wins 11th Olympic Medal and Becomes Most Decorated U.S. Track Athlete of All Time: Feminist Recap of the 2021 Olympic Games

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

On Saturday, American track athlete Allyson Felix won her 11th Olympic medal by earning gold in the 4×400 meter relay. She is now the most decorated U.S. track athlete, of any gender, in history.

Felix, 35, surpassed track star Carl Lewis, who had previously held the most Olympic medals of any American track athlete. Her gold medal win on Saturday came just after she took bronze in the 400-meter race. All told, Felix holds one bronze, three silver, and seven gold Olympic medals.

The U.S. women’s track and field team overall brought home incredible wins these Olympic games, earning a total of 15 medals with five gold. The U.S. men’s track and field team won 10 medals overall with two gold.

“The women showed up,” Felix said. “I think we’ve been showing up—on the track, off the track, in all of the ways.”

Felix’s historic win is especially meaningful given her comeback to the sport after a life-threatening pregnancy two years ago. Felix was diagnosed with severe pre-eclampsia that put both her and her baby’s life at risk. Felix had to have an emergency c-section only 32 weeks into the pregnancy. Her daughter, Camryn, is now a healthy 2 ½-year-old.

“Nobody thought I was going to be here,” Felix said. “I’m a fighter. The last couple of years, it’s what I’ve done. I just needed a chance.”

After Felix’s pregnancy complications, she became an outspoken advocate for improving Black women’s maternal health care. In 2019, she testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the health disparities between Black pregnant women and white pregnant women, citing higher rates of maternal mortality in Black women.

“In the U.S. Black women are nearly four times more likely to die from childbirth than white women and twice as likely to experience complications. We have to do better by our mothers,” she wrote in an Instagram post.

“We need to provide women of color with more support during their pregnancies,” she said at the Congressional hearing. “Research shows that racial bias in our maternal health care system includes things like providers spending less time with Black mothers, underestimating the pain of their Black patients, ignoring symptoms and dismissing complaints.”

Not only has Felix raised awareness on racial disparities in maternal mortality and pregnancy complications, but she has also paved the way for ensuring that pregnant athletes and athletes who are mothers receive equal pay from sponsors.

Nike, Felix’s former sponsor, wanted to pay her 70 percent less after her pregnancy. Felix dropped Nike after they refused to not punish her monetarily for the toll her pregnancy and childbirth had taken on her athletic performance. After she vocally called Nike out for their treatment of athletes who are mothers, Nike announced an updated maternity policy that ensures an athlete’s pay for 18 months around their pregnancy.

Overall, the 2021 Tokyo Olympics have seen wins for women and gender equality across the board. Thanks to the work of feminist activists, outspoken athletes, and feminists within the International Olympic Committee, the 2021 Tokyo Olympics were gender-balanced for the first time in history, with 49% of the athletes being women.

All 206 participating countries, and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, had their flags carried by one female and one male athlete during the Opening Ceremony. There was also an equal number of women and men performers who participated in the Closing Ceremony.

Women athletes also showed outstanding athletic performances and broke new ground throughout this year’s Olympic games.

U.S. wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock became the first Black woman to ever win a gold medal in wrestling. Women’s wrestling only became an Olympic sport less than 20 years ago.

In a powerful speech that went viral Tuesday, Mensah-Stock spoke of the importance of representation for young girls, “Showing them that just because you’re a female it doesn’t mean you can’t accomplish the biggest of goals.”

The U.S. women’s basketball team also won its seventh consecutive gold medal.

Outside the U.S., women dominated the playing field as well. 13-year-old skateboarder Sky Brown became the youngest person ever to win an Olympic medal for Great Britain. She took bronze in the women’s park skateboarding final.

Female athletes not only paved the way in athletics, but they showed immense courage by taking a stand for mental health and speaking out against the pressure put on athletes.

Simone Biles, widely regarded as the greatest gymnast of all time, withdrew from the individual all-around gymnastics competition to prioritize her mental health.

“We have to focus on ourselves, because at the end of the day, we’re human, too,” Biles said. “We have to protect our mind and our body, rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do.”

To cap an all-around win for women this Olympics and look to the future, both the mayors of Tokyo and Paris, who will host the Summer Olympics in 2024, are women.

Sources: NBC News 8/7/21; Washington Post 8/7/21; New York Times 8/6/21; Washington Post 5/16/19; Forbes 7/30/21; New York Times 5/22/19; International Olympics Committee 3/8/21; NBC News 8/3/21; NPR 8/7/21; CNN 8/6/21; CNN 7/28/21; NBC News 7/27/21

U.S. Court of Appeals Upholds Tennessee’s 48-hour Abortion Waiting Period

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

On Thursday, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Tennessee law that requires people seeking an abortion to observe a 48-hour waiting period between their first visit to a clinic and when they can obtain an abortion.

The federal appeals court’s decision overturns a ruling from a lower court, which declared the law unconstitutional last year. U.S. District Judge Bernard Freidman of the lower court had argued that the 48-hour waiting period imposes logistical burdens that could delay patients in receiving care.

To get an abortion under Tennessee’s 48-hour waiting period, established in 2015, patients must first go to a clinic to receive mandatory counseling. Then, they must wait at least 48 hours before returning to the clinic on a second trip to get their abortion.

Judge Amul Thapar of the 6th Circuit, who wrote the majority opinion, argued that there was not enough evidence to prove that the waiting period created a “substantial obstacle” for people trying to get an abortion.

The Bristol Regional Women’s Center and the Memphis Center for Reproductive Health had filed the lawsuit against Tennessee to challenge the law.

Judge Karen Nelson Moore was the only judge on the court to dissent the opinion. She argued that the waiting period “peddles stigma” and puts “severe logistical, financial, medical, and psychological burdens” on people seeking abortion.

