The Immigrant’s Journal - Vol. 135

The Immigrant’s Journal Vol. 135

Our leaders who stood for Unity & Justice

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Protecting God’s Children From Distant Lands

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April 13, 2021

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How Many ICE-Related COVID-19 Deaths Have Gone Unreported?

Hina Naveed is a CUNY Hero

BY KATY MURZDA

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fter almost two years in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, Martin Vargas Arellano was released to a hospital on March 5. ICE did not notify his family or attorney. Three days later, he died alone from complications of COVID-19. His death leads to questions about how many other people have died soon after release from immigration detention.

Fifty-five-year-old Vargas Arellano suffered from diabetes, hypertension, hepa-

Hina Naveed. Photo courtesy: CUNY School of Law

continued on page 2

Can You Be Friends With Your Ex? ....5

Immigrant Heritage Week: April 12-18

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n New York City, the ultimate city of immigrants, we have always known that immigrants are essential: immigrants make up half our city’s workforce and during COVID-19 they came to represent a disproportionate share of the essential workforce in the city. Our city came to rely and continues to rely on immigrants, who also bore the brunt of the fallout of COVID19. And while immigrants have continued supporting the city as essential workers, they also are stepping up to fill needs in our communities. From food distribution volunteers to those making sure their communities have the latest information and resources, and others who have helped advocate for New Yorkers in the health system, immigrant New Yorkers deserve our

thanks and recognition for their invaluable contributions.

During this 17th Annual Immigrant Heritage Week (IHW)—Monday, April 12 through Sunday, April 18— the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) is proud to honor and celebrate the countless contributions of immigrant New Yorkers who have kept our city running.

Established in 2004, IHW pays homage to the legacy of April 17, 1907, the day in NYC history when 11,000 immigrants—the largest number in history—entered the U.S. through Ellis Island. This week-long celebration highlights the histories, unique cultures, and contributions of New York City’s diverse immigrant communities. l

Illustration by Brooklyn-based illustrator Jason Raish, born in Seoul, South Korea.

Reasons to Stop Delaying a Colonoscopy ....13

E

ven as she cared for COVID-19 patients as a volunteer with the NYC Medical Reserve Corps at the height of the pandemic, Hina Naveed spent her nights studying law at the CUNY School of Law. A registered nurse, Naveed earned her Juris Doctorate on Jan. 14, her third degree from CUNY. Her flair for multitasking came through loud and clear in a letter Naveed wrote to U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, in which she stressed the vital importance of creating a pathway to citizenship for herself and thousands of other fellow Dreamers. Sen. Durbin, who introduced the DREAM Act in 2001 and continues to push for Congressional passage of comprehensive immigration reform, recently read Naveed’s letter on the Senate floor and celebrated her achievements, calling her an “immigrant healthcare hero.”

Sen. Durbin highlighted Naveed’s community-based work on behalf of children in foster care, her volunteer work caring for COVID patients and the perseverance and tenacity of a woman who came to the U.S. at the age of 10 from Pakistan by way of Dubai.

Poignant though they were, the senator’s words merely scratched the surface of Naveed’s work as a social justice warrior, immigrant rights advocate, healthcare continued on page 10

IMMIGRANTS’ CONCERNS

2 'We Are The 11 Million Campaign

ICE-Related COVID-19 Deaths/from page 1 titis C, cellulitis, gout, and schizophrenia and used a wheelchair most of the time.

Despite his medical condition, he had been denied release multiple times from Adelanto ICE Processing Center because of crimes he committed 30 years ago.

This month, Vargas Arellano’s attorney heard second-hand that he had been released and filed a missing person report. She eventually spoke to a coroner, who said that her client had died 10 days earlier.

Vargas Arellano was a plaintiff in litigation demanding the reduction of Adelanto’s population to meet federal social distancing guidelines. A federal judge in the case has ordered ICE to explain its actions, saying in his order that: “It appears that the government actively concealed the seriousness of [Vargas’] condition, and his subsequent death, from his counsel and the court.”

The judge has also appointed a “special master” to investigate Vargas Arellano’s death and issue recommendations to the court.

ICE publishes data on the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths at each of its facilities. According to that data, nine people have died of COVID-19 in ICE custody since the beginning of the pandemic. But there are concerns that individuals who contracted COVID-19 in detention but died after being released would not get counted in ICE’s data. The situation could create perverse incentives for ICE to release very sick people

E quickly without accountability.

Unfortunately, Vargas Arellano is not the first person to have died of COVID19 after being released from detention.

On April 24, 2020, ICE released 42-yearold Óscar López Acosta after another detained individual in his crowded dorm tested positive for COVID-19.

Approximately two weeks later, López Acosta died from complications from the virus. It is unknown how many other people have died after release from detention.

Immigrants convicted of crimes have already been held accountable for them before they arrive in ICE custody.

Denying them release now reenforces existing racial biases in our criminal justice system.

It is also unnecessary for ensuring that people attend their immigration court hearings. Community-based case management for those who need it is much more humane and a better use of govern-

ment resources.

COVID-19 has made ICE detention especially dangerous.

ICE should conduct a full case review of everyone in its custody under a presumption of release, releasing all who fall outside ICE’s interim enforcement priorities and those who are most vulnerable. This should include those with serious medical conditions or a heightened risk of complications from the virus.

ICE should also be accountable for reporting data on the release of individuals who are ill. It must ensure attorneys and families receive notice of the release. Attempting to cover up the deaths to avoid accountability only devastates grieving families more.l

L PASO: On Saturday, April 10, the Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR) and the Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance (RITA) will held one of the largest in-person mobilizations at the border region in over a year, convening more than 400 people in a march throughout downtown El Paso to launch the new ‘We Are The 11 Million’ campaign calling for a commitment to achieving holistic immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented, the demilitarization of the southern border, and increased transparency and accountability among federal immigration enforcement agencies such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“The ‘We Are The 11 Million’ campaign is a reminder to everyone – members of Congress and the Biden administration, in particular – that the immigrant rights community is united and steadfast in our call for immigration reform that leaves no one behind, including the 11 million undocumented, asylum seekers, and border residents. It is only through a wider approach that we will be able to truly fix our broken immigration system, and address the challenges currently being faced at our southern border,” said Fernando García, executive director of BNHR. “Our elected officials do well to remember that we, the people, determine congressional priorities, not the other way around. And we won’t settle for half measures – we demand the whole enchilada.” l

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3

TIME FOR ACTION

Cruelty at the Border is not the Same as Strength or an Effective Immigration Strategy

BY PETER BOOGAARD

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o you have to be cruel to secure the southern border? This is an undercurrent in the debate about increased migration, and it came to the forefront during President Joe Biden's news conference Thursday.

