Dear friends,
We have achieved Friday, but it was a challenging week on so many fronts.
I am still wrapping my mind around the situation at the border. After just two months on the job, Biden’s US envoy to Haiti resigned this week to protest the “mass deportation of Haitian migrants and asylum seekers to what he said was a highly dangerous ‘collapsed state’.”
Haitian people have been contending with the physical collapse due to the earthquake that rocked the nation in August and the political collapse that followed the assassination of their president in July.
Asylum is a right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but in the US, it has remained a political hot potato. ICE deported thousands of people to Haiti without allowing them hearings or the opportunity to appeal the decision.
The Biden Administration used a Trump-era public health policy, Title 42, to justify the mass deportations, which explains part of the envoy’s outrage. He thought he had been appointed by a new administration.
The Border Patrol made matters far worse by their display of cruelty. Maxine Waters remarked:
“What we witnessed takes us back hundreds of years. What we witnessed was worse than…slavery, cowboys with their reins, whipping Black people, Haitians, into the water where they’re scrambling and falling down when all they’re trying to do is escape from violence in their country.”
I’m not sure I would have gone to ‘worse than slavery’, but her point is clear enough. The Movement For Black Lives has condemned the Administration’s failed policy.
The president is fond of saying that cruel and violent behavior is un-American; this is not accurate. It is, however, unacceptable to continue to perpetrate violence and cruelty as a policy.
Contact the president to let him know that we demand the “elimination of restrictions on entry to the United States that disproportionately target and exclude Black migrants and an immediate end to all roving Border Patrols.”
Before the pandemic, many Americans were burdened by tremendous student debt. The current payment pause for student loans expires this month and Democratic lawmakers are encouraging Biden to use his executive authority to cancel student debt.
"The authority is there, the momentum is there," Representative Ayanna Pressley said during the "State of Student Debt Virtual Summit," a conference hosted by the advocacy group Student Debt Crisis Center.
Pressley added: "Canceling student debt by executive action is one of the most effective ways that we can provide sweeping relief to millions of families. We can help reduce the racial wealth gap, we can stimulate the economy, and we can begin the groundwork for an equitable and just longterm recovery."
Take this ready-made action to call on your senators and your representative to advocate for the cancellation of student debt.
Support The Debt Collective, a debtors’ union fighting to “build a world where college is publicly funded, healthcare is universal, and housing is guaranteed for all.”
There is background to the debt program beyond the great expense of higher education in the US. Many Americans pursuing public service were led to believe that the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program would provide student debt cancellation after 10 years of on-time loan payments.
Data For Progress reports that 98 percent of applicants who applied were denied loan forgiveness. This is a failing program where a functional program is much needed.
Urgent action is needed today. This is the end of the comment period; the federal Department of Education is taking public comments about how to fix the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
Make a comment on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. This is a ready-made action that you can adapt.
The Freedom to Vote Act is a scaled-down version of the For the People Act. It still contains important provisions that would make a meaningful difference to voters. It authorizes Congress to override restrictive measures in federal elections. Restrictive measures covers a wide range of nefarious behavior, including Georgia’s prohibition on giving water to people on line at polling places. The bill also guarantees 15 days of early voting in every state for a federal election and sets up automatic voter registration when a licensed driver turns 18.
Almost three in four Americans support the reforms in the Freedom to Vote Act. We just need Congress to pass it. We must use our voices to protect voting rights.
Sign the petition to end the filibuster and pass the Freedom to Vote Act!
Our public advocate, Jumaane Williams, criticized the mayor and governor for hanging with Meghan and Harry without making time to visit Rikers Island. It’s our job to keep the pressure on. If you already wrote, you can write again. Repetition works.
Call on Mayor De Blasio to grant immediate release to everyone being held on bail. Here’s a ready-made message.
You need no excuse to go outdoors today. You can double up on sunshine and action: Fridays for Future NYC has invited us to march from City Hall Park to Battery Park tomorrow, where there will be speakers and performers.
Join today’s Fridays for the Future Climate Strike.
Have a good weekend!
with love,
L