“In this circuit, the scales have now tipped inescapably against women: their rights are secondary burdens that are immaterial, the obstacles they must face are nothing,” she wrote. “In whitewashing the record, the majority has crystalized what has been clear at least since it agreed to hear this case initially en banc without a principled basis: the case was dead on arrival.”

Several reproductive rights organizations and abortion rights advocates also criticized the ruling.

“With this law, politicians are purporting that they know better than patients when it comes to making personal decisions about their health care,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, in a statement to AP News. “It’s demanding and medically unnecessary.”

“This isn’t over,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “Planned Parenthood will continue to fight alongside our partners to ensure every person can access safe, legal abortion services—without medically unnecessary barriers.”

Human Rights Campaign Sues Tennessee over Anti-Transgender “Bathroom Bill”

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ civil rights organization, filed a lawsuit Tuesday to challenge Tennessee’s latest anti-transgender law. The “bathroom bill” prevents trans students from using the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity.

The law was signed in May by Tennessee governor Bill Lee and went into effect July 1. It requires that public schools must make “reasonable accommodation” for students who cannot use the bathroom that corresponds to their biological sex at birth.

However, the law reads that “a reasonable accommodation does not include access to a restroom of changing facility that is designated for use by members of the opposite sex while persons of the opposite sex are present or could be present.” This means that trans students are not allowed to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity. Their only options are to use a “single-occupancy restroom” or “an employee restroom.”

The Human Rights Campaign filed their lawsuit on behalf of two transgender students. One of the students, Alex, a 14-year-old transgender boy, was not allowed to use the boys’ bathroom in his middle school due to a school policy. He could only use the girls’ bathroom or the school nurse’s private bathroom.

“When I started 7th grade, I just wanted to blend in,” Alex said in a statement. “Having to use a ‘special’ bathroom made me stand out because other kids would wonder why I didn’t just use the boys’ bathroom. It was also a pain because the bathrooms I was allowed to us were not close to any of my classes. So, I just stopped having anything to drink during the day. It stresses me out that I’ll have to deal with this all over again at my new school.”

The lawsuit argues that “by singling out transgender students for disfavored treatment and explicitly writing discrimination against transgender people into state law,” the law violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bans any kind of discrimination based on sex in “federally funded education programs.”

Tennessee’s “bathroom bill” is one of five laws the state has already enacted this year that discriminate against transgender people.

“The Tennessee law, which denies transgender young people the ability to use facilities consistent with their gender identity, is not only morally reprehensible but devoid of any sound legal justification and cannot withstand legal scrutiny,” said Alphonso David, President of the Human Rights Campaign. “Courts have time-and-again ruled against these dangerous and discriminatory laws and we are going to fight in court to strike down this one that and protect the civil rights of transgender kids and non-binary young people.”

“We are sending a strong message of support for all transgender and non-binary children across the country—you matter, and your legal rights should be respected.”

Sources: Human Rights Campaign 8/3/21; CNN 8/3/21; The Hill 8/3/21

CDC Issues New Eviction Moratorium Due to Delta Variant

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

On Tuesday, the Center for Disease Control and the Biden Administration announced a new 60-day ban on evictions in areas of the country where transmission of the Covid-19 is high.

The eviction moratorium will last until October 3 and is effective in counties where there is “substantial and high levels of community transmission” of the coronavirus. It will cover roughly 80 percent of counties and 90 percent of the population.

“This is a tremendous relief for millions of people who were on the cusp of losing their homes and, with them, their ability to stay safe during the pandemic,” said president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Diane Yentel.

“Now, the work of state and local governments to distribute emergency rental assistance to tenants in need becomes all the more critical. The President has given them the time that they and millions of renters needed—they must use it effectively and expedite assistance. The country is watching, and tenants and landlords are waiting.”

The ban on evictions comes at a time when the delta variant, a more contagious variant of the coronavirus, makes up most new Covid-19 cases across the country. Concerns regarding the delta variant’s rapid spread prompted the moratorium.

“Eviction moratoria facilitate self-isolation and self-quarantine by people who become ill or who are at risk of transmitting COVID-19 by keeping people out of congregate settings and in their own homes,” the Biden administration’s announcement said.

Communities of color are disproportionately affected by the rising Covid-19 cases due to systemic racism and lack of adequate health care. According to a study conducted this spring by amfAR, an AIDS research nonprofit, counties across the country with a high population of Black residents made up 52% of Covid-19 cases and 58% of Covid-19 deaths nationwide.

Research conducted by the APM Research Lab found that in Kansas, Black people are seven times more likely to die from Covid-19 than white people. In Missouri, Wisconsin, and Washington DC, Black people are six times more likely to die from the virus than white people.

“Social conditions, structural racism, and other factors elevate risk for COVID-19 diagnoses and deaths in Black communities,” said researchers at Emory University, Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University, and the University of Mississippi.

Black Americans were also more likely to experience job loss and pay cuts during the pandemic than white Americans. For white Americans, the pandemic caused the unemployment rate to rise to 14.2%. For Black Americans, however, the unemployment rate rose to 16.7%.

The CDC’s new eviction moratorium comes after the previous moratorium expired on Saturday despite efforts to extend it. The Biden administration had hesitated to extend the moratorium because it will likely be proven unconstitutional. However, after consulting legal experts, the administration moved the moratorium forward in the hopes that it will at least allow time to distribute rental assistance to tenants while the eviction ban’s legality is decided.

Representative Cori Bush (D-MO) led a five-day-long protest at the U.S. Capitol where she and other protesters slept on the Capitol steps to advocate for a renewed eviction ban. Her efforts finally succeeded, and she celebrated Tuesday’s announcement.

“We just did the work—just by loving folks—to keep millions in their homes,” Rep. Bush said.

