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Fast for Families and more


The White House

 

 Immigration Reform

Greetings,

President Obama and his Administration continue to work towards achieving commonsense immigration reform to boost our economy, strengthen our security, and live up to our most closely held values as a country.

Last week the President met with faith leaders in the Oval Office to discuss the importance of taking action to pass commonsense immigration reform. The faith leaders shared with the President stories about the impact the failure to fix the immigration system has on families in their congregations and communities.

President Obama Meets with Faith Leaders in the Oval Office

President Barack Obama hosts a meeting with faith leaders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington April 15, 2014.(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Last week also marked the one year anniversary of the introduction of comprehensive bipartisan legislation in the Senate to fix our broken immigration system. The President has expressed deep concern about the pain felt by too many families when it comes to our broken immigration system. He has emphasized that while his Administration can take steps to better enforce and administer immigration laws, nothing can replace the certainty of legislative reform and that this permanent solution can only be achieved by Congress.

Click here for the President’s statement on the one year anniversary and here for an infographic that highlights the cost of inaction.

Recently, Vice President Joe Biden welcomed leaders of “Fast for Families” to the White House to hear stories of their national bus tour. Vice President Biden shared the White House’s commitment to reforming our broken immigration system and discussed his belief that America is stronger because of the immigrants that come and bring their talents and skills to the country, and we must preserve that national strength as we move forward.

Vice President Biden Meets with Fast for Families

Vice President Joe Biden meets with members of Fast For Families, in the West Wing lobby of the White House, April 11, 2014. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

In other news, on Thursday, April 17, 2014, while speaking to the press the President announced that 8 million Americans have signed up for private health coverage thanks to the Affordable Care Act! Thanks to the work of many, more families have access to quality healthcare. Click here to see how the Affordable Care Act is helping families all across America.

Also, on Monday, April 7, 2014, President Obama and Vice President Biden participated in a ceremonial swearing-in ceremony for Maria Contreras-Sweet as the new Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA). Mrs. Contreras-Sweet is an excellent choice to lead the SBA, having served at high levels in both the public and private sectors. Mrs. Contreras-Sweet served as the first Latina cabinet secretary in the history of California, oversaw one of the largest state government agencies in the country, and built a successful bank dedicated to serving traditionally under-served Latino communities from scratch.

As always, please share this information with your networks, and help inform the Latino community on the latest news.

Thank you.

Jorge Neri
Associate Director
White House Office of Public Engagement 

Administration Highlights

Affordable Care Act by the Numbers
The Affordable Care Act is working. It is giving millions of middle class Americans the health care security they deserve, it is slowing the growth of health care costs and it has brought transparency and competition to the Health Insurance Marketplace.

Statement by the President on the Passing of Nobel Laureate Gabriel García Marquez
With the passing of Gabriel García Márquez, the world has lost one of its greatest visionary writers — and one of my favorites from the time I was young. Affectionately known as “Gabo” to millions of his fans, he first won international recognition with his masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude. To read the statement in Spanish click here.

American Job Training Investments: Skills and Jobs to Build a Stronger Middle Class
To create new opportunities for all hard-working Americans to get ahead, the President has asked the Vice President to lead an initiative to help individuals get trained with skills businesses need now and then placed in good, middle class jobs.

Agency Updates

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Pritzker Announces New York City Native to Lead Minority Business Development Agency
On Thursday, April 17th, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced the appointment of Alejandra Y. Castillo, a New York City native born to Dominican immigrants, with more than 20 years of experience working in the private, government and non-profit sector, as the new Director of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA).

Peace Corps Announces 2014 Top Hispanic-Serving Institutions for Volunteers
On Wednesday, April 16th, the Peace Corps announced its 2014 rankings of the top volunteer-producing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). San Diego State University claimed the top spot among HSIs with 33 undergraduate alumni currently serving as Peace Corps volunteers.

United States and Mexico Celebrate Partnership for Historic Release of Colorado River Water to Delta
Deputy Secretary of the Interior Michael L. Connor and Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science Anne Castle joined other senior officials of the United States and Mexico to celebrate a historic first-time intentional release of water—called a “pulse flow”—from Morelos Dam near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Blog Highlights

Building on What Works With My Brother’s Keeper
When President Obama launched the My Brother’s Keeper initiative in February, the response from communities across the country was immediate and overwhelmingly positive. We quickly began hearing stories of creativity, collaboration, and triumphs from community leaders and organizations doing grassroots work to enhance opportunities for boys and young men of color. Some

Naturalization Ceremony Blog Post – “Welcoming New Partners to our Bold Experiment”
On Tuesday, 700 individuals from over 100 different counties, represented by different flags, different cultures and different systems of government gathered to take an oath in unison to become United State citizens at a naturalization ceremony held at hayfield Secondary School in Alexandria, VA.

Working Towards Healthier Latino Communities
The relationship between environmental protection and public health is at the heart of EPA’s mission and the agenda of the National Hispanic Medical Association. For years, Hispanic communities have been living in areas where the quality of the air they breathe and the water they drink does not meet national standards. 

Get Updates
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Twice the impact


at Washington voters will know the truth about I-594.

 

$997,923 and $372,315.

That’s how much the gun lobby spent on state and federal candidates in Washington in 2012 — and that’s not even counting their lobbying in Olympia, communicating directly with their members about legislation, or any other political work.

It’s a lot of money — but it’s nothing compared to what they’re prepared to spend to defeat anything that would help reduce gun violence in Washington, which is exactly what I-594 will do.

So, we’re going to need a lot of money to fight the gun lobby this fall — and one very special supporter, who wishes to remain anonymous, has offered to help us close that gap by matching every dollar we raise online from now until the end of April, up to $20,000.

