Serenade to End Family Detention Centers

Left to Right: Leng Leng Chancey (NAPAWF Communications and Development Director),  Sameera Hafiz (We Belong Together Campaign Policy Director), Meghna Damani (Immigrant rights activist and maker of “HeartSuspended”), Miriam Yeung (NAPAWF Executive Director and Co-Chair of We Belong Together Campaign), and Representative Judy Chu (D-CA).

By Miriam Yeung (We Belong Together)  - There is a crisis of conscience in our country regarding our immigration system right now and I’m dropping a note to let you know how proud I am of the fierce Asian American and Pacific Islander women who are standing up to injustice.

"DC is Proud To Be a Sanctuary City"

WASHINGTON, DC (PR) - City officials and immigrant rights groups joined in a unity press conference at the front steps of City Hall to denounce efforts in the US Congress to scapegoat immigrants and undermine local Trust or sanctuary cities like Washington, DC.

Church Security Conference

AUGUSTA, GA (Anibal Ibarra) - The shooting deaths of nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina has raised questions about safety in places of worship around the globe. Although there is no way to entirely protect a church from violence, leaders can increase safety precautions in order to be proactive rather than reactive. A conference on the matter will take place at Hammond Grove Word Power Ministry, August 3 at 7 p.m. in North Augusta.

Law Enforcement Funding at Risk

Under various legislative proposals, funding for critical law enforcement grants to cities and counties that have community trust policies are in danger. These policies include a wide range of practices and laws that specify how state and local law enforcement officials should interact with federal immigration officials. Georgia could lose around $770.000.

Elected Latino Prosecutors Only 1.7%

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (PR) - An analysis by the Women Donors Network’s Reflective Democracy Campaign entitled Justice for All? shows that 95% of elected prosecutors in the U.S. are white and 79% are white men, revealing a stark imbalance between those with enormous power in the criminal justice system and the people they are elected to represent.

Augusta Honored by Georgia Corrections

AUGUSTA, GA (PR) - Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia and the CSRA recently was honored as the only non-law enforcement agency named by the Georgia Department of Corrections as a Partner Agency of the Year. The Richmond County Correctional Institution as County Facility of the Year.

Asians and Hispanics Could Achieve #Health4All

California can succeed in providing health care for all of its undocumented immigrants if the Asian and Pacific Islander communities band together with the Hispanic community and push for it, said Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, and Assemblymember Rob Bonta, D-Oakland. Both men are spearheading the effort in their respective chambers through Health for All bills authored by Lara. The bills are currently making their way through the legislative process.

Preventing Car Hacking

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (PR) - FCA US LLC is conducting a voluntary safety recall to update software in approximately 1,400,000 U.S. vehicles equipped with certain radios. The recall aligns with an ongoing software distribution that insulates connected vehicles from remote manipulation, which, if unauthorized, constitutes criminal action.

Billionaire Setting National Agenda

Yesterday the House of Representatives voted to pass HR 3009, despite a very clear statement from President Obama that he would veto it. "While the vote did not surprise anyone, it reminded many of the need for more, rather than less, protective policies at the municipal and state level to shield communities from the dangerous combination of a broken congress, a rogue law enforcement (ICE), and a bigot billionaire who somehow has managed to set the national agenda."

Sunburn Tattoo Not Good to Beat the Heat

AUGUSTA, GA (PR) – There were 123 heat-related deaths across the nation in 2014, according to the National Weather Service. “People suffer heat-related illnesses when their bodies are unable to compensate and properly cool themselves,” said Dr. Richard Schwartz, chair of emergency medicine at Georgia Regents University. “No matter if you’re in the garden, on the playing field, at the beach or at the construction site, summer activity should be balanced with measures that aid the body’s cooling mechanisms and prevent heat-related illness.”

Hispanic Life Expectancy and Social Security

WASHINGTON, DC (PR) - The Social Security Board of Trustees released its annual report on the long-term financial status of the Social Security Trust Funds.  The combined asset reserves of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Funds are projected to become depleted in 2034, one year later than projected last year, with 79 percent of benefits payable at that time.  The DI Trust Fund will become depleted in 2016, unchanged from last year’s estimate, with 81 percent of benefits still payable.

When Older Adults Give Up the Keys

ATLANTA, GA (PR) - Older adults who have stopped driving are almost two times more likely to suffer from depression and nearly five times as likely to enter a long-term care facility than those who remain behind the wheel, according to a new report released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and Columbia University.