Sources: CNN 8/3/21; Washington Post 8/3/21; Center for Disease Control 8/3/21; CNN 5/8/21; Washington Post 8/4/21

Rep. Cori Bush Sleeps on Steps of U.S. Capitol to Protest Eviction Moratorium’s Expiration

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

This weekend, Representative Cori Bush (D-Mo) protested the expiration of the Center for Disease Control’s eviction moratorium by sleeping on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

On Saturday night, the CDC’s ban on evictions expired, threatening renters across the country with the possibility of eviction. The moratorium had been put in place 11 months ago to protect renters from losing their homes during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to The Washington Post, over 6 million renters have fallen behind on rent and could be at risk of eviction.

Rep. Bush, along with other protesters, slept on the Capitol steps to protest that no extension of the moratorium had been passed. The House of Representatives adjourned their session on Friday for the August recess without extending the eviction ban.

“The House is at recess. People are on vacations. How are we on vacation when we have millions of people who could start to be evicted tonight?” Rep. Bush said to CNN on “Newsroom.”

Other members of Congress, such as Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), joined Rep. Bush to protest on the Capitol.

“Eviction is already violent, but to evict people in the midst of a pandemic is cruel, inhumane, unacceptable, and 100% preventable,” Pressley said.

Renters and landlords are already heading to the courts as eviction notices continue to be distributed. The threat of eviction is especially concerning as cases of the Delta variant spike across the country. 

“We just need help,” said single mother Chelsea Rivera, who is facing eviction in Columbus, Ohio. “It’s just been really hard with everyday issues on top of worrying about where you’re going to live.”

The eviction moratorium had already been extended through July, but the Supreme Court made clear that the eviction ban could not be extended any further without “clear and specific congressional authorization.”

Diane Yentel, chief executive of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, called the Biden Administration and Congress’s inability to extend the moratorium before recess “a devastating failure to act in a moment of crisis.”

“As the delta variant surges and our understanding of its danger grow, the White House punts to Congress in the final 48 hours and the House leaves for summer break after failing to protect families from losing both their homes and their ability to stay safe,” she added.

“It’s an eviction emergency,” Rep. Bush tweeted. “Our people need an eviction moratorium. Now.”

Sources: CNN 8/2/21; Washington Post 7/31/21; AP News 8/3/21

Black Women’s Equal Pay Day is Today

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

Today marks Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, which is the day that Black women would have to work into 2021 in order to make the same amount of money that non-Hispanic white men made in 2020.

Black women are paid $0.63 for every $1.00 a non-Hispanic white man makes, according to the ACS Census data. As August 2 is Black Women’s Equal Pay Day for 2021, this means that Black women would have to work 214 days more than white men to make the same as them in 2020.

According to the National Women’s Law Center, the wage gap between Black women and non-Hispanic white men “has only closed by 3 cents over the last thirty years.” 2130 is the year that Black women are projected to make equal pay.

“Black women would have to work till they are 83 years old to be paid what a white non-Hispanic man is paid by the time he reaches the age of 60,” Fatima Goss Graves, President and CEO of National Women’s Law Center, said in the ERA Coalition’s Black Women’s Equal Pay Day talk. “So those multiple decades of work, of labor, and that hardship on them and their families, it must be corrected. And that is going to require us shifting the culture that surrounds us, it’s going to require our institutions changing, but it’s also going to require a major shift in our laws and policies that govern it.”

“A key part of that shift,” Goss Graves continued, “is finally, finally, finally, having the ERA as a part of our foundational documents in our constitution that guide our laws, that guide our policy, and that send a signal that Black women in this country, that all women in this country, are truly equal.”

The ERA Coalition’s Black Women’s Equal Pay Day talk featured other influential speakers, such as Founder and President of She the People, Aimee Allison, President and CEO of National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Melanie Campbell, and Monifa Bandele, Chief Operating Officer of TIME’S UP.

“Black women have been on the front lines, not only as essential workers during this time of a global health crisis, but also … on the forefront of saving democracy, on the forefront of saving our education systems, on the forefront going all the way back to abolition,” Monifa Bandele said. “We refuse to continue to be paid less for what’s actually more work … We’re running twice as fast and fighting twice as hard.”

“It’s not just an economic hit when Black women are paid less for the same work,” she continued. “It impacts our health, it impacts the health and safety of our families, it impacts the abilities that we have for our educational aspirations as well as the aspirations of our children.”

“On this Black Women’s Equal Pay Day,” Goss Graves added, “I hope that you will demand from all of your leaders a law and a constitution that matches not just the reality of our lives, but the dignity of all of us in this country.”

“We’re not going to let anyone off the hook,” Bandele said. “We will not go back.”

Sources: NBC News 8/2/21; National Women’s Law Center 7/26/21; ERA Coalition 8/3/21

Thousands Rally at Texas State Capitol to Protest Voting Restrictions

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

Thousands of people marched on the Texas State Capitol Saturday to protest the state’s recent restrictive voting laws. The Capitol rally was the culmination of a four-day-long march for voting rights.

The 27-mile march from Georgetown, Texas to Austin began on Wednesday and ended Saturday at the State Capitol. It was spearheaded by two civil and voting rights organizations, the Poor People’s Campaign and Powered by the People. Other organizations, such as Black Voters Matter, Texas AFL-CIO, YWCA Greater Austin also supported the march.

“When you get out there and you leave the comfort of your home, and in this case you put on your walking shoes and you cover 30 miles in the middle of the Texas summer in central Texas—you’re saying something through that sacrifice and through that struggle,” former U.S. Representative Beto O’Rourke said to the Guardian.

O’Rourke, alongside Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, led the four-day march last week.

The march and rally aimed to protest the wave of voter suppression laws that have been passed across the United States and in Texas. Just last month, the Texas State Senate passed SB 1, a bill that would place burdensome restrictions on voters. The bill would prohibit drive-thru voting, eliminate 24-hour voting, ban distributing mail ballot applications to people who have not requested them, and create stricter voting ID requirements for mail ballots, among other restrictions. These impediments will largely make it more difficult for people of color and people with disabilities to vote.

“We are here today because of a mandate,” Barber said to protestors before the march began. “These legislators have mandated that we must have federal intervention.”