Click here to contribute $3 before our deadline, and your gift will be DOUBLED!

The gun lobby has a lot of powerful friends, and they have nearly limitless piles of cash to both swing elections and lobby in Olympia and Washington. That can be a very powerful combination — it’s kept a lot of commonsense reforms from becoming law.

But what they don’t have is you, Carmen.

And they don’t have our thousands of supporters, or nearly 80% of voters who think that it’s long past time to apply our already existing background checks to all gun purchases in Washington.

Unfortunately, that won’t matter if our simple message is drowned out by the confusing and misleading ads, phone calls, and mailings that we KNOW are coming as it gets closer to November.

Contribute $3 before our A‌pril 3‌0 deadline, and your gift will go TWICE AS FAR towards making Washington safer from gun violence.

Together, we can make sure that Washington voters will know the truth about I-594, and come November, we’ll finally make progress toward reducing gun violence.

Thanks so much,

Tracy Newman
Finance Director
WA Alliance for Gun Responsibility
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Pepsico and Deforestation


Rainforest Action Network

With massive reach and absolutely no attention to where its palm oil is sourced from, PepsiCo is driving breakneck deforestation around the globe to supply the world with chips, cookies, and granola bars.

PepsiCo is the largest globally distributed snack food company in the world. PepsiCo products such as Cheetos, Doritos, and Lay’s potato chips are sold in over 200 countries in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Africa. If we can change PepsiCo, it will have a ripple effect on the global palm oil industry.

Join RAN, Harrison Ford, and Showtime’s “Years of Living Dangerously” to tell PepsiCo to break the link between its products and deforestation.

Note: If action link doesn’t work in your browser, use this instead.

When we launched our Snack Food 20 campaign over a year ago, PepsiCo was one of the companies that RAN called on to clean up its palm oil supply chain. In the year since, its peers like Mars, Kellogg’s, Unilever, and General Mills have made new commitments to cut Conflict Palm Oil. Meanwhile, PepsiCo has lagged behind and is now the largest and most influential of the companies yet to adopt a policy to eliminate deforestation and human rights violations from its products.

PepsiCo’s irresponsible practice of allowing large-scale deforestation in pursuit of a few extra pennies has huge impacts. With a whopping 457,200 metric tons of palm oil used every year, PepsiCo is one of the largest consumers of Conflict Palm Oil in the snack food sector. That’s why we at RAN have pushed hard for the company to adopt a global palm oil procurement policy — and we’re not alone.

PepsiCo’s culpability in forest destruction has also made it a target for Showtime’s new series with Harrison Ford, “Years of Living Dangerously.” Last night the show’s deforestation episode showcased the devastation caused by Conflict Palm Oil and other exploitation, helping to bring this issue to millions of viewers. Now the YEARS project is calling on PepsiCo CEO Ms. Indra Nooyi to answer questions about PepsiCo’s role in deforestation.

With this kind of exposure, it’s time for us to raise our voice together and make sure that PepsiCo hears from every one of us. Now is the time, so please add your name here to join RAN, Years of Living Dangerously, and thousands of people around the world demanding change at PepsiCo.

We are on the verge of a tipping point – both within the palm oil sector, and for the planet as a whole. It’s time to take action. Together, we can send the message that PepsiCo must end forest destruction and eliminate Conflict Palm Oil.

Take action now.

For the future,
Ginger Cassady
Forest Program Director
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Miami Cop Shoots and Kills Homeless Man in a Park in Front of Dozens of Kids- reminder


curi56's avatarcolouredjustice.wordpress.com

A Miami police officer shot and killed a homeless African-American man in front of up to 60 witnesses including children attending summer camp. Police officials said the violent suspect refused to drop a metal pipe he was holding. Miami Police Chief Rodolfo Llanes said officers were responding to a report of a violent dispute on Thursday morning. He said several dozen people were in Gibson Park, many of them children, who may have witnessed the events that unfolded. “I understand the anxiety that’s been created across the country from police-citizen interactions, but I would ask that everyone, wait for the facts of the case and not make up your own story,” Llanes told reporters. “We will know what the facts of the case are.” The chief added that the officer involved in the shooting, who is a 20-year veteran of the department, will be reassigned to administrative duties pending the…

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Blue Cross rejecting payments for HIV/AIDS medication

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Mike Reitz: Stop AIDS discrimination by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Louisiana.

    By Robert Darrow

            Shreveport, Louisiana
Due to a new policy from Louisiana’s largest health insurer, hundreds of people living with HIV and AIDS are in danger of losing access to essential medication.BlueCross BlueShield of Louisiana (BCBSLA) is rejecting checks from a federal program designed to help these patients pay for AIDS drugs and insurance premiums and has begun notifying customers that their enrollment in its Obamacare plans will be discontinued because it will no longer accept “third-party payments.” This funding was established through the Ryan White CARE Act of 1990 which has been crucial to ensuring that those living with HIV and AIDS can gain access to the medication they need.Several months ago, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) encouraged health plans to stop accepting “third-party payments,” but this weekend (February 8th), CMS stated unequivocally that “federal rules do not prevent the use of Ryan White funds to pay for health care plans.” BCBSLA said it is “reviewing and considering this new information,” but we need commitments to help save and extend hundreds of lives in Louisiana.

As someone living with AIDS who helped found the local organization in Shreveport that oversees Ryan White funding, I know these funds change lives — and I’m afraid that if BCBSLA gets away with denying this coverage, other insurers across the country could follow suit. Please join me in tell BCBSLA to accept federal funding for people living with HIV and AIDS and to stop this discrimination.