Conventional wisdom says that if you make life miserable for people seeking refuge, they won't try to come. But that ignores facts and historical context.

We’ve just left behind four years of President Donald Trump’s cruelty as a deterrence border policy and saw firsthand that his approach was a failure by any moral, substantive or political measure. We can't return to those misguided policies.

Let's start with the facts: Border apprehensions are up significantly, as they were in 2014, 2016 and 2019. Similar to those years, we’ve seen an increase in families and unaccompanied children claiming asylum at the border, all vulnerable populations that require unique care and logistics to ensure their safety. The government is still trying to rebuild its processing capacity after Trump spent four years dismantling it. Coupled with the increased COVID-19 safety protocols, this is a substantial challenge.

Wave began under Trump policies This most recent migration increase started in April 2020, after Trump had put in effect some of his harshest border policies and long before Biden took office. And now, just as in 2014, 2016 and 2019, the border remains secure.

There are nearly 20,000 border patrol agents at the southern border, and we have invested more than $300 billion in border security over the last two decades.

Families and children fleeing violence and persecution are not overrunning the border; they are largely presenting themselves to border patrol agents to claim asylum. The wealthiest and most powerful country on earth can treat people fleeing for their lives with care and dignity while also keeping our families and communities safe.

Immigration and border security are complicated issues, but we cannot forget the consequences of Trump's policies. He and his team essentially eliminated the

Not only did cruelty fail as a deterrent, it was wildly unpopular and contributed to Republican defeats in 2018 and 2020. asylum system and decimated the U.S. government’s ability to process arrivals effectively. They canceled programs that allowed migrants to apply from their home countries, and terminated aid programs for the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, which addressed the original causes of migration.

They also accelerated the misguided policy of militarizing the southern border— as if we were facing armed invaders — instead of investing in systems to help desperate children and families fleeing violence and seeking freedom. These policies contributed to increases in irregular migration we see today.

Further, through the cruel policy of family separation, and systematically blocking tens of thousands from legally seeking asylum, people were forced to try and enter between ports instead of seeking legal admission in an orderly fashion through a port of entry. The results were clear: In FY 2019, after two years of Trump’s border policies, nearly 1 million people were apprehended at our borders, the highest year-to-year increase since the 1940s.

Similarly, sending people back to Mexico to wait or expelling them rapidly under a public health statute didn’t act as a deterrent. We saw a steady increase in apprehensions starting in April 2020 that has continued to today. And, as Biden said last week, no one would suggest that those increases were happening because Trump was a nice guy.

Cruelty didn't work as a deterrent and it was wildly unpopular. People across the country rejected his family separation policies, contributing to Republicans’ electoral defeats in 2018 and 2020. Biden is right to take a new approach, both because of the human toll and also because the policies weren't effective over the long term. As he expands capacity to process families and children with dignity, he and Vice President Kamala Harris also plan to

address the underlying conditions driving migration.

Kindness doesn't equal weakness People seeking humanitarian relief or a better life in the United States should be able to apply closer to home, as opposed to only at the border through the asylum system. Expanding programs like the Central American Minors program, while establishing refugee processing in the Western Hemisphere, would increase legal channels and reduce activity at the border.

Providing aid to the Northern Triangle will help improve conditions in that region and reduce the push factors driving people away from their homes. And leveraging U.S. regional partnerships to expand refugee protections and overall resettlement across the hemisphere will improve conditions for migrants and further expand overall resettlement capacity for people in need of protection. These steps will establish a fair and orderly migration process, while ensuring vital asylum protections, and help keep our families and communities safe and our border secure.

Every day when I drop my two kids off at school, I tell them to be kind. Never once have I thought that meant they weren't also going to be strong. Cruelty doesn't equal strength and it certainly isn't an effective long-term border strategy. So we are left with a binary choice: return to Trump’s failed policies, or embrace a new approach. Biden has a plan to finally take action on the root causes of migration and to fix our longbroken immigration system. He should continue to follow through on it. l Peter Boogaard, communications director of FWD.us, was a White House and National Security Council spokesman and Department of Homeland Security Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Obama administration. This Op-Ed was originally published in USAToday on March 29, 2021.

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IMMIGRANTS’ CONCERNS

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5 Ways Parents Can Help Children with the ‘New’ Math families, even one hour of board-game play across a period of two weeks increased low-income children’s math performance to the level of their middleincome peers.

BY CLARISSA A. THOMPSON, LAUREN K. SCHILLER & MARTA MIELICKI THE CONVERSATION

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n his March 2021 Netflix special, comedian Nate Bargatze complains about having to teach his kids a confusing “new math” based on standards known as the Common Core.

“The goal of Common Core is to use one sheet of paper for every problem,” Bargatze jokes. He observes that this new math requires people to “keep breaking the problem down.”

“You put the problem at the top, and it just keeps going,” Bargatze says. “And then what’s funnier is you see old math in the middle of it. As you break it down, old math gets in there and you’re like, ‘Oh, just do that at the top.’ I don’t even know what we’re doing.”

Math worries Bargatze is by no means alone in his frustration. Since many schools went largely remote during the COVID-19 pandemic, countless parents, me included, are becoming burnt out as we find ourselves thrust into the role of substitute math teacher.

3. Break math down step by step To help kids avoid the COVID slide, a major dip in math performance occurring during the pandemic, parents can break down math problems step by step. As they learn the procedure at each step children can then better understand how to get to the correct answer, or where they made a mistake along the way.

Why does this so-called new math – which has actually been around for over a decade – draw so much scorn from parents?

This new math is based on a list of standards that students should master within each grade. It’s different from “old math” in that the standards focus not only on the step-by-step procedures to solve math problems, but also on why those procedures work in the first place. The idea is to teach the procedures in such a way that children can apply this knowledge to future math problems that they encounter – both at school and in real-life contexts.

For instance, in solving the multiplication problem, 312 x 23, parents historically might line the problem up and start multiplying from right to left. We were told that we had to include the 0 on the right under 936, but I don’t recall ever being told why. But under the Common Core standards, students are encouraged to break the problem down into hundreds, tens and ones. This newfangled way to do the math makes it more transparent where the answer, 7,176, and that mystery 0 come from.

Overcoming math anxiety As Bergatze’s stand-up bit points out, this new math has triggered some parents’ “math anxiety” – a common apprehension that can impair math performance, many studies show.

Researchers haven’t completely figured out how to eliminate math anxiety. But as a researcher who studies why people hate math, I believe there are steps parents can take to combat any negative attitudes they may have toward math and to improve children’s math understanding.

Five of those steps are listed below.

1. Point out math in everyday life Math learning doesn’t happen just in classrooms. Parents can draw children’s attention to math all around them. They can talk about math in the grocery store or at the bus stop. One idea is to incorporate positive math talk while reading books with our children, even if the books don’t inherently include numbers.

