Caribbean American Weekly - Issue 100

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ISSUE 100 VOLUME 18

June 11, 2020

SERVING THE CARIBBEAN AND HISPANIC COMMUNITIES!

The United States Can’t Breathe

BY MARIBEL HASTINGS AND DAVID TORRES, AMERICA’S VOICE

T

he United States is being stalked by different scourges: the coronavirus pandemic and its resulting economic crisis; the political violence against African Americans and minorities; and a prejudiced president, incapable of having empathy for anyone and anything, who continues fomenting violence and division.

He is, in many ways, the worst president in the middle of one of the worst moments in this country’s modern history, a moment in which a true message of unity is needed, not “patriotic,” but of definitive repudiation of a society in which the new racial segregation is savagely tearing away at its insides, leading to such deep wounds that we have

The Biden Plan for a Nation of Immigrants ....34

Indicted Judge Losed Bid to Suppress iPhone Evidence ....22 Participants Of Protest March Against Police Violence Over Death Of George Floyd.

Editorial credit: Hayk_Shalunts / Shutterstock.com

continued on page 11

George Floyd's Funeral Hears Calls for Racial Justice

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Jamaica Opens: Who Protects the Workers’ Health? ....18

T

he funeral of George Floyd, an African American whose death in police custody spawned global outrage, has heard impassioned pleas for racial justice.

Speakers in the church in Houston, Texas, lined up to remember a man whose "crime was that he was born black".

Floyd died in Minneapolis last month as a white police officer held a knee on his neck for

Richardson Passes Important Bill ... 22

George Floyd

continued on page 10

Demonstration Against 71st Precinct ... 23

Brian Figeroux, Esq., Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association

Blake & Cruz Speak on Kudzu ... 4

Affairs: How to Heal After You Found Out ....27

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2

Marcus, Martin, and Minneapolis

BY SIR HILARY BECKLES

The Bahamas 231 East 46th Street New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-421-6420 Barbados 820 Second Avenue, 5th Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-551-4325 Belize 675 Third Avenue, Suite 1911 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-593-0999 Dominica 800 Second Avenue, Suite 400H New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-949-0853 Dominican Republic 1500 Broadway, Suite 410 New York, N.Y. 10036 Tel: 212-599-8478 Grenada 685 Third Avenue, Suite 1101 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-599-0301 Guyana 308 West 38th Street New York, N.Y. 10018 Tel: 212-947-5119 Haiti 815 Second Avenue,6th Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-697-9767 Jamaica 767 Third Avenue, 2nd Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-935-9000 Martinique 444 Madison Avenue, 16th Floor New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-838-6887 Montserrat 845 Third Avenue New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-745-0200 Panama 1212 Avenue of the Americas, 20th Floor New York, N.Y. 10036 Tel: 212-840-2450 St. Kitts & Nevis 414 East 75th Street, 5th Floor New York, N.Y. 10021 Tel: 212-535-5521 St. Lucia 800 Second Avenue, 9th Floor New York, N.Y. 10007 Tel: 212-697-9360 St. Maarten 675 Third Avenue, Suite 1807 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 800-786-2278 St. Vincent & The Grenadines 801 Second Avenue, 21st Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-687-4981 Trinidad & Tobago 125 Maiden Lane, 4th Floor New York, N.Y. 10038 Tel: 212-682-7272 For more Consulate information go to www.cawnyc.com/directory

Professor Beckles

M

artin Luther King Jr, when he felt he could not breathe came to Jamaica. When the threats to his life were constant and closing in around his neck, he took this measure to maintain his life. His visits to Jamaica’s north coast filled his lungs with the ‘freer’ air of our space. He returned to the mainland more battle ready for the struggle to achieve the God-given right to the dignity of black life.

Island and mainland have always been a common survival space. Borders cannot contain consciousness nor isolate the intellect. Martin was retracing the footsteps of Marcus, his mentor, the incomparable Mosiah Garvey who also travelled from this north coast—his ancestral home—to Harlem, there to dedicate his life to the struggle for the dignity of black life.

Garvey’s Jamaican voice was heard in every American community where the dignity of black life was denied. He would have flown to the side of George Floyd, and embraced his forlorn family while preparing to prosecute those who demeaned his dignity and denied his ‘livity’.