Country musician and activist Willie Nelson performed at the Saturday rally, singing “vote them out” with protestors.

“When you look out here today and see the thousands, and you look at the diversity in this crowd, this is the America they are afraid of,” Barber said at the rally.

“I feel like I needed to be here. It is a history-making event that is so necessary right now,” Brenda Hanson, a 75-year-old resident of Austin said. “I am a descendant of slavery and I am not interested in moving back, I want to see this country go forward. I have lived well over three-quarters of a century and I have never seen us go backwards like this before.”

Yesterday, the Poor People’s Campaign also sponsored a “National Moral Monday” rally in Washington DC led by low-wage workers and faith leaders. The rally was a part of their “Season of Nonviolent Moral Direct Action” between July 12 and August 8.

Four “Moral Monday” rallies have already been held in DC and across the country. This series of nonviolent direct action protests aim to put pressure on Congress and the White House to end the filibuster, pass the For the People Act, restore the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

“They’re marching, they’re taking action,” O’Rourke said. “They’re not just waiting at home for someone to save the day. All of these folks are going to save the day. All of us are going to be a part of it.”

Sources: The Guardian 8/2/21; Ms. Magazine 7/29/21; Texas Tribune 7/8/21; NBC News 7/31/21; Poor People’s Campaign

House Passes Appropriations Bill Advancing Global Sexual Health and Reproductive Rights

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

On Wednesday, the House passed the Fiscal Year 2022 State, Foreign Operations, and Relating Programs appropriations bill. The bill contains several provisions that work to advance sexual health and reproductive rights across the globe.

Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) Subcommittee Chair, first wrote the bill and spearheaded its passage.

“This bill makes critical investments in global health and humanitarian needs, provides strong funding to address the climate crisis, and advances gender equity,” Rep. Lee said.

The Fiscal Year 2022 SFOPS appropriations bill allocates a combined $830 million in funding for bilateral and multilateral family planning, which is a $222 million increase in funding compared to Fiscal Year 2021’s appropriations.

The bill would notably repeal the Global Gag Rule, which currently prohibits non-governmental organizations (NGOs) outside the U.S. that receive U.S. funding from using any of their funds, including those received from other sources, to perform or advocate for abortion as “a method of family planning.” This denies women and girls access to safe abortion around the world, increasing unsafe abortions and rates of maternal mortality.

Additionally, the new SFOPS bill does not include the Helms amendment, which prohibits U.S. foreign assistance from being used for abortions in U.S.-run health care programs globally. Repealing the Helms amendment would promote access to safe abortion services for people living in low-income countries. 

In terms of climate change action, the bill increases funding for efforts to reduce emissions around the world, such as appropriating funds for the Green Climate Fund.

Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), another proponent of the bill, spoke on its impact.

“It makes America stronger at home and respected again in the world,” Rep. DeLauro said. “It restores American leadership by responding to global health threats, including the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.”

“We are thrilled about the passage of the SFOPS bill by the U.S. House of Representatives,” said Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins, President and CEO of Population Action International, an organization that advocates for global reproductive health care.

“We commend Subcommittee Chairwoman Barbara Lee for crafting a bill that boldly prioritizes SRHR and Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and the other pro-family planning and reproductive health members in the House who helped to shepherd this bill through.”

Sources: House Appropriations Committee 7/28/21; Population Action International 7/29/21; Center for Reproductive Rights 1/10/18

Line 3 Protesters Persevere Despite Continued Police Arrests

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

Two women were arrested for protesting the Enbridge Line 3 oil pipeline yesterday by climbing into a section of the pipeline in Aitkin County, Minnesota.  

Temperatures reached 130 degrees inside the pipe, which was capped at one end. The women, ages 20 and 21, entered with respirators due to low oxygen levels. An officer forcefully removed the protesters from the pipe and subsequently arrested them.

Last week, police arrested seven women, including Indigenous leader Winona LaDuke, at a protest of the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline in Hubbard County, Minnesota. 

Police have arrested over 500 people over the course of the ongoing Line 3 protests. Indigenous and Environmental activists have protested the pipeline’s construction for many years now, but the movement has gained more traction and awareness within recent months.

Winona LaDuke, Executive Director of Honor the Earth, an Indigenous climate justice organization, spoke of her arrest in an interview with Slate Magazine. LaDuke said she was “ashamed that the state of Minnesota would put a group of women elders in jail.”

Enbridge, a Canadian multinational oil company, is building the new Line 3 to replace the current Line 3 pipeline, which was built in the 1960s and is too corroded to continue using. The pipeline extends from Alberta, Canada to the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The current Line 3 has leaked numerous times, including the 1991 oil spill in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, which to this day is the county’s largest inland oil spill.

Construction of the Line 3 pipeline is complete in Canada, Wisconsin, and North Dakota, while it is two-thirds of the way finished in Minnesota.

Climate activists and Indigenous Water Protectors oppose the construction of the new Line 3, arguing that it will likely lead to another oil spill and pollute Minnesota’s lakes and rivers.

“They’re basically putting and entire ecosystem at risk so that they can make a quick buck,” LaDuke added. 

According to Slate Magazine, Line 3 would pass through three Indigenous reservations in Minnesota. The pipeline would also violate treaties between the U.S. government and Indigenous tribes, including the Treaty of 1855 which grants the Ojibwe people rights to hunt, gather wild rice, and fish on land and rivers Line 3 would cross.

“We’re the people here, and they’re running over us [and] a fifth of the world’s [fresh] water,” LaDuke said. “And we’re saying, ‘it’s time to quit.’ [It’s] basically selling our human rights, our water, our political right, everything, our land to a Canadian multinational.”

Sources: Stop Line 3 7/19/21; KSTP 7/29/21; Slate Magazine 7/28/2; Minnesota Public Radio 7/16/21

U.S. Court of Appeals Rules Against Web Designer Seeking License to Discriminate Against LGBTQ+ Couples

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

On Monday, the Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals maintained a lower court’s decision to reject a Colorado web designer’s request to discriminate against LGBTQ+ couples.