For example, even though the classic children’s book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” doesn’t include counting or comparing how much the caterpillar eats each day, parents can insert guiding scenarios like “The very hungry caterpillar ate 4 strawberries. Let’s count them. 1-23-4. Did the caterpillar eat more plums or strawberries?” This is a “two-for-one deal” that could help time-strapped parents promote literacy and numeracy.

2. Play board games and card games Children can learn about math as they play fun board games, such as Chutes and Ladders, and card games, like war.

Research has shown that playing board games pays off. One study found that while low-income families played board games less at home than middle-income

4. Draw connections to more familiar and well-liked math Parents can also help children understand more difficult math concepts, such as fractions, by drawing connections to more familiar, well-liked and less anxiety-provoking math, such as whole numbers or percentages. For instance, parents can show that ¾ – that is, three-fourths – is the same as 75 out of 100, or 75%.

Parents can draw a connection to money, too. There are four quarters in a dollar.

Each quarter is worth 25 cents. That means that three out of four quarters is worth 75 cents.

5. Avoid negative math attitudes This recommendation goes hand in hand with our first recommendation. Parents should seek out opportunities to talk about math at every chance they get, but they should avoid negative math talk.

Many an American will freely admit to being “not a math person”. These off-thecuff remarks can have serious consequences for children, who soak up information in their environments.

Math-anxious teachers and parents can transmit their anxiety to children, especially girls. Girls and women have higher math anxiety, which could be one reason they have lower math performance and less confidence when estimating numbers and are less likely than men to pursue STEM careers.

I hope parents embrace their new role as math tutors, because it seems as if home schooling will continue throughout the spring for many students. It shouldn’t go unmentioned that kids aren’t all that enamored with their home-school teachers either. Some may even hope they won’t have the same teacher next year.l

Clarissa A. Thompson, Associate Professor of Cognitive Psychology, Kent State University. Lauren K. Schiller, Teachers College, Columbia University Marta Mielicki, Postdoctoral research associate, Kent State University.

Contributors: Charles J. Fitzsimmons, Assistant researcher, Kent State University. Daniel A. Scheibe, Doctoral Candidate, Kent State University

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FAMILY MATTERS

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Can You Be Friends With Your Ex?

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ivorces can be messy, ugly affairs. They tear families apart, break down dreams that you may have had for the future, devastate your finances and even ruin your credit rating in some cases. Some people lose friends over a divorce, and others have their relationship with their children impacted in some way. Few who have endured a divorce will tell you that the process was pleasant, and it is understandable that you may want to cast some blame for the state of your current life on your ex.

However, some exes have been able to maintain a friendship and have even maintained their status as best friends despite their divorce. The truth is that you actually can be friends with your ex, but it does take some work.

During the divorce, work to maintain a friendly relationship with your spouse by working together to divide the assets and to set up a fair custody arrangement for the kids. This process can be a nightmare to go through, and it is far easier to do if the two of you work together rather than against each other.

After the divorce is finalized, it is easy

Increasing Immigration is Vital to the U.S.’ Continued Global Economic Leadership

W to fall into a state of only taking about the kids if you have kids. If you do not have kids, there may seemingly be no reason to talk to this person again.

However, if you truly want to be friends with your ex, you will need to nurture the relationship just as you would any other relationship. You will need to make plans to see him or her on a friendly basis and just hang out. One idea is to set up a regular lunch date every few weeks to touch bases and keep in touch. An alternative is a coffee date or something else just as casual.

It is important to remember that the

marriage may have failed for whatever reason, but this is a person who you once loved deeply and who you wanted to devote your life to. It may sound like hard work to have a friendship with this person, but it actually may be easier to be friends with your ex than to deal with the emotions of never speaking to him or her again. As a final note, however, remember that both parties will need to want the same type of friendship after the divorce for this to work, and both will need to actively work toward maintaining the friendship. This will not work if it is onesided.l

ASHINGTON, DC: A new report released today from George Mason University in collaboration with FWD.us, Increasing Future Immigration Grows the U.S.’ Competitive Advantage, presents new data making clear that increasing immigration is vital to the U.S.’ continued global economic leadership, and how the U.S. must raise immigration levels—and create a humane, orderly system for family- and employment-based immigration—in order to remain the world’s largest economy, maintain a strong, competitive workforce, and outperform global competitors.

“The data is clear: by increasing immigration and ensuring that our system of laws provides for humane, fair, and orderly processes for family- and employmentbased immigration, the United States can maintain our global economic leadership, invest in a strong, innovative future workforce, and do right by millions of American families,” said Todd Schulte, President of FWD.us. l

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TAX MATTERS

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Emergency Aid Granted to Students Due to COVID is Not Taxable

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ASHINGTON: The Internal Revenue Service issued frequently asked questions on how students and higher education institutions should report pandemic-related emergency financial aid grants.

Students Emergency financial aid grants made by a federal agency, state, Indian tribe, higher education institution or scholarshipgranting organization (including a tribal organization) to a student because of an event related to the COVID-19 pandemic are not included in the student's gross income.

Also, students should not reduce an amount of qualified tuition and related expenses by the amount of an emergency financial aid grant. If students used any portion of the grants to pay for qualified tuition and related expenses on or before December 31, 2020, they may be eligible to claim a tuition and fees deduction or the American Opportunity Credit or

Lifetime Learning Credit on their 2020 tax return.

The tuition and fees deduction is not available for tax years beginning after December 31, 2020.

Higher Education Institutions Because students don't include emergency financial aid grants in their gross income, higher education institutions are not required to file or furnish Forms 1099-MISC reporting the grants made available by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) or the COVID-related Tax Relief Act (COVID Relief Act) and do not need

to report the grants in Box 5 of Form 1098-T. But any amounts that qualify for the tuition and fees deduction or the American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit are considered "qualified tuition and related expenses" and trigger the reporting requirements of Internal Revenue Code section 6050S. Higher education institutions must include qualified tuition and related expenses paid by emergency financial aid grants awarded to students in Box 1 of Form 1098-T.l —IRS.gov

Statement on Expiration of the Trump Era Visa Bans

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ASHINGTON, DC: President Biden has formally allowed the Presidential Proclamation 10052, first announced by the Trump Administration one year ago, to expire.

This proclamation barred individuals from entering the United States on certain temporary visas, including H-1B, H2B, L and J visas. FWD.us President Todd Schulte issued the following statement: “We face a number of challenges to fix our failed immigration system—but allowing these economically destructive bans on immigrants and guest workers to expire is low-hanging fruit that will boost our economy immediately.