Marley, the Buffalo Soldier from this said north coast, was idolised by every African American who was empowered by ‘old Marcus Garvey’ to get up and stand up and defend their right to life with dignity.

Malcolm, socialised as an X West Indian, took up the struggle of the islands on the mainland, connecting the legacies of Marcus and Martin to the West Indian commitment to rightness, fairness, and dignity in plantation America.

Where there were plantation overseers there are now police officers. Through them, black life remains prime for deletion as if on the plantation.

This Minneapolis fight was Marcus Garvey’s fight; it was Martin’s fight; it was Malcolm’s fight; it was Marley’s fight. It’s a Caribbean fight and it’s a global fight.

West Indians have been in it all along.

Professor Orlando Patterson, Harvard don, but bred and adorned at the Mona Campus of The UWI, told his MSNBC interviewer that what we have seen is a special breed of evil from the depth of hell. We must exorcise it, he said, and

The Great Bob Marley

Hon Marcus Garvey

In a media release on Tuesday, June 2, Professor Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, joined the chorus of voices globally expressing solidarity with the fight for equality and justice in the United States in the wake of the tragic police murder of George Floyd. Sir Beckles exclaimed: “This Minneapolis fight was Marcus Garvey’s fight; it was Martin Luther King Jr’s fight; it was Malcolm X’s fight; it was Bob Marley’s fight. It’s a Caribbean fight and it’s a global fight.” In so doing, Professor Beckles connected the long-established, historically intertwined bonds and shared destinies of the peoples of the Caribbean and the United States. return it from whence it came.

Patterson spoke as a Caribbean scholar in America, the finest sociologist they have, on loan from us to them. His classic work, The Sociology of Slavery, shows us how history can haunt communities; how privileges from the past become the pain of the present.

From that horrible history when Europeans stole 15 million of our ancestors from Africa and scattered them across plantation America—the Caribbean getting the lion’s share—shattering family bonds, the future was cast in the concrete again, in which the face of George was crushed.

From that moment, when the British government in 1636, took the first step to legally classify all blacks in their colonies as non-human, chattel, property, and real estate and proceeded with their European partners to build and manage with it a global business model for 400 years, the greatest ‘financial juggernaut’ of world history, humanity was poisoned with the toxic pandemic of race hatred.

And from that date in 1783, when Chief Justice Mansfield of England, in the Zong Trial, boldly proclaimed that the blacks in the case before him are no different from so many horses, sheep, and goats, the poison had permeated every community in the western world.

It is this culture of centuries upon which the American nation is built that continues to choke the air from black lungs. The Americans won their national independence from Britain, and proceeded to retain slavery as the development model of the nation; the same model in which the western world defined and treated black people as animals. It is the legacy of this model, embedded in a national security institution that took the life of “Big Floyd”.

It is this licence to treat animal life as dispensable that led the pack of hunters to pin a citizen to the concrete, using the

knee like a blunt knife to the throat for nine minutes, while posing and posturing like a fisherman in triumph over his catch of the day for all to see!

It is this cultural triumphalism of killing black prey that has caught afire the heart of a hitherto race hardened world made to participate virtually in an actual live extinction of life; typified by a dying man calling out for his deceased mother who at the moment answered her son because she knew it was time to call him home.

The UWI, too, has heard the call of George. We wish to invoke the memory of Marcus and Martin to bring to the islands young African Americans, here to breathe before returning to the mainland fight for dignity. We owe it to Martin, to Marcus, to Malcolm, and to Marley; and to all the ruptured minds of Minneapolis.

This is our cause. Every university that stands for freedom, justice, and the celebration of human dignity must stand up like a gorilla for justice for George.

Minneapolis is just another place where our eyes have detected evil, beyond hate, that has erupted from the depth of hell.

Not only the souls of black folks have been scarred forever by this latest event in the genocidal war against young black men; the soul of the world is awakened.

This week, every person on the planet who carries a spirit of love for humanity has become a protesting priest. We need our prophets now more than ever. The ‘old pirate has robbed I’ once again. And yet we shall rise!l Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, 8th ViceChancellor of The UWI is a distinguished academic, international thought leader, United Nations committee official, and global public activist in the field of social justice and minority empowerment. He is also the President of Universities Caribbean, and Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission.