Lorie Smith, the owner of the web design business 303 Creative LLC, challenged the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) by suing to request that her business be allowed to deny LGBTQ+ couples wedding website design services. In addition, Smith wanted to add a statement to 303 Collective’s website describing her anti-LGBTQ+ policy. She argued that to offer web design services to same-sex couples would go against her religious beliefs.

The U.S. Court of Appeals voted 2-1 against Smith, ruling that she did not have the right to be exempt from CADA and refuse service to same-sex couples.

The court wrote in the majority opinion that “Colorado has a compelling interest in protecting both the dignity interests of members of marginalized groups and their material interests in accessing the commercial marketplace.”

Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ+ rights organization, filed an amicus brief in the case to defend CADA and celebrated the court’s decision.

“This is a tremendous ruling that properly situates our cherished freedoms of speech and religion among the important rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, while also understanding that the State of Colorado has a compelling interest and responsibility to end discrimination in the commercial sphere,” Jennifer C. Pizer, Senior Counsel at Lambda Legal, said in a statement.

Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative anti-LGBTQ+ legal organization, represented Smith in the case. The Southern Poverty Law Center has classified ADF as a hate group. ADF has said they will be appealing the Tenth Circuit’s decision to the Supreme Court.

“Make no mistake, this was another attempt by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) to chip away at hard-won civil rights secured for LGBT people and their families,” Pizer said. “But the appellate court today saw through ADF’s transparent and continuing effort to secure a ‘free to discriminate’ card to exempt 303 Creative from the laws all other Colorado businesses are expected to follow.”

“This really isn’t about cakes or websites or flowers. It’s about protecting LBGTQ people and their families from being subjected to slammed doors, service refusals, and public humiliation in countless places—from fertility clinics to funeral homes, and everywhere in between.”

Sources: Lambda Legal 7/26/21; Colorado Public Radio 7/27/21; The Colorado Sun 7/27/21

Biden Announces Plan to Protect “Long Covid” Patients Under Federal Disability Law on 31st Anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

On Monday, President Joe Biden honored the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act by announcing a new initiative to qualify “long Covid” symptoms as disability and grant Americans with “long Covid” protections under the ADA.

People who suffer from “long Covid” experience serious and ongoing health issues that originated from a previous Covid-19 infection.

“Many Americans seemingly recovered from the virus still face lingering challenges like breathing problems, brain fog, chronic pain and fatigue,” Biden said. “These conditions can sometimes rise to the level of disability. So we’re bringing agencies together to make sure Americans with long covid, who have a disability, have access to the rights and resources that are due under the disability law, which includes accommodations and services.”

President Biden made these remarks in the Rose Garden during the celebration of the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The historic civil rights act bans discrimination against people with disabilities and mandates accessibility in public places, such as workplaces, schools, and public transportation.

Biden had been a co-sponsor of the ADA when it was first introduced in Congress. In 1990, Former President George H.W. Bush signed the bill into law.

Although the Biden administration’s guidance regarding “long Covid” patients does not automatically include “long Covid” as a disability, it does allow a person suffering from the condition to undergo an “individualized assessment” to ascertain if their symptoms “substantially limits a major life activity” and can be considered a disability.

“We are glad that the White House recognizes that many COVID long haulers will not be part of the disability community, and therefore are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act,” Nicole Jorwic, senior director of public policy for the Arc, a disability rights organization, told Bloomberg Law.

“The ADA gives all Americans the opportunity to determine their own future,” said Vice President Kamala Harris at the Rose Garden ceremony. “Self-determination, which I believe the government must facilitate, that is the impact of the ADA and after all, the promise of America.”

“For our nation, the ADA is more than a law,” Biden said.

“It’s a testament to our character as a people, our character as Americans. It’s a triumph of American values. But of course, this law didn’t bring an end to the work we need to do today.” 

Sources: Washington Post 7/26/21; New York Times 7/26/21; The Hill 7/26/21; Department of Health and Human Services 7/26/21; Bloomberg Law 7/26/21

Thousands of People Celebrate Pride in Hungary Despite Anti-LGBTQ Legislation

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

On Saturday, 300,000 people marched in Budapest for the annual Pride parade to both celebrate Pride and protest the Hungarian government’s recent homophobic legislation.

The Hungarian Parliament passed a law in June that restricts media seen to promote homosexuality or gender nonconformity. Content that is considered to do so must be labeled as “not recommended for those under 18 years of age.” Additionally, any educational materials that the government sees as promoting homosexuality or gender nonconformity are prohibited for children. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán supports the law.

“In the past two years, we’ve had a government attack against the LGBTQI community, a lot of hate speech and also adoption of restrictive legislation when it comes to transgender rights, adoption, and most recently, a Russian-style propaganda law,” said Tamás Dombos, a board member of the Háttér Society, Hungary’s leading LGBTQ+ rights organization.

Marchers at the Budapest Pride parade wore bright colors, sang, danced, and waved rainbow flags in defiance of Hungary’s latest discriminatory law. Attendance at the Pride celebration Saturday was the largest it has ever been, according to the event organizers.

Prime Minister Orbán plans to hold a referendum on the new law due to an outcry of criticism against the legislation from the European Union, other members of the international community, and the Hungarian people.

“A lot of people came to show their support and to show that not everyone thinks like our government,” Dombos said of the march. “It feels really nice that so many people turned up.”

“There’s power in numbers,” Balint Rigo, a Pride organizer, said to CNN. “We may not be able to change anything in the short term, but together we’re a symbol of solidarity.”

Sources: CNN 7/24/21; New York Times 6/15/21; Politico 7/24/21; New York Times 7/24/21; CNN 7/21/21

Texas Senate Passes Bill that No Longer Requires Schools to Teach the History of Marginalized Groups or White Supremacy

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

Last week, the Texas Senate passed SB 3, a new bill that would eliminate several social studies curriculum requirements from public schools. Most of the omitted requirements involved teaching the history of marginalized populations and the history of white supremacy in the United States.