Immigrants and immigration—including a modern guest worker program—are critical for America and our economic and public health recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The President and Congress must do everything in their power to pass legislation to secure citizenship for millions and build a modern immigration system to ensure America’s continued economic leadership in the 21st century.”l

MONEY MATTERS

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AG James Calls on Secretary of Education to Further Address Student Loan Crisis

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EW YORK: New York Attorney General Letitia James, as part of a coalition of 23 attorneys general from around the nation, took action to address the nation’s ongoing student loan crisis. In a letter to Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona, Attorney General James and the coalition urge additional reforms to ease the process of paying student loans, as well as to protect student loan borrowers from paying back debt to for-profit and now defunct colleges. Since taking office, in 2019, Attorney General James has returned more than $15.5 million to student loan borrowers.

“With more than $1.7 trillion in student debt owed by students across the country, now is the time for us to take bold action to end this crisis and provide our students with the tools they need to move forward,” said Attorney General James.

“We need to make attaining a higher education more accessible and that begins with affordability. Imagine what could be achieved without the heavy burden of student loan debt. I encourage the BidenHarris Administration to keep all options on the table, including loan cancellation.”

In their letter, the coalition of attorneys general urged Secretary Cardona to consider several policy actions that would help student loan borrowers, including: •Continuing the policy of suspending student loan payments and waiving interest for as long as necessary to support struggling borrowers; •Continuing the policy of suspending involuntary collections activities, as well as authorizing suspended payments to count towards both the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program and incomedriven repayment (IDR) plan forgiveness; •Enacting reforms so that student loan borrowers are able to access and remain in IDR plans to which they are entitled — enabling borrowers to have more affordable monthly payments, to avoid the serious consequences of default, and to secure loan forgiveness when appropriate; and •Enforcing the gainful employment requirement of the Higher Education Act, which would shield borrowers from forprofit programs that fail to prepare students for careers.

The letter applauded the Department of Education’s actions, just yesterday, to expand pandemic protections to privately-owned loans. The attorneys general also welcomed President Joseph Biden’s commitment to consider using executive authority to cancel student debt, saying “...we strongly urge that any debt cancellation should apply to all federal loans — including Federal Family Education Loans and Perkins loans that are not owned by the Department... For many with student debt, the current system is highly complex and difficult to manage.

This is a needless source of great anxiety and is plainly unfair. We can and must do better.”

The letter is the latest action Attorney General James has taken to support student loan borrowers. In July 2020, Attorney General James and a multistate coalition sued the Trump Administration’s U.S. Department of Education and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to block their efforts to repeal critical protections for student-borrowers who have been misled or defrauded by predatory for-profit schools.

Additionally, in June 2020, Attorney

General James filed a multistate lawsuit to stop the Department of Education and Secretary DeVos from repealing the “Gainful Employment” rule, which provides critical protections to students considering enrolling in for-profit colleges and vocational schools that promise students “gainful employment in a recognized occupation” after graduation.

In January 2019, Attorney General James and the New York state Department of Financial Services obtained a $9 million agreement with a federal student loan servicer, ACS Education Services (currently known as Conduent Education Services), after an investigation revealed that the company had steered borrowers away from income-based repayment plans toward more expensive options.

Finally, Attorney General James helped negotiate two multistate agreements with loan companies — Student CU Connect CUSO in June 2019 and PEAKS in September 2020 — that preyed on ITT Technical Institute students by deceiving them into taking out private student loans. These agreements resulted in $7.5 million in debt relief to nearly 900 New York ITT students. l

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CIVIL RIGHTS

8

Outrage in Georgia: Civil Rights Groups Sue to Block State’s Shameful New Voter Suppression Law

BY HANNAH FRIED

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coalition of civil rights groups including the Southern Poverty Law Center filed suit in federal court this week to challenge Georgia’s new voter suppression law – a revival of Jim Crow-era tactics aimed squarely at silencing the voices of people of color, low-income people, students and others in the aftermath of historic voter turnout.

Signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, SB 202 represents a sweeping – and unconstitutional – repudiation of voter rights in a Southern state with a long history of disenfranchisement, of Black people in particular.

The law was enacted amid demonstrably false claims about “voter fraud” perpetuated by former President Donald Trump and his allies after Trump and two U.S. senators from Georgia were defeated at the polls – the same lies that sparked the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

In some underserved areas, many Georgia voters already wait hours in long

lines to vote. The new law, which will make those lines even longer by restricting absentee and curbside voting, goes so far as to criminalize the provision of water or food to voters waiting in those lines.

“Legislators and Governor Kemp ignored the very obvious lessons from the election in 2020 and runoffs in 2021: Expand safe and secure access to the ballot, codify innovations to voting and provide additional resources to cashstrapped counties,” said Nancy Abudu, deputy legal director for the SPLC. “Instead, to appease conspiracy theorists and amplify deadly lies about past elec-

tions, Georgia’s leaders have chosen to pass into law SB 202, which makes it more difficult for every Georgian – but particularly Georgians who are members of historically disenfranchised communities – to vote in a safe, secure and convenient manner and have that vote counted.

“In so doing, the defendants have violated federal law and the U.S. Constitution, and we turn to the federal courts and U.S. Congress to address the incredible harm SB 202 will have on our clients.”

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of

Georgia by the SPLC, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Georgia, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. (LDF), and law firms WilmerHale and Davis Wright Tremaine. It was brought on behalf of the Sixth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and SPLC clients Georgia Muslim Voter Project, Women Watch Afrika and Latino Community Fund of Georgia.

The 2020 elections and 2021 runoff were celebrated not just for their turnout, but also for their integrity, as Georgia election officials praised them as safe and secure. But rather than act to expand participation in the political process, Georgia leaders responded by doing what they have many times in the past – by placing burdensome, unjustified and unnecessary restrictions on voters.

The lawsuit, Sixth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church v.

Kemp, challenges multiple provisions of SB 202, including: •A ban on mobile voting. conitnued on page 10

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

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Biden Begins to Restore Temporary Protected Status. Which Countries Could Get TPS Next?

BY MELISSA CRUZ

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y the end of the Trump presidency, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) was all but destroyed. The former administration had attempted to end crucial protections for the hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people who benefited from the status.

Now, just a short time into the Biden administration, those protections are being restored or extended.

Foreign nationals already living in the United States whose countries have been designated for TPS will once again be able to live and work without fear of losing their status. Without these protections, people could be forced to return to a country experiencing war, famine, or environmental disaster.

Which Countries Currently Have TPS? The latest countries to receive TPS are Myanmar and Venezuela.

President Biden granted nationals from both countries the temporary status earlier in March for the next 18 months. It’s estimated that over 300,000 people from Venezuela and 1,600 from Myanmar will be eligible for the status.

Venezuela received the designation due to ongoing instability in the country, including widespread food shortages, economic insecurity, and failed attempts to replace the Nicolas Maduro regime.