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3

THOUGHTS

After George Floyd: Naming The Pain, Finding A New Path

BY DR. MINDY THOMPSON FULLILOVE

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. —Hosea 4:6 Publisher I.Q. INC. Managing Editor & Editor-in-Chief

H

erbert Aptheker, the Marxist historian and author of American Negro Slave Revolts, was my professor in college and I often wrote to him in years after graduation to discuss things that were on my mind. One of these was how to name civil unrest. He always used words like "rebellion" to describe the events of the long, hot summers of the 1960s. As my studies of psychiatry progressed, I resisted such language. I thought that "riot" was a better description of the chaotic events that unfolded on the streets, as tempers boiled over and people took their feelings out on storefronts.

Because "riots," "rioters" and "rioting" are used so disparagingly, there has not been much reason to press the point but it has been rattling around in my brain for a long time. A conversation today with anthropologist Edgar Rivera Colón helped me articulate my thought that those inchoate moments are speaking an emotional language, asking us to listen with our hearts, not our judgments. I think they convey scream, and we are meant to hear and feel all the terror and impossibility held in that scream. I am writing "scream" in italics to make it a neologism, an emotion word. To me, the word "riot" – defined as "public violence, disorder or tumult" – has a core of scream that the word "uprising" does not contain.

As a psychiatrist, that scream is the deep and essential communication and it should neither be denigrated nor prettied up. It is, I realized in the conversation with Edgar, like domestic violence, like the moment when the battered spouse picks up a rolling pin and bashes in the head of the abuser. We are supposed to hear the breaking point in the act, the straw that broke the camel's back, "no worse there is none, pitched past pitch of grief," as the poet wrote.

If we could hear the scream, and hear in it the years of torment, we would understand that the battered spouse and the rioter are acting in self-defense. We would honor the courage of their refusal – which I think is what Dr. Aptheker was trying to get at – and we would see from

TEAM

Pearl Phillip Legal Advisor Brian Figeroux, Esq. Assistant Editor Marilyn Silverman Graphic & Website Designers Praim Samsoondar Anvaar Sabirov their acts the structural violence that was and is the real danger threatening all of us.

I worked with Hannah Cooper for two years on our book, From Enforcers to Guardians: A Public Health Approach to Ending Police Violence. I read a lot about the kinds of brutality that define policing at its worst. The key analysts of the issue, like Shaun King and Paul Butler, have helped us to see the vast and insidious system of support for this brutality, so extensive that it is nearly impervious to change, and hence the scream.

But we know that this scream at this moment holds much more than the rage at police brutality: the path of the coronavirus has revealed the dense fabric of inequality in a manner we have never seen before, the Grim Reaper striding the paths of social stratification to take the weak, the marginalized, the exposed, while those with wealth and power tweet their derision and deny shelter to the terrified. If this were all going to end in this tenth week of shelter-in-place we might feel some hope, but we see 40 million unemployed, jobs disappearing not to return, and mass evictions and hunger looming on the horizon.

This particular scream has risen from the streets to reach into the hearts of all of us. Maybe 10 weeks ago our ears might have been stoppered with the certainty of the next paycheck, but not now.

Now we see, now we hear, now we are so hurt. In this moment we both feel the scream and see the system that is hurting all of us. I find, for myself, that it is only in drawing on spiritual resources that I can do both of these tasks. As Chogyam Trungpa said, "Hold the sadness and pain

of samsara in your heart and at the same time the power and vision of the Great Eastern Sun. Then the warrior can make a proper cup of tea."

Put another way, in the immortal voice of Odetta, "Another man done gone," a song which is so precise in conveying the pain it has survived decades and crossed cultures, giving us in music an understanding that defies words, yet she holds us to it, helps us face it. In the embracing power of her art, we go deep, which opens time to think.

We need time to absorb these 10 weeks of revelation, to digest that we aren't going "back to normal," but to somewhere else, somewhere new. One step forward is to get on the "bus" and go the Poor People's Assembly on June 20th.

RSVP now. You can come on the "bus" of 400 Years of Inequality which will board at 9:30am for the 10am rally. You have to bring your own cake, though we will provide recipes. And you have to make your own signs, though there will be lots of models. You could also organize your own "bus" with your friends and relations. We have to be there, in the space of indignation and planning, so that we can move forward together, in a massive moral fusion coalition, towards a new future that reflects what we are FOR. l Dr. Mindy Thompson Fullilove is a professor of Urban Policy and Health at the Milano School of Policy, Management, and Environment at The New School.