The Texas Senate voted to pass the bill 18-4. However, it has yet to be voted on in the House, due to the group of Texas House Democrats who left the state for D.C. to protest Texas’s new restrictive voting bill.

Senate Bill 3 drops many of the curriculum requirements outlined in House Bill 3979, a previous education bill signed into law by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in June. HB 3979 is set to take effect in September.

HB 3979 would require social studies curriculums in Texas public schools to teach “historical documents related to the civic accomplishments of marginalized populations,” as well as the history of the Chicano movement, the civil rights movement, women’s suffrage, Native Americans, and the American labor movement. It also requires the teaching of writings from Frederick Douglass, Dolores Huerta, Susan B. Anthony, Abigail Adams, Cesar Chavez, and Martin Luther King Jr.

SB 3 eliminates all of these requirements from the agenda.

Additionally, HB 3979 requires schools to teach “the history of white supremacy, including but not limited to the institution of slavery, the eugenics movement, and the Ku Klux Klan, and the ways in which it is morally wrong.”

This provision has also been excluded from the new Senate Bill 3, meaning public schools would no longer be required to teach that slavery, eugenics, or the Ku Klux Klan are morally wrong.

The bill also limits how teachers can teach current events.

“Incredibly, Senate Bill 3 specifies that a teacher may not discuss current events or controversial issues of public policy or social affairs unless the educator ‘strives to explore the topic from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective,’” said Texas State Senator Judith Zaffirini (D).

“How could a teacher possibly discuss slavery, the Holocaust, or the mass shootings at the Walmart in El Paso or at the Sutherland Springs church in my district ‘without giving deference to any one perspective?’”

“We must trust our teachers,” Texas House Representative Jarvis Johnson (D) wrote on Twitter. “We must defend the truth in our classrooms. SB 3 does the opposite.”

Sources: Texas State Legislature 7/16/21; CNN 7/22/21; NBC News 7/21/21; Huffington Post 7/19/21

Anti-Trans Laws in Arkansas and West Virginia Blocked by Federal Judges

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

On Wednesday, federal judges blocked two anti-trans state laws from going into effect. The first, an Arkansas law, would prohibit physicians from providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth. The second, a West Virginia law, banned transgender girls and women from playing in women’s public-school sports.

The Arkansas law would ban doctors from offering necessary gender-confirming treatment to trans youth under 18 years old. The prohibited treatments include hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and gender confirmation surgery. Arkansas is the first state to enact such a law.

U.S. District Court Judge Jay Moody placed a preliminary injunction on the law, preventing it from going into effect when scheduled on July 28. The injunction temporarily ensures that the law will not be enforced until Judge Moody makes a final ruling on the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in May.

“To pull care midstream from these patients, or minors, would cause irreparable harm,” said Judge Moody.

The ban had originally been vetoed by Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. The Arkansas state legislature, however, overrode Gov. Hutchinson’s veto.

Hutchinson argued that “the act was too extreme and did not provide any relief for those young people currently undergoing hormone treatments with the consent of their parents and under the care of a physician.”

“This ruling sends a clear message to states across the country that gender-affirming care is life-saving care, and we won’t let politicians in Arkansas—or anywhere else—take it away,” said the executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas, Holly Dickson. “Today’s victory is a testament to the trans youth of Arkansas and their allies, who never gave up the fight to protect access to gender-affirming care and who will continue to defend the right of all trans people to be their authentic selves, free from discrimination. We won’t rest until this cruel and unconstitutional law is struck down for good.”

The West Virginia law, also temporarily blocked by a federal judge on Wednesday, bans trans athletes from participating in women’s public middle school, high school, and college sports.

In May, the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia and Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit against the state to challenge the ban on behalf of Becky Pepper-Jackson, an 11-year-old transgender girl who wanted to try out for her middle-school cross country team.

The sports ban had already gone into effect this month. The preliminary injunction, issued by U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin, prevents West Virginia from continuing to enforce the law.

“I am excited to know that I will be able to try out for the girls’ cross-country team and follow in the running shoes of my family,” said Pepper-Jackson. “It hurt that the State of West Virginia would try to block me from pursuing my dreams. I just want to play.”

“Becky—like all students—should have the opportunity to try out for a sports team and play with her peers,” said Josh Block, senior staff attorney with the ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project.

“We hope this also sends a message to other states to stop demonizing trans kids to score political points and to let these kids live their lives in peace.”

Sources: CBS News 7/21/21; NPR 7/21/21; CNN 7/21/21; ACLU 7/21/21; CNN 7/21/21; ACLU 7/21/21; ACLU 7/21/21

Federal Judge Blocks Arkansas Law Banning Almost All Abortions

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

On Tuesday, a federal judge placed a preliminary injunction on an Arkansas law that would ban most abortions. The temporary block ensures that the law will not go into effect until a final ruling on the legality of the ban is made.

U.S. District Court Judge Kristine Baker blocked the law, which would prohibit all abortions except for those performed in a medical emergency to save a pregnant person’s life. The ban does not allow for abortions in the case of rape, incest, or fetal abnormalities. Because the law prohibits abortions before the fetus is viable, Judge Baker said the measure was “categorically unconstitutional.”

“Since the record at this stage of the proceedings indicates that women seeking abortions in Arkansas face an imminent threat to their constitutional rights, the court concludes that they will suffer irreparable harm without injunctive relief,” Judge Baker wrote in her decision.

Several reproductive and civil rights groups, such as Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a lawsuit in May to challenge the Arkansas ban. 

The bill was signed into law in March by Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, and it would have taken effect on July 28. Gov. Hutchinson signed the bill despite acknowledging that it was “not constitutional under Supreme Court cases right now.”