Likewise, Myanmar is currently facing “a complex and deteriorating humanitarian crisis” fueled by a violent coup carried out by the military last month.

The full list of countries whose nationals currently have TPS are: •El Salvador •Haiti •Honduras •Myanmar •Nepal •Nicaragua •Somalia •Sudan •South Sudan •Syria •Venezuela •Yemen Which TPS Designations Can Be Expected Next?

Advocates are urging the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate additional countries in need of TPS, such as Guatemala, which experienced devastation due to deadly hurricanes last year.

Other countries, including Mauritania and Cameroon, may also merit a TPS designation based on grave harms their nationals could face if returned there.

Though 12 countries currently have TPS, six of them only have the designation due to ongoing challenges of

Trump’s terminations in court.

TPS for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan were extended through October 2021 after several court orders stopped the terminations. Each country will need to be redesignated for TPS by the Biden administration before the protections expire.

The Dream and Promise Act, which recently passed in the U.S. House of

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Representatives, could also offer TPS holders with more permanent peace of mind: a pathway to citizenship. If passed, the legislation would grant an estimated 400,000 people the opportunity to apply for citizenship.

This would be a significant relief for many TPS holders, some of whom have lived in the United States for decades.

Many have U.S. citizen children and

have significant ties to their communities.

TPS was created by Congress more than 30 years ago to ensure protections for people already in the United States who cannot return home safely. It is a welcome development to have the Biden administration use this authority and resume good faith consideration of when TPS is truly needed.l

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10

IN THE NEWS Hero Hina/from page 1 professional and now, as a law graduate.

For her relentless commitment to expanding rights for immigrants and Dreamers; the around-the-clock care she provided as a nurse during the pandemic; and her goal to one day influence policy to benefit underserved communities, Naveed has been selected as a CUNY Hero, a distinction bestowed on members of the CUNY community who stand out for acts of generosity, bravery and service.

Naveed, whose family moved to the U.S. so her sister could attain life-saving medical care, has demonstrated each of those qualities.

“Hina is a role model in every sense, from her advocacy on behalf of her fellow Dreamers to her commitment to equal rights, to advancing the city’s recovery,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “Her commitment to defending human rights as a lawyer, and to combating the pandemic’s effects through her work as a nurse, is inspiring. CUNY welcomes and supports Dreamers like Hina, who enrich our campuses and classrooms with their idealism, compassion and singular determination to make the world better and more just. We are proud to have served as a launching pad for Hina and eagerly look forward to all the great work that’s to come.”

Two weeks before she sat for the bar exam on Feb. 23, Naveed learned that she had won the prestigious Aryeh Neier Fellowship, a research and mentorship program that will allow her to work year-

long stints at Human Rights Watch and the ACLU, beginning this summer.

Naveed has also volunteered as the campaign manager for her longtime friend Cesar Vargas, a CUNY Law grad who is mounting a Democratic primary run in the race for Staten Island borough president.

Vargas made history in 2015, when he became the state’s first undocumented immigrant to be admitted to the state bar.

Naveed’s nursing career, extensive advocacy work and legal studies have often overlapped. After witnessing firsthand how the pandemic exacerbated longstanding health disparities among lowincome communities, she looks forward to the day when she will have a hand in making policy that supports the equitable distribution of services. But first, she hopes to find a permanent solution to her immigration status.

“Because of DACA I was able to go to college and become a registered nurse,” she said. “But it’s not permanent and I have to live my life in two-year intervals, wondering what’s going to happen next.

When Senator Durbin was sharing my story, it was important, because I hope that is what pushes people that have claimed to support essential workers and hard-working immigrants and called us heroes to put us on a path to citizenship for good.”

Doing her Part During the Pandemic As she pursued her studies at CUNY Law, Naveed served as director of health services at Seamen’s Society for Children and Families, ensuring that foster kids

received medical services. She stepped down in January to focus on the bar exam.

Naveed also volunteered on weekends during the pandemic, traveling to the Brooklyn Hospital Center and ArchCare at Carmel Richmond Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Staten Island to care for COVID patients. She recently renewed her nurse’s license and signed up to administer COVID-19 vaccinations.

“I’m Muslim, so my religion teaches me that if you have a skill and you can be beneficial to your community, you have to use it,” said Naveed of her seven-day (and night) workweeks throughout the pandemic. “There’s no way I could sit on the sidelines, knowing there’s a nursing shortage and I have the license that will allow me to do something about it. I had to help.”

Finding her Activist Voice Combining advocacy, studies and work is nothing new to Naveed. While she attended nursing school at the College of Staten Island (CSI) from 2014 to 2017, she worked as a community organizer for the NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. Before that, she and Vargas cofounded the Staten Island Dream Coalition to lobby and advocate for Dreamers. That was around the time when she began speaking about her own immigration status.

Naveed and her family moved to the United States in 2001 to find care for her older sister, who was diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation, a complication that inhibits normal blood flow and oxygen circulation. When they found treatment at Boston Children’s Hospital, her family settled in Massachusetts.

The experience inspired Naveed, who was 11 at the time, to work in healthcare, determined to make others feel as her sister had been made to feel. After graduating from Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School as a certified nursing assistant in 2008, she moved to New York and earned her associate and bachelor’s degrees from CSI. Before she was a nursing student at CSI, Naveed came to know Vargas through their shared interest in immigrants’ rights.

Vargas eventually impressed upon her the value of attaining the legal training she would need to broaden her advocacy work. She was drawn to CUNY Law because of its reputation as a top-notch public interest law school that caters to students from groups that have been historically marginalized. The affordability of CUNY Law was also a factor, she said, because she was undocumented and didn’t qualify for federal grants or loans.

As someone who faced constant challenges because of her undocumented status — Naveed says an attorney misfiled her family’s paperwork while her sister was receiving care early on, causing her family to overstay their visas — Naveed is committed to making a difference as a champion of immigrant and human rights.

“I know I want to be in the space where I can reform policies so that marginalized communities receive the rights and services that they deserve,” said Naveed.

“I want to do really good, sound policy work and make real, permanent, longlasting change so that systems are in place to really help people.” l

Outrage in Georgia/ from page 8 •New, narrow identification requirements for requesting and casting absentee ballots.

•A delayed and compressed period for requesting absentee ballots.

•Restrictions on secure drop boxes.

•Out-of-precinct disqualification of provisional ballots.

•A drastic reduction in early voting in runoff elections.

•A ban on “line warming,” where volunteers provide water and snacks to voters, disproportionately those of color, who wait in needlessly long lines to cast their vote.

These provisions, the lawsuit charges, violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and infringe on Georgians’ rights under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments as well as the First Amendment in terms of the ban on the free distribution of food and water.

