The Biden administration has announced that it will rewrite the rules for the Title X federal family planning program put in place by Donald Trump, which forced Planned Parenthood and other independent clinics who provide abortion and reproductive health care to withdraw from the program in 2019. Trump’s changes to the program, which provides reproductive […]
Biden Signs Series of Executive Orders Reversing Trump Era Immigration Policies
On Tuesday, President Biden signed three executive orders aimed at reversing the “zero tolerance” immigration policies of the Trump administration. Biden said during the signing that “I’m not making new law. I’m eliminating bad policy.” One of the orders establishes a task force that will work to reunite migrant families that were separated at the […]
Biden Administration to Review US-Taliban Agreement
In a conversation with Afghan National Security advisor Hamdullah Mohib, President Biden’s National Security advisor Jake Sullivan once again relayed that the Biden administration will review and assess the Doha Agreement, signed by the Trump administration and the Taliban. Sullivan also ensured US support “for protecting the extraordinary gains made by Afghan women, girls, and […]
Trump Administration Will Stop Blocking Pregnant Minors in Custody from Accessing Abortion
According to a judge-approved agreement from Wednesday, the Trump administration will cease blocking immigrant teens in federal custody from accessing abortion care. The policy follows an ACLU lawsuit from 2017 on behalf of a 17-year-old from Central America seeking an abortion, referred to as “Jane Doe”. The ACLU claimed that the government’s abortion ban has […]
Acting Director of ICE Announces Retirement
On Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting director Matt Albence announced his retirement from the agency, after serving in his position for just over a year. Albence began his work in federal immigration enforcement in 1994 and has moved positions over the years. He had briefly led ICE before, between Ronald Vitiello’s departure and […]
Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration’s Immigration Wealth Test
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s wealth test that denied people permanent residency if they used or were deemed likely to use public services such as Medicaid or food assistance. The decision, from U.S. District Judge George Daniels, comes after New York and other states challenged the rule in light of the coronavirus pandemic, […]
Trump Signs Memo to Exclude Undocumented Immigrants from Census Numbers
President Donald Trump signed a presidential memo Tuesday aiming to exclude the number of undocumented immigrant populations when redistributing congressional seats following the 2020 census. The unprecedented move, which civil rights advocates say is unconstitutional, comes a year after the Trump administration tried and failed to include a citizenship question in the census. If implemented, […]
New Applications Rejected Despite Supreme Court DACA Ruling
Although the Supreme Court voted to uphold the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program nearly a month ago, the Trump Administration is still not accepting new applications. Renewals are being accepted and processed, but hundreds of thousands of first-time applicants are left fearful of their future in the United States. The DACA program protects […]
Trump’s Anti-Asylum Rule Will Harm Refugees Fleeing Gender Violence
In June, the Trump administration proposed a new rule that would make it virtually impossible for refugees to obtain asylum status in the United States. If implemented, the new regulation would eliminate gender-based asylum entirely and forbid asylum judges from hearing any cases involving “private” disputes wherein the persecutors are not directly linked to the […]
Trump Administration Is Now Blocking Most Legal Pathways to Immigration
In the last four months, the Trump administration has used fear of the coronavirus pandemic to severely restrict most avenues for legal immigration, effectively making it impossible to legally migrate to the United States. In early March, the administration issued a public health order that mandates the immediate removal of migrants, including children and asylum […]
Indigenous People Protest Trump’s Visit to Sioux Sacred Lands
On July 4, 21 people were arrested during a protest against President Trump’s visit to the Indigenous Sioux tribe’s sacred land, Mount Rushmore. Protestors, who were primarily Indigenous, placed “three large vans in the roadway to create a blockade to prevent access from Keystone to Mount Rushmore National Memorial” three hours before President Trump gave […]
Trump Administration Urges the Supreme Court to Scrap the Affordable Care Act
On Thursday evening, in a filing to the Supreme Court, the Trump administration asked the court to terminate the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. Asserting that the ACA is illegal, the filing states that “the entire ACA must fall.” This filing was met with immediate criticism from prominent Democrats, as well as the […]
Trump Suspends Multiple Temporary Work Visas Through End of Year
The Trump administration announced Monday a suspension of new temporary employment-based visas at least through the end of this year. The sweeping order will halt temporary visas for workers in specialized fields and many seasonal workers. Multinational companies will also be prohibited from transferring foreign employees to temporarily work in the United States. New restrictions […]
Trump Administration Ends Funding for New Lung Treatments Amid Pandemic
At its most severe, coronavirus attacks a patient’s lungs and fills them with fluid, causing a condition called acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). But the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a federal health agency, recently halted funding for lung therapy treatments. The policy change was announced quietly on a government website on June […]
Trump Administration Asks for Census Delay
The Trump administration has moved to delay deadlines for the 2020 United States Census due to concerns over COVID-19. The changes, requested by Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, would delay the deadline for delivering state population counts for apportionment from December 2020 to April 2021 and for giving states […]
Transgender Navy Officer Sues Pentagon Challenging Trump Transgender Military Ban
This week, a transgender Navy officer referred to as Jane Doe filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon regarding the Trump administration’s transgender military ban. Doe is seeking emergency relief to continue to serve in the military on the same terms as her cisgender peers, faced with involuntary discharge on the basis of her gender identity. […]
Taliban Resumes Killing Afghans Despite Agreement with the U.S.; Human Rights, Women’s Rights, Democracy Omitted
Shortly after the U.S. and the Taliban signed a so-called peace agreement, the Taliban resumed their attacks across Afghanistan in 24 of its 34 provinces. Between February 29th and March 4th, the Taliban conducted 76 attacks. More than 100 Afghan government officials and civilians have been killed in these attacks. In a major attack today […]
Trump Administration Amends Rule to Weaken LGBTQ Employment Protections
Following a thread of Supreme Court decisions that protected business owners’ rights to discriminate on the basis of gender and sexual orientation, on August 15th, 2019 the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) — a branch of the U.S. Department of Labor — published a proposed rule that aims to expand the number of […]
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California Attorney General and Twenty States File Injunctions to Stop ‘Domestic Gag’
This week, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed suit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco seeking an injunction to stop the abortion gag rule in Title X Family Planning Program funding from taking effect, which would affect more than 4 million low income women across the United States, and a coalition of at least […]
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Federal Judge Ordered Reinstatement of Gendered Pay Data Collection
A federal judge ordered that the Trump administration must reinstate an Obama-era rule requiring companies report pay data by race and gender. U.S. district judge for the District of Columbia, Tanya S. Chutkan, said that by rolling back the Obama-era rule the Trump administration violated the law and that the Trump administration failed to demonstrate […]