The measure was designed to challenge Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision made in 1973 that makes abortion legal in the United States, as Gov. Hutchinson explicitly said. “I signed it because it is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade,” he told CNN in March on “State of the Union.”

Holly Dickson, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arkansas, applauded Judge Baker’s decision. “We’re relieved that the court has blocked another cruel and harmful attempt to criminalize abortion care and intrude on Arkansans’ deeply personal medical decisions,” she said.

“The court’s ruling today should serve as a stark reminder to anti-abortion politicians in Arkansas and other states that they cannot strip people of their right to make the deeply personal decision about whether to have an abortion or continue a pregnancy,” said staff attorney for the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, Meagan Burrows.

“We’ll continue to fight to make sure abortion stays legal in Arkansas and that the state’s unconstitutional ban is struck down for good.”

Sources: CNN 7/20/21; Arkansas State Legislature 3/9/21; Washington Post 7/21/21; NPR 7/2/21

Indiana “Abortion Reversal” Law Blocked by Federal Judge

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

A federal judge blocked an Indiana abortion law from going into effect that would have required abortion providers to give misinformation to patients seeking a medication abortion.

The law said doctors were obligated to tell their patients about the possibility of “abortion reversal”—a contested process for potentially stopping an abortion that has no scientific backing. Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed the law in April, and it would have taken effect July 1.

U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon made the ruling in late June, just before the “abortion reversal” law would have gone into effect. In his decision, he argued that the effectiveness of the “abortion reversal” process had never been proven, and that the reproductive rights groups who filed the lawsuit would likely be successful in proving their argument that the law’s requirement would infringe upon abortion providers’ rights to free speech. Hanlon was appointed by former President Donald Trump.

“While the State may require abortion providers to give a woman seeking an abortion certain types of information as part of the informed-consent process, that information must, at a minimum, be truthful and not misleading,” wrote Hanlon in his decision.

The “abortion reversal” process is said to reverse a medication abortion, although there is little accurate scientific evidence to prove this. In fact, attempting to reverse a medication abortion can be very dangerous.

Medication abortion uses two drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, to terminate a pregnancy. Mifepristone is taken first, and misoprostol is taken 24 to 48 hours later. Proponents of “abortion reversal” claim that if a person changes their mind about ending a pregnancy after taking mifepristone, they can “reverse” the abortion by not taking misoprostol and instead taking large amounts of progesterone. However, the only clinical trial on this treatment was terminated after patients experienced severe bleeding and had to go to the emergency room, Rewire News Group reported.

“Women who use mifepristone for medical abortions should be advised that not following up with misoprostol could result in severe hemorrhage,” said UC Davis Health’s Dr. Mitchell Creinin, the principal investigator of the clinical study.

Several abortion-rights groups challenged the Indiana law in court, including Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union, All Options, and others.

The plaintiffs of the case also argued that the Indiana law specifically targets abortion providers and patients seeking abortions. They wrote in the lawsuit that “no other healthcare providers are required to inform their patients about experimental medical interventions, the safety and efficacy of which are wholly unsupportable by reliable scientific evidence, and no other patients are required to receive such information as a condition of treatment.”

The American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also assert that there is no scientific backing to “reversing” a medication abortion, and information on the process’s safety is limited.

“Providers should not be forced to give patients inaccurate and dangerous information,” said the executive director of All Options, Parker Dockray. “Pregnant people deserve better—they need accurate information about all their options, and support to make the decisions that are right for them.”

Sources: The Hill 6/30/21; AP 6/30/21; Rewire News Group 7/9/21; Rewire News Group 12/6/19

Federal District Judge Rules DACA Illegal and Blocks New Applications

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

Judge Andrew Hanen, a federal district judge in Texas, ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was unlawful on Friday.

While the decision will not immediately affect current DACA recipients, it will temporarily prevent new applicants from being admitted to the program.

Former President Obama created the DACA program in 2012 by executive order. It has since protected over 800,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. when they were children from being deported. DACA was meant to be a temporary program used in the absence of concrete legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for such immigrants. However, Congress has yet to pass any legislation that would offer undocumented immigrants the same protections that DACA affords.

Although current DACA recipients can still live and work in the U.S., Hanen’s ruling once again calls into question the program’s legality and thus the fate of these recipients, as well as hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who have applied for DACA. 

“I was banking on this to start my career,” said Sarahi Magallanez, a first-time DACA applicant, to the New York Times. “Now there is a chance I can’t. DACA is not safe, and we are at the mercy of whoever is in power.”

Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, and West Virginia all filed a lawsuit against DACA, arguing that it forced them to pay burdensome benefits for immigrants in their states and gave the Executive Branch too much power. Judge Hanen ruled in favor of the states, saying that the program is unlawful because the Department of Homeland Security had never been authorized by Congress to create the program. Hanen was appointed by former President George W. Bush.

In a statement, President Biden said, “Yesterday’s Federal court ruling is deeply disappointing. While the court’s order does not now affect current DACA recipients, this decision nonetheless relegates hundreds of thousands of young immigrants to an uncertain future.”

President Biden has also said that the Department of Justice will be appealing Hanen’s decision. The ruling has sparked increased calls for Congress to implement a permanent way for undocumented immigrants to obtain citizenship.

“The dreams of hundreds of thousands of young people who are contributing to the American economy will be put on hold for no good reason,” wrote Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX) on Twitter. “Congress must pass a pathway to citizenship this year. We can’t wait.”

“Dreamers’ futures shouldn’t be in the hands of the courts,” said Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “It is absolutely urgent that Congress acts now through the budget reconciliation process to provide Dreamers and other undocumented members of our communities with reliable status and a pathway to citizenship.”

Former President Obama said of the ruling on Twitter, “For more than nine years, DREAMers have watched courts and politicians debate whether they’ll be allowed to stay in the only country many of them have ever known. It’s long past time for Congress to act and give them the protection and certainty they deserve.”