“This law is driven by blatant racism, represents politics at its very worst and is clearly illegal,” said Sophia Lakin, deputy director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “We urge the court to act swiftly to strike it down.”

As the lawsuit describes, the law will be felt disproportionately by voters of color, especially Black voters, many of whom lack IDs or access to obtaining them; use early and weekend voting, especially on Sundays when churches conduct “Souls to the Polls” events; require access to secure drop boxes; rely on food and water to withstand long voting lines; and are more likely to cast provisional ballots.

Until 2013, Georgia would have been required under the Voting Rights Act to submit the new law to U.S. Justice Department for approval. But that “preclearance” requirement was invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Shelby v.

Holder. Since then, numerous states have enacted an array of voter suppression laws.

This new law may be the boldest attempt by any state to restrict voting rights since the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted.

“SB 202’s attempt to disenfranchise Black voters in Georgia harkens back to the most shameful days of voter suppression in the decades before the civil rights movement,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, LDF president and director-counsel. “That this law was passed in Georgia, less than a year after the death of one of the state’s greatest heroes, Representative John Lewis, is shameful. In his name, we will fight to strike down this illegal attempt to undo his legacy. Anything less represents a grave threat to the future of our democracy and inherently undermines the notion of equality for all.”l The SPLC is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people.

11

LEGISLATIVE NEWS

Ban on J-1 Exchange and Other Employment-Based Visas Set to Expire

BY KATY MURZDA

A

ban blocking certain employment-based visas implemented and extended by former President Trump is set to expire on March 31. The ban has likely prevented hundreds of thousands of people from participating in the American economy.

In June 2020, the Trump administration blocked the entry of noncitizens on certain employment-based non-immigrant visas, using the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext. This particular travel ban—the COVID-19 non-immigrant visa ban— affects people who planned to come to the United States temporarily for work, as well as their spouses and children.

The ban was originally set for 60 days.

It was later extended through December 31, 2020 and then through March 31, 2021 shortly before President Trump left office. The Biden administration could simply allow the ban to expire or extend it further. It has not announced any decision to date.

In February, the Biden administration ended a similar ban, commonly referred to as the COVID-19 immigrant visa ban.

It prohibited entry of immigrant visas

based on family relationships, employment, and the diversity lottery. Both the COVID-19 immigrant and non-immigrant visa bans relied on the same legal authority as the Trump administration’s Muslim ban, which Biden rescinded on his first day in office.

In implementing both bans, President Trump stated that the purpose was to preserve jobs for Americans during the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. He did not provide any meaningful economic analysis or evidence that such a ban would benefit the economy or people suffering from unemployment.

One of the visa categories specifically targeted by the COVID-19 non-immigrant visa ban are J-1s.

J-1 visas allow noncitizens to come to the U.S. temporarily to learn skills in the United States that they then bring back to their home country. The program focuses on diplomacy with other countries and incorporates opportunities for cultural exchange.

In general, the J-1 visa program allows for 15 types of exchange visitors, including students, interns, teachers, researchers, and doctors. These visitors participate in diverse fields across the

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economy.

In addition to J-1 visas, the COVID-19 non-immigrant visa ban also affected L-1 visas (intracompany transfers), H-1B visas (high-skilled workers), and H-2B visas (seasonal workers). These visas benefit—and do not harm—the American economy. H-1B visas, for example, are generally allocated to noncitizens who work in fields with low levels of unemployment, even during the pandemic.

Meaningful protections already exist to help ensure that the jobs filled by noncitizens in these visa categories could not otherwise go to an American worker.

Blocking immigration from filling other-

wise unfilled positions could contribute to companies moving jobs abroad.

In October, a federal judge blocked the application of the COVID-19 non-immigrant visa ban to members of five professional organizations. But the ban remained in force for anyone who does not belong to one of the groups that are parties to the suit.

In February, 174 organizations urged the Biden administration to end both the COVID-19 non-immigrant and immigrant visa bans. The letter pointed out that Biden had previously called the bans an attempt to scapegoat immigrants and distract Americans from Trump’s failed COVID-19 response.

The Biden administration should allow the non-immigrant visa ban to expire.

Like several other Trump administration policies, the ban took advantage of the COVID-19 crisis to further an antiimmigrant agenda. Immigration benefits the United States both culturally and economically, including by providing essential workers during pandemic. The United States should eliminate barriers to existing immigration opportunities and establish new paths for legal immigration.l

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CONVERSATIONS

12

Family and Friends Can Be Key to Helping End Domestic Violence, Study Suggests

BY KRISTA M. CHRONISTER THE CONVERSATION

T

he COVID-19 pandemic and strategies to prevent its spread, such as self-quarantine and travel restrictions, have isolated families and intensified conditions that place people at greater risk for domestic violence.

Reports of domestic violence are increasing around the world.

Domestic violence is harm inflicted by a romantic partner in the form of psychological, physical and sexual abuse, stalking, and economic and spiritual abuse. This violence disproportionately affects women and girls around the world. In the United States, one in four women and one in seven men experience domestic violence during their lifetime.

Victims usually turn to informal support resources like family and friends first to share their experiences and get support. Members in victims’ social networks are in a position to help in ways that social service and health care providers may not be. In fact, women seek formal support resources, like

social services and police, far less frequently than they reach out to family and friends. Ethnic minority and immigrant women seek formal support resources even less than white women.

Family and friends, therefore, can have a powerful impact. Victims who receive support from people they are closest to experience less future violence, injury, suicide, depression, and other negative health outcomes. Engaging and supporting family and friends in the prevention of domestic violence has never been more important. The COVID-19 global pandemic has revealed the boundaries of our current social services in reaching women in need.

Despite the key role that social networks play, few researchers have asked network members about how they respond to loved ones and what support they need to respond more effectively and to keep themselves safe. As a researcher who has studied domestic violence for 20 years, I have seen family and friends help stop cycles of violence in their families. In some cases, I have also seen them dismiss, encourage, and perpetrate such violence. By talking to

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ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

women’s social networks, researchers and service providers can learn more about what responses will work best, and for whom, to end cycles of violence.

In a recently published study, my colleagues and I interviewed 27 family members and friends of Filipino loved ones involved in abusive romantic relationships. We focused on the Filipino community because of racial, immigration and colonization experiences that place Filipino women at unique risk for domestic violence and poorer access to resources. The vast majority of people we interviewed spoke about female loved ones who were abused by their romantic partners. In addition, two study participants told us about two female loved ones hurting their partners, and two others told us about male loved ones hurting their male partners. We asked family members and friends how they responded to their loved ones, what influenced how they responded and what support they needed.

How family and friends try to help We found that family and friends tried many different strategies, for long periods, to help their loved ones. Foremost, they tried to stay connected with their loved ones, partners and children using phone, text, social media, visits to their work and home and taking them out socially. Many even lived with their loved ones, most often the victims, which meant that they witnessed the abuse and often stepped in to prevent, de-escalate or stop abuse.