This post originally appeared on her blog Countdown to Main Street. Article via the Center for New York City Affairs.

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4

CIVIL RIGHTS

Kudzu: The Asphyxiation of Communities of Color

BY ASSEMBYMEMBERS CATALINA CRUZ & MICHAEL BLAKE s explained in the James Dickey poem, kudzu is a nearly uncontrollable creeping vine that blocks access to sunlight, slowly strangling fields and forests in its wake, creating environmental devastation by outcompeting other species for resources, namely light imperative to survival, and acts to block their access by growing over them and shading them with its leaves. Native plants then die as a result.

The Bronx and Queens are the most diverse counties in America, and we realize that as People of Color we face unique opportunities and challenges.

However, we have become accustomed to asphyxiation and destruction under almost identical circumstances as kudzu.

Whether it be by a massive pandemic that wipes out thousands in our respective boroughs or by police brutality or by systematic racism and oppression that is perpetuated and lauded by our government, as evidenced by our current state of affairs. Our government has left our communities in complete darkness, without any resources whatsoever, and we remain

A

Cruz

outcompeted by other parts of the city where it is far more fashionable for elected officials to funnel their money and attention.

At the beginning of March, we watched as COVID crept in and immediately began to ravage our neighborhoods. It has brought with it death, destruction, and financial and physical devastation.

Because our communities have faced decades of deficient medical care, resulting in preexisting conditions that have in fact altered the genetics of generations of families, infection and mortality rates soared. Both of our districts saw a staggering number of deaths, and we each

Blake

ourselves lost beloved friends and colleagues. District 39 in Queens had an average infection rate of 1 in every 25 people, and District 79 had an average infection rate of 1 in 33 people. We begged the federal, state and city government for help. Testing; PPE; food; funding. Our cries went unheard for weeks, despite the warnings that all levels of government had received about the impact the pandemic would have on our communities. By the time that some assistance finally arrived, it was too late.

And some assistance, such as financial assistance for undocumented New Yorkers, never came, despite the fact that these same New Yorkers have paid billions of dollars in taxes during their time in this country.

As we watched this disease take the literal breath and life from our friends and neighbors, our businesses also began dying out. For decades, New York City has prided itself on the diversity of its outer boroughs. Whether it is the work ethic and integrity of their immigrant communities or the ingenuity and sagaciousness of young city-born entrepreneurs, this City routinely boasts its commitment to the success of outer borough small businesses. These are the same stores and restaurants to which Manhattanites, transplants, and tourists alike flood week after week, generating tens of millions of dollars in revenue for this City each year. Yet, when COVID hit, this City literally failed to put their money where their mouth was in order to save these small businesses. During a City Council hearing in early May, we learned that Manhattan businesses received a whopping 66% of the Small Business Loans distributed in the city.

Queens received 9% and the Bronx received a stomach-turning 1%. The numbers for Employee Retention Grants were as abysmal, with Queens receiving 16% of the grants and the Bronx receiving 3%.

Then a Black man was murdered in Minneapolis, and a country was awoken.

In the 8 minutes and 46 seconds that Derek Chauvin’s knee pressed into George Floyd’s neck; in the 8 minutes and 46 seconds that George Floyd’s final breaths were pushed from his chest by him by the weight of Derek Chauvin’s body crushing his neck and his chest, robbing him of the vibrancy of his life

“And you cannot step upon ground: Your leg plunges somewhere It should not, it never should be Disappears, and waits to be struck Anywhere between sole and kneecap: For when the kudzu comes” and mortality, people of color around the city too felt the compression tightly wrapped around their necks and something finally broke. The residual frustration and anger resulting from centuries of systematic oppression and police brutality drove hundreds of thousands of people to the streets in protest. We were immediately reminded of Eric Garner, and immediately reminded of the pain from the loss of breath in acts such as the sheer and unadulterated violence demonstrated by the NYPD this past week during a peaceful protest in the South Bronx and the constant threat of ICE infiltration in immigrants communities in Queens. It is impossible to breathe when tear gas, pepper spray, batons and cars are being driven into our bodies; a continuation of brutality going back to 1619 or later after Emancipation, when slave patrols were first created and are now known as our modern day police departments. This is not to say that all cops are bad cops, but they are charged with the responsibility of representing the best of us and not the worst, and we call for their immediate firing, indictment, and conviction of those who are responsible for the atrocities being committed against us.