Sources: CNN 7/17/21; New York Times 7/16/21; NPR 7/17/21

“Good Trouble Vigils for Democracy” Held Across the Nation to Honor John Lewis

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

Across the country, people gathered to honor the legacy of the late Representative John Lewis (D-GA) with candlelight vigils on Saturday.

People met in-person and virtually for these nationwide “Good Trouble Vigils for Democracy” to mark the one-year anniversary of Rep. Lewis’s death and continue his legacy by protesting the current onslaught of voter suppression laws.

Rep. Lewis was a prominent civil rights leader and voting rights activist who fought against voter suppression and worked to expand and protect the right to vote throughout his life. He died at the age of 80, one year ago Saturday.

According to Gloria Moore, Georgia’s Dekalb County Democratic Committee Third Vice-Chair, 158 candlelight vigils were held across 42 states to remember Lewis and his work.

Rep. Lewis was a strong proponent of the phrase “good trouble,” encouraging activists to make change by getting into good trouble.

“Do not get lost in a sea of despair,” Lewis tweeted in June of 2018. “Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

The vigils Saturday aimed to pay tribute to Lewis by promoting this sense of hope and encouraging Congress to pass the For the People Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and D.C. Statehood.

Moore emphasized the importance of passing these bills to Lewis’s legacy. “It’s really important that we get people to focus on the fact that the John Lewis Voting Rights Act is an expansion of the original Voting Rights Act that he fought so hard for,” she told Decaturish at Dekalb County’s Good Trouble Vigil for Democracy in Georgia. “We have to make that happen.”

Sources: Atlanta Journal-Constitution 7/17/21; Good Trouble Vigil 7/17/21; Decaturish 7/19/21; Feminist Newswire 7/16/21; USA Today 7/18/21

Representative Joyce Beatty Arrested at Voting Rights Protest on Capitol Hill

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

On Thursday, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, was arrested while protesting for voting rights in a Senate office building.

U.S. Capitol Police arrested Rep. Beatty and eight other activists who were demonstrating in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building. In a statement, police said they arrested the protestors for “demonstrating in a prohibited area on Capitol Grounds.”

Rep. Beatty, along with a small group of 12 protesters, were participating in a small, peaceful rally as part of the “Speak Out: Call to Action Day on Capitol Hill” event. They were demonstrating to defend the right to vote and protest the current wave of restrictive voting laws being introduced and passed in state legislatures.

“I stand in solidarity with the Black women and allies across the country in defense of our constitutional right to vote,” Beatty said in a statement after her arrest. “We have come too far and fought too hard to see everything systematically dismantled and restricted by those who wish to silence us. Be assured that this is just the beginning. This is Our Power, Our Message.”

On Twitter, Beatty posted photos of police zip-tying her hands. She captioned the photos, “Let the people vote. Fight for justice.” She then tweeted the hashtag #GoodTrouble, referencing the late Representative John Lewis (D-GA). Lewis was a civil rights leader who encouraged activists to make change by getting into “good trouble.”

Demonstrators called on senators to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, two bills that would protect and expand the right to vote. They also chanted to end the filibuster, which would eliminate the legislative block that has prevented the bills from being passed in the Senate. 

Deborah Scott, a protester who came from Georgia to participate in the demonstration, said “The filibuster silences our votes and our voices. What we did in Georgia is being affected. We turned the vote out, and now to see Congress not fight for our rights means, we had to come here.”

Beatty wrote on Twitter, “You can arrest me. You can’t stop me. You can’t silence me.”

Sources: CNN 7/15/21; U.S. Capitol Police 7/15/21; Congresswoman Joyce Beatty 7/15/21; Twitter 7/15/21; New York Times 7/15/21; Washington Post 7/15/21; Twitter 7/15/21

DACA Application Backlog Puts Thousands of Recipients at Risk of Losing Work Permits

Posted on by Madeleine Roberts-Ganim

As a result of a paperwork backlog caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) application and renewal process has been significantly delayed, preventing undocumented people from receiving DACA benefits and existing DACA recipients from being able to work due to expired permits.

Over 62,000 first-time DACA applications had been submitted to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as of May 31st, but only 1,900 of those applications had been adjudicated by that date.

According to a CNN report Wednesday, about 13,000 DACA recipients have been waiting over four months for their renewal cases to be processed by the USCIS. These 13,000 recipients can lose their ability to work in the U.S. if their permits are not renewed on time. DACA recipients are required to renew every two years.

Ju Hong, a DACA recipient since 2012, was fired from his job and lost his health insurance because the USCIS did not renew his permit on time, CNN reported. Hong had applied for a renewal when expected, but his permit expired due to USCIS’s backlog and subsequent delays.

Luckily, Hong was notified on Wednesday that his DACA permit had been renewed. He is now waiting on approval of his work authorization.

In response to the delays caused by the paperwork backlog, the Biden administration is set to increase the number of immigration officers assigned to process DACA applications and renewal cases. The USCIS is also addressing technical issues, staffing shortages, and other administrative difficulties that have led to delays.

“I am pleased to see USCIS has taken action following our call to address DACA delays, and I am hopeful that their recent efforts, including training more officers on initial DACA applications, will help address the challenges facing our Dreamers,” said Senator Cortez Masto (D-NV). “Moving forward, USCIS must continue to prioritize speeding up their application processing, so Dreamers are not suffering the consequences of delays.”

DACA recipients are already unsure of the reliability of the program, as an upcoming court decision in Texas over DACA’s legality could upend recipients’ status.

The House passed a bill in March that would give DACA recipients the opportunity to apply for permanent legal status and ultimately citizenship. However, the bill is unlikely to garner enough votes in the Senate.

“Even with DACA in place, we know that Dreamers live in a constant state of fear about their status and their future,” said Vice President Harris in a meeting with immigrant care workers on Tuesday.

“It is critically important that we provide a pathway to citizenship to give people a sense of certainty and a sense of security.”

Sources: The Hill 7/14/21; CBS 7/13/21; CNN 7/15/21;

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