Family and friends also created larger networks of people to watch over their loved ones, communicate about their needs and get resources to them.

Ultimately, they tried to sustain relationships that their loved ones could rely on.

Study participants also tried to connect with loved ones with a value for and commitment to kapwa, a cultural value and concept that conveys how Filipinos share a collective identity and come together to care for one another.

The people we interviewed also tried to talk to their loved ones in ways that did not cause shame, or what Filipinos call hiya. They waited for loved ones to talk first about the abuse; listened; affirmed; validated; and shared their own relationship experiences and advice.

One participant shared her own experiences of domestic violence in an effort to connect and share advice with her friend who was in an abusive relationship: I was in an abusive relationship as well, but I worked super hard at getting a healthy relationship and learning what that looks like, I think it made me say that there’s something wrong with your relationship more believable. I’m not just a friend that doesn’t know what they’re talking about and just saying, ‘Oh your relationship sucks.’ Like I’ve

been in your shoes.

We also found that people we interviewed were creative and diligent with getting resources for their loved ones.

They gave them food, housing, transportation, child care and money. They helped loved ones move out of their homes; complete legal paperwork; get new identification cards; and attend social service appointments. Friends also covered loved ones’ work and school responsibilities when they were too depressed, sick or injured.

Family and friends need support to help We also spoke with people who avoided talking to their loved ones about the abuse and did not help. Some feared that partners would retaliate against their loved ones or themselves if they helped.

Others did not want to cause drama or conflict in their families and friendship groups by talking about the abuse or going against cultural scripts for communication and showing respect.

A family member shared: It’s hard to speak up to elders (who are abusive), and speak up to people that you love and that you respect and that you care about, and so I think just education surrounding that. How to set boundaries for yourself and how to respect yourself without disrespecting your culture as well.

Some did not help for varied reasons, belief in bahala na, or leaving things to a higher power or fate; fear that police and social service providers would be racist and ignorant of Filipino culture; or belief that they would disrespect their loved one’s privacy and interfere with their right to make their own life choices.

A family member shared: We have this term in our culture called bahala ka. It’s like, ‘live your life. You do what you gotta do. But, I will be here.’ Is it most productive? Yes and no…It’s like ‘Okay, I’ll listen to what you have to say. I’ll give you my advice, but it’s your decision.’ Which means that sometimes when we see a situation we take a very passive stance.

We believe that family and friends are key to ending domestic violence and play a role that is distinct from what service professionals can provide.

Because of their importance we believe that researchers and service providers must work more closely with family and friends to communicate what domestic violence looks like in their families and communities, and how to identify how cultural and family values and scripts limit and expand their choices to help.

By engaging family and friends, we can build larger, inspired communities committed to ending domestic violence.l Krista M. Chronister is a Professor, psychology, University of Oregon

HEALTH

13

Reasons to Stop Delaying a Colonoscopy

T

hinking about a colonoscopy may make you uncomfortable, and maybe even a little worried — especially if you have never had one before. But a colonoscopy is a relatively simple procedure that may help save your life by identifying the early signs of colorectal cancer.

While you may have delayed some medical visits because of the pandemic, you can rest assured that health care providers have worked hard to help ensure that procedures like colonoscopies are conducted safely. Putting screenings off, in contrast, may be dangerous: Delayed cancer screenings during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic are estimated to result in 10,000 excess colorectal and breast cancer deaths.

Why screening is important It's a good reminder that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends adults age 50 to 75 be screened for colorectal cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. — and early in the disease, there are often no symptoms.

"Too often, when people begin experi-

encing symptoms of colorectal cancer, the disease has advanced to a point where it's much more difficult to treat," said Dr. Philip Painter, chief medical officer, UnitedHealthcare Medicare and Retirement. "That's why it's so important to get screened at age 50 if you have no risk factors — and earlier, if you do."

People who are longtime smokers, overweight, physically inactive and those with a family history of colorectal cancer in a parent, sibling or child are at an increased risk.

Nearly 148,000 new cases of colorectal cancer were expected to be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2020. About 80,000 of those cases were estimated to be among adults 65 and older. And yet only 61% of Americans age 50 and older have had a colonoscopy.

Colonoscopy prep You may be asked to begin a procedure to help prepare the bowel and colon for examination.

Your doctor will likely instruct you to cut out fiber from your diet two days

before your colonoscopy. One day before, you will eat no solid foods, and no liquids that are orange or red. You may consume clear juices, gelatins, popsicles, clear broth and coffee or tea without creamer. The evening or morning before your exam, you will drink a liquid that will induce bowel movements.

You may find that the preparation for a colonoscopy is not as unpleasant as you have heard. In recent years, coloncleansing solutions have become better tasting, and lower amounts of the laxative solution are sometimes used.

The procedure itself is not lengthy typically, about 30 to 60 minutes.

Sedation is usually recommended, and you may feel slight cramping during the exam, but many may feel nothing at all.

If your results are negative, doctors typically recommend another colonoscopy in 10 years.

"Taking preventive steps like getting your colonoscopy can literally save your life," Dr. Painter said. "If you are over 50 and have not yet had the test, it's best to get that scheduled as soon as possible."

Still have questions or concerns? Talk to your health care team. They are there to help. (BPT)l

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14

Republicans Introduced 11 New Anti-Immigration Bills. Here’s What’s at Stake If They Pass.

BY MELISSA CRUZ

A

group of Republican lawmakers recently introduced a slew of anti-immigration bills in the House of Representatives and Senate.

The bills primarily target people’s rights to seek asylum in the United States, as well as re-up a laundry list of anti-immigration initiatives from the Trump administration.

These measures are the latest response to the arrival of asylum seekers and other migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Much of the media has falsely painted it as a “crisis” at the border. And despite evidence that the rise in arrivals began long before Biden took office, some congressional leaders are using it as an excuse to introduce damaging legislation.

In total, there were 11 new bills introduced between March 18 and March 24—seven from the Senate and five from the House. The lawmakers who introduced them include Senator Lindsey Graham and Representative Lauren Boebert.

Asylum Bills Five of the new bills target asylum

specifically. If passed, these measures would: •Require asylum officers to conduct credible fear interviews—often a retraumatizing experience for the asylum seekers—over the phone or at a U.S. embassy or consulate before the person could be considered for admittance into the United States.

•Require asylum seekers to have already applied for and been denied asylum in at least one country they traveled through on their way to the United States.

•Limit asylum eligibility to people who applied at a port of entry, despite it being legal to ask for asylum anywhere along the border.

•Allow children to be detained for up to 100 days, far beyond the 20-day limit currently set by the Flores Settlement Agreement.