Instead of responding with the empathy and compassion that communities of color truly deserved and needed given the current state of physical and financial devastation created by the COVID pandemic, our Mayor and Governor turned this City into a militarized police state.

The NYPD has been given the carte blanche authority to terrorize, brutalize, and traumatize. The curfew was nothing more than a simple setup, mongering fear amongst law-abiding residents, inciting others to loot and rob businesses already devastated by COVID, and giving the police a free pass to threaten, beat, and maim anyone in their wake.

While there must be accountability on people destroying Black and Latino businesses, because we cannot breathe economically when you eliminate our jobs and dreams, the gaslighting and malfeasance of executive leadership has been nothing less than appalling, and is a direct reflection of their failure and refusal to advance a progressive agenda committed to eradicating systemic inequalities. continued on page 5

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5

CIVIL RIGHTS Kudzu/ continued from page 4 We have watched as the weight of injustice has crushed our pursuit of liberty, and as the burden of systematic oppression and racism has robbed communities of color from advancement. As George Floyd begged and pleaded, exclaiming, ‘I can’t breathe!’, neither can we breathe any longer. We are also being asphyxiated, we are also being strangled; not by hands or knees, but by something much worse. Our bodies and our spirits and communities are being deliberately broken by the weight of racism and oppression that extends far beyond the brutality of the police force.

It is the weight of the purposeful systematic failures; failures in healthcare, failures in education, failures in adequate housing, failures in economic advancement, that on average kill more people in the communities of color than our current violent police state.

While many of us in the state legislature are committed to criminal justice reform, we are constantly undermined by the Mayor, the Governor, and some of our own colleagues in our pursuit of meaningful police accountability. As we head to Albany this week, we seek to advance a series of important criminal justice reform bills. We can’t help but be reminded of the important work we did on bail reform, only to find that some of our colleagues and the executive were hellbent, and ultimately successful, on rolling them back. While we remain

London, UK. 16th July 2016. EDITORIAL - Black Lives Matter / Stand Up To Racism protest rally - Thousands attended the march through London, in protest of recent killings of black men by U.S. police. Editorial credit: John Gomez / Shutterstock.com hopeful that we will pass this crucial legislation, we stay vigilant in our fear that history will once again repeat itself, and our attempts at making meaningful legislative changes to archaic policies. We committed to passing a full repeal of Civil Rights Law 50-a, a final and permanent ban on chokehold maneuvers, and criminal liability for officers who fail to obtain medical care for persons in custody. However, we also need to help our children laugh and breathe by restoring programs such as the Summer Youth Employment Program instead of protecting and maintaining a 1.3 billion dollar public safety budget.

These last two weeks have shown us that the time for systematic change is now. Our communities can no longer afford nor do they deserve to be asphyxiated and extinguished. Unless we begin to truly invest in the success of Black and Brown people, there will never be progress and there will never ever be meaningful change. We have been told by our leaders to wait our turn but we cannot and we will not wait any longer.

This is a moment for Black and Latino communities to come together and recognize that we may speak different languages or come from different countries, however, we are on the same journey for

justice. The hands of injustice must be removed from our throats. We must be able to breathe. We need transparency.

We need accountability. We need revenue dedicated to rebuilding, restoring and advancing communities of color. And we need to be given the opportunity to make the legislative, budgetary and structural change in order to do so. We just want to breathe. We just want to live.l

Assembly Member Catalina Cruz represents the 39th District in Queens Assembly Member Michael Blake represents the 79th District in the Bronx

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6

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

Tenant Privacy and the Landlord’s Right to Enter Rental Property

BY JANET HOWARD EQUITYSMARTREALTY.COM

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any people don't realize that the law restricts the ability of a landlord to enter a tenant's home or apartment. Laws vary by state, but landlords usually need to notify a tenant ahead of time before scheduling an inspection or entering to make repairs. Only in emergencies are landlords typically allowed to enter a rental unit without providing advance warning. Before someone becomes a landlord, they should develop a good working knowledge of the laws and ordinances that govern tenant privacy.

Background In the United States, there is the common law principle of "the right of quiet enjoyment." This gives tenants the right

to live in rented housing as the sole occupants. A landlord, or people working for the landlord, cannot just come and go as they please; they must follow state and local laws regarding entering rental property.

Reasons for Entry State and local landlord-tenant laws define the reasons why a landlord can enter a rental unit as well as whether the landlord must give advance notice to the tenant. Typical reasons why a landlord may be permitted under the law to enter a renter's home include: Inspections: Some jurisdictions give landlords the right to schedule inspections to make sure that the rental property is in good condition and to address potential problems before they become costly to repair.

Repairs: If a landlord becomes aware of the need for repairs or the tenant requests that repairs be made, the landlord is allowed to enter the rental unit.

Abandonment: Occasionally, tenants simply move out of a rental property without informing the landlord. If the landlord has good reason to believe that a tenant has abandoned the property, the law often gives the landlord the right to enter and clean out the property so that it can be re-rented to someone else.

Emergency: If a landlord has reason to believe that a dangerous condition exists in the rental unit, such as frozen pipes or fire, the landlord usually can enter the unit to identify and address the problem.

Providing Notice The law often requires landlords to provide tenants with advance notice of the landlord's plans to enter the tenant's home. The notice may be written or verbal, and the law may also require a waiting period before the landlord can enter the unit. The tenant may also be able to ask the landlord to reschedule the visit to a time more convenient to the tenant.

Lease Terms In some cases, a tenant's lease may specify the conditions under which a landlord can enter the rental. It's important to note, however, that lease terms cannot provide fewer protections than those provided by the law. For example, if the law states that a landlord must provide tenants with a 24-hour written notice before entering, a valid lease cannot state that the landlord only has to give 12-hours. Clauses that violate state and local laws can invalidate the lease.

Legal Remedies Both landlords and tenants usually have legal remedies in cases where one partybreaks the law or lease terms regarding landlords entering the rental unit. For example, a landlord may be able to sue and/or terminate the lease of a tenant who refuses to allow the landlord into a rental. Conversely, a tenant may be able to sue the landlord or terminate their lease if the landlord enters the rental unit without following proper procedures. If the tenant wishes to stay in the rental unit, he or she may even be able to get a restraining order against the landlord.

Getting Help Landlords and tenants who have questions about a tenant's right to privacy in a landlord's right to enter a rental unit should seek attorneys who handle landlord-tenant issues and can advise clients about their rights and the best way to handle their situation. Understanding legal rights and responsibilities improves landlord-tenant relationships. Both property owners and renters should review state laws so that they understand when a landlord can enter a property and how he or she needs to notify the tenant of an upcoming visit.

If you have a landlord or tenant issue, please do not take the law in your own hands. Get a FREE consultation. Ask the Lawyer. Call 855-768-8845.l

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CORONAVIRUS

8

How to be as Safe as Possible in Your House of Worship

BY CLAUDIA FINKELSTEIN THE CONVERSATION

T

he Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released what it calls “general considerations” on safe actions for reopening houses of worship, but worship communities can accept or reject those considerations.

Religious worship allows tens of millions of Americans to demonstrate devotion to a higher power. It gives people an opportunity to commit – and recommit – to a set of values. In-person services foster a sense of community and belonging.

Unfortunately for millions whose lives are enriched by communal worship, traditional services are ideal places for virus transmission: lots of people, close together.

As a physician specializing in internal medicine, I suggest, for now at least, that we reexamine how we worship. After all, what better way to embody the values of your faith than to take steps to protect one another?

Even with the uncertainty and variability of reopening plans, scientifically and medically sound information is available.

For starters, you’ll want to assess your

individual risk, the prevalence of the virus in your area and the availability of testing.

The four pillars You may consider guidelines suggested

by Dr. Atul Gawande, noted surgeon and author. He proposes four essential pillars for safe reentry into communal spaces: hygiene, distancing, screening and mask use.

All four must operate together to minimize transmission. Will your place of worship be able to enact these pillars?

For example: Will you have easy access to hand-washing or sanitizing? Will communal surfaces and shared spaces be

wiped down? Will attendance be limited to allow distancing, and will attendees be screened with temperature checks and self-screening questionnaires? Will your place of worship enforce mask use and distancing? Anything short of all four pillars increases transmission risk.

And even with all the precautions, people with infections can be asymptomatic – so despite the screening measures, you can’t be sure who has the virus and whether you might become exposed.

Today’s services: Short, outside – and cut the choir Other factors influence viral spread. The dose you receive is higher when you’re

close to someone not wearing a face covering. Someone sneezing and coughing increases the number of virus particles near you. Singing or speaking forcefully releases more virus than speaking quietly. Outdoor rates of transmission are much lower than those indoors.

That’s why it’s best if services are short, outdoors and with no singing or physical contact. Only a limited number of attendees, spaced widely and wearing masks properly, would participate.

Early in the pandemic, faith leaders adapted their services: removing holy water, forbidding handshakes, limiting group size and livestreaming. Buddhist monks seeking alms wore face shields.

But others protested any restrictions.

In dealing with the virus, we still have much to learn. But values common to all religions exist – compassion, kindness, respect for fellow humans and some variation of the Golden Rule. Until more is known about COVID-19, let’s choose a path following one of the major tenets of my profession: First, do no harm.l Claudia Finkelstein is an Associate Professor of Family Medicine, Michigan State University.

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Bill de Blasio Mayor Oxiris Barbot, MD Commissioner

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JUSTICE FOR FLOYD

10

George Floyd’s Funeral/ continued from page 1 nearly nine minutes, his final moments filmed on phones.

Four police officers involved have been sacked and charged over his death.

His coffin was taken from the church driven in a motorcade to the Houston Memorial Gardens where he was to be buried beside his mother.

One of Floyd's nieces, Brooke Williams, called for a change in laws which, she argued, were designed to disadvantage black people.

"Why must this system be corrupt and broken?" she asked. "Laws were already put in place for the African-American system to fail. And these laws need to be changed. No more hate crimes, please!

Someone said, 'Make America Great Again', but when has America ever been great?"

Republican President Donald Trump's Democratic opponent in the November presidential election, Joe Biden, addressed the service in a video message, saying: "When there is justice for George Floyd, we will truly be on our way to racial justice in America."

Biden has sharply criticised Trump, accusing him at the weekend of making "despicable" speculative remarks about Floyd.

But the Democratic politician was himself recently accused of taking black American votes for granted when he said

George Floyd Death: 'Stop the Pain', Brother Tells US Congress

Justice for George Floyd poster. People took to the streets against cruelty.

Editorial credit: Tverdokhlib / Shutterstock.com

Philonise Floyd

T Editorial credit: Johnny Silvercloud / Shutterstock.com

African Americans "ain't black" if they even considered voting for Trump.

What was said at the funeral?

The service was held at the Fountain of Praise church, attended by some 500

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guests including politicians and celebrities.

"George Floyd was not expendable – this is why we're here," said Al Green, the local Democratic congressman. "His crime was that he was born black."

Veteran civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton told the service: "All over the world I see grandchildren of slave masters tearing down slave masters' statues."

Talking about Mr Floyd's difficult life, he said: "God took the rejected stone and made him the cornerstone of a movement that's gonna change the whole wide world."

In Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz called on people to honor the funeral by observing silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the time Floyd was pinned to the ground before he died.

Floyd's coffin was taken to a cemetery in Pearland, south of Houston, for a private burial ceremony. For the last mile of the procession it was conveyed in a horse-drawn carriage.

Barriers were erected along the route to allow members of the public to pay their respects safely as the procession passed.

Memorial services were also held in Minneapolis and North Carolina, where Floyd was born.

What did Biden say about Floyd's family?

After visiting the family on Monday, the Democratic candidate told CBS: "His little daughter was there, the one who said 'daddy's going to change the world', and I think her daddy is going to change the world."

"I think what happened here is one of the great inflection points in American history, for real, in terms of civil liberties, civil rights and just treating people with dignity."

Floyd family spokesman Benjamin Crump, who tweeted a photo of the meeting, said Floyd's relatives welcomed Biden's comments.l

he brother of the George Floyd, the Black man whose death in police custody has sparked global protests, has urged the US Congress to pass reforms on police brutality and "stop the pain".

Philonise Floyd told a House hearing that his brother George could not become "another name on a list".

"Be the leaders that this country, this world, needs," Floyd said.

George Floyd died in Minneapolis in May as a white police officer held a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee have been listening to testimony from civil rights activists and law enforcement officials, a day after the funeral service of George Floyd, 46, in Houston.

The committee plans to send a bill to the floor of the Democratic-led House by 4 July on combating police violence and racial injustice.

It comes amid a nationwide — and in many cases international — debate on police practices and accountability, and more generally on racial inequity.

"I'm here to ask you to make it stop.

Stop the pain," an emotional Philonise Floyd, 42, told lawmakers. "George called for help and he was ignored.

Please listen to the call I'm making to you now, to the calls of our family and the calls ringing on the streets of all the world.

"The people marching in the streets are telling you enough is enough."

In tears, Floyd later added: "His kids had to watch that video. It just hurt... you don't do that to a human being... His life mattered. All our lives matter. Black lives matter. I just wish I could get him back.

Those officers, they get to live."

Democratic committee chairman Jerrold Nadler said: "We must remember that [George Floyd] is not just a cause, a name to be chanted in the streets. He was a man. He had a family... we mourn his loss."

The Democratic-proposed bill would make so-called police chokeholds illegal, enforce anti-racism training, bar sacked officers from switching to another force and make it easier to prosecute abuse.

Republican committee representative Matt Gaetz said that although elements needed to be "fine-tuned", "you will be able to count on Republican cooperation as we hone these ideas and hopefully pass them and get them to the president's desk".l —BBC News

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11

END POLICE BRUTALITY Can’t Breathe/ continued from page 1 become debilitated in the eyes of the whole world.

But Trump is not only light-years away from healing these wounds, he’s continued to demonstrate that he has every intention of preventing them from closing completely. From the case known as “the Central Park Five,” in 1989, to what is occurring in this exact moment not only in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but the other main cities of the United States, his racial rhetoric has only served to confirm his affinities with the supremacy that he represents.

Essentially, the coast-to-coast protests over the assassination of George Floyd, an African American, at the hands of an Angle-Saxon police officer in Minneapiolis put the eternal problem of racism, inequality, and injustice on the table once again. Throughout the entire history of this nation, minorities have suffered at the hands of the dominant classes and Anglo-Saxon authorities.

The case of Rodney King in Los Angeles in 1992, for example, had become the breaking point of racial tensions that had been simmering after other similar episodes, such as in Watts in 1965, which were a reflection of this systemic racism that has accompanied this country since its founding, in which minorities of color have always received the worst treatment.

Incredibly, almost three decades after the revolt in Los Angeles, it occurs again in this 21st century in which the wave of neo-fascism advances by leaps and bounds, making it clear that this will not be the last incident of violence in which racial minorities are the ones who are killed.

But this case also highlights what happens when the person who occupies the White House, Donald Trump, not only incites but offers protection to prejudice and racism. It’s such that the “bad apples” that operate in police departments throughout the country, along with the groups and individuals who promote white supremacy, have found a defender in this president. That is why they go around emboldened, ever since he came to power. For that reason, they are inclined to do whatever is needed to keep him in the White House.

Both before and after he was president, Trump has always been on the side of the supremacists and racists.

In Charlottesville, Virginia, when they

Washington D.C. / USA - Jun 2, 2020: Justice for George Floyd Protest Lafeyette Square, White House. Editorial credit: Johnny Silvercloud / Shutterstock.com Orlando, Florida – May 30, 2020: Protesters gathered in downtown Orlando to show support for George Floyd. George Floyd died after a confrontation while in police custody. Editorial credit: Ira Bostic / Shutterstock.com

Miami Downtown, FL, USA - MAY 31, 2020: George Floyd, Tamir Rice, Atatiana Jefferson, Trayvon Martin, Ahmed Aubrey, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray, Alton Sterling poster. US people protest.

Editorial credit: Tverdokhlib / Shutterstock.com

demonstrated against Jews and minorities and one of them rammed counter-protestors, killing a young activist, Trump referred to them as “good people.”

There’s no doubt that Trump is a symptom of a sickness that has afflicted this country through its history. This nation was forged by the sword of violence, looting, and blood. Against U.S. natives, against Mexicans and Hