Inflation and worker shortage fuel push on immigration bills

WASHINGTON — Rep. Dan Newhouse had a message for the grassroots organizers who gathered outside the Capitol to discuss what chances remain for bipartisan immigration legislation, such as his bill to address the labor shortages harming farmers in both red and blue states. Call your senators.

“The ball is in their court,” the Washington Republican said at the late April event. He asked for help “to urge our senators to take action, to build urgency around this issue, to pass much, much needed immigration reform.”

As concerns about rising levels of migration to the southwest border dominate discussions on Capitol Hill, lawmakers and advocates are pointing to high inflation rates and critical labor shortages in a push for the Senate to take action soon on more narrow immigration bills that could boost the U.S. economy. residents and people from neighboring states in anticipation of Roe v. Wade being overturned, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Monday.

The money will go toward transportation, lodging, care “and, if necessary, safe and legal access to an abortion procedure,” Lightfoot said.

Lightfoot’s pledge comes after a leaked draft of a Supreme Court ruling previewed the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights case. Reiterating a concern she first expressed after the opinion leaked, Lightfoot said the case’s repeal could lead to gay and interracial marriages being outlawed.

“The architects of this destruction will not stop at a woman’s right to choose,” she said in a statement released last week, the day the draft decision was first reported by Politico. “The Court’s draft opinion will establish a precedent for gutting the legal underpinnings used to protect against gender-based discrimination overall including women’s rights, trans rights, immigrant rights, and of course, the right to samesex and interracial marriage. This decision truly epitomizes the dangers that exist at the intersection of racism and sexism.”

–Chicago Tribune

25% OF NYC CHILDREN DON’T KNOW WHERE THEIR NEXT MEAL WILL COME FROM: CITY HARVEST

NEW YORK — Child hunger rates in New York City remain much higher than before the COVID pandemic even though the economy is starting to bounce back, according to a new report from the anti-hunger City Harvest group.

Compared to pre-pandemic levels, about 55% more New York kids are going hungry today and one in four children “don’t know where their next meal will come from,” in a report to be released on Monday.

The problem will worsen during the upcoming summer break when many poor children miss out on the free school meals they depend on.

“Families across New York City are struggling amid surging prices for food, rent, and other necessities all at a time when free school lunch will be harder to access,” said Jilly Stephens, CEO of City Harvest.

As recently as February, about 525,000 children received food from City Harvest’s mobile pantries and soup kitchens in the five boroughs.