•Mandate the controversial practice of DNA testing at the border and immediately deporting anyone who refused.

•Amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act to allow unaccompanied children to be immediately expelled from the border.

•Reinstate several Trump administration policies—including the Migrant Protection Protocols program—and

Senator Graham. Editorial credit: GurganusImages / Shutterstock.com

resume border wall construction.

Legal Immigration Bills Two of the recently introduced bills target legal immigration channels. If passed, the bills would: •Eliminate the Diversity Visa Lottery Program, which grants green cards to 50,000 randomly selected people from countries with low levels of immigration to the United States.

•Impose criminal penalties on people who overstay their visas—requiring them to pay $500 per day that they remain in the United States, face a year of jail time, or both.

Funding and Enforcement Bills The remaining four bills focus on immi-

gration-related funding and enforcement issues. If passed, the bills would: •Withhold federal grants from jurisdictions with “sanctuary” policies and give extra legal protections to local law enforcement who cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

•Defund several actions taken during Biden’s first week in office, including a reversal of ICE’s new enforcement priorities and revoking federal support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative.

•Cut a plan to create a regional framework with Central American countries to address the root causes of migration.

•Remove safety measures and personnel (including the National Guard) currently protecting the U.S. Capitol and place them at the southern border.

•Make it a federal crime to flee from law enforcement officials when being pursued for an immigration-related offense.

The likelihood of these bills passing in the current Congress is slim. But it’s important to continue to monitor these and other anti-immigration measures, as they will likely come up again in the lead up to the 2022 midterm elections.l

We Speak NYC Conversation Classes are now online!

We Speak NYC (WSNYC), developed by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, is an Emmy Award-winning English language learning program for intermediate level learners.

WSNYC provides civic-focused instruction through videos, education materials, community conversation classes, an interactive website, and now, in response to COVID-19 and the need for social distancing, We Speak NYC is offering online conversation classes!

Participants can register to be a part of an online community and safely meet people, learn about NYC services, and practice their English conversation skills with peers. Each class covers information on important topics such as workers' rights, healthcare, and workforce development.

Want to participate? Visit nyc.gov/learnenglish to find a class at a time that works for you!

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JOBS & RECESSION

16

How to Crush Interviews and Build Relationships - Even Through a Screen

H

ave you been on a recent virtual date or job interview and just not felt the energy you might have in person? You're not alone - as the pandemic has taken away the ease and safety of in-person meetups, "Zoom fatigue" has become a regular part of our vocabulary. Sometimes, trying to connect with someone through a webcam just doesn't feel right, but the good news is that there are solutions.

Some people have mastered the Zoom life and have some tips to share about how to foster really meaningful personal interactions, even through a screen.

"You've got to let your curiosity fuel you," says OZY CEO Carlos Watson. As host of the viral YouTube talk show sensation The Carlos Watson Show, Watson has created the warmest place on the internet, where his uniquely charming conversation style leads to some of the most intimate conversations with the world's biggest names. "Don't think of it like you're miles away; appreciate the intimacy Zoom brings - you're in each other's homes." And while Watson has invited TV's most diverse lineup to his virtual coffee table, boasting names from Ava DuVernay to Mark Cuban, John

ever serendipitous turn they might.

Watson knows this, and covers a notable range of topics with the world's top names. Let your conversations wander, because you never know where they might take you.

Legend to Megyn Kelly, here are his top tips for anyone trying to get past Zoom fatigue and create real relationships over calls: Start in a place of mutual understanding Having interviewed everyone from President Obama to Karl Rove, Tomi Lahren to Rep. Ilhan Omar, Watson knows he might not agree with every guest, but emphasizes the importance of finding common ground. "It feels like one of the most divisive times in history,

but we need to remember that there's more that connects us than divides us," he says. Try to find something you do agree on or a mutual friend or favorite activity. Starting things off on the right foot will allow the rest of the conversation to go more smoothly.

Have an open mind and no expectations Don't approach a new conversation with expectations, because you may be disappointed if they're not met. But an open mind allows conversations to take what-

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Surprise yourself with creative questions Along with avoiding presuppositions of the conversation, avoid presupposing what your conversation-mate might be interested in talking about. In his show, Watson focuses on asking creative questions. He might talk about love with politicians, politics with musicians and music with athletes. Whether on a virtual date or job interview, the likelihood is the person you're talking to is used to getting similar questions and doesn't get to be creative with their answers. By thinking outside the box with the questions you ask, and pivoting from the norms, you can get the most genuine answers.

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The Environmental and Cultural Risks of Resuming Border Wall Construction

BY KATY MURDZA

A

pause on border wall construction is set to expire on March 20, without an indication of what will happen next. President Biden signed a proclamation ordering the 60-day pause on his first day in office. Any future construction would compound the cultural and environmental damage that has already been done across multiple administrations.

Biden said his administration would use the to pause to review all construction contracts and the costs of “terminating or repurposing” them. It is also assessing how else it may be able to use the $1.4 billion approved by Congress for the border wall.

The Trump administration completed 453 miles of new primary or secondary barriers. To do so, it waived dozens of laws, including the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the Endangered Special Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act. Portions of the border wall have destroyed cultural sites of Indigenous people and prevent them from traveling across their ancestral lands. Twice in September 2020, Border Patrol agents

responded violently to O’odham women protesting wall construction at their sacred Quitobaquito Springs. The agents yanked the women apart from each other as they held hands, knocked them over, pointed stun guns at them, and arrested two of them. The O’odham people have long faced frequent harassment and interrogations by Border Patrol.

A National Parks and Wildlife report predicted that the border wall could damage or destroy 22 archaeological sites at the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona. Also at risk is an over 200-year-old Catholic chapel in the Rio Grande Valley.

The border wall also creates environmental damage. It prevents animal migration, causes flooding, and mars pristine wilderness. A 2017 report listed 93 threatened and endangered species that would be harmed by the wall. Earlier this year, over 70 organizations sent the Biden administration a list of environmental sites which should be prioritized for protection.

In the final weeks before Biden’s inauguration, contractors rushed to complete as much work as possible, leaving short pieces of wall on isolated, treacherous terrain. In some places, they left deep

cuts through mountains, which were intended to hold walls but have only increased erosion.

A 2020 Department of Homeland Security Inspector General report concluded that the Trump administration did not have evidence that a border wall would effectively prevent unauthorized border crossings.

Democratic members of Congress from border districts asking him to cancel all border wall contracts, remove the wall in

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areas of important environmental or cultural significance, and develop an environmental mitigation plan for border communities.

The Biden administration should honor its campaign promise with a permanent end to wall construction. Resources should be focused instead on undoing the harm of the Trump administration and welcome with dignity the backlog of asylum seekers at the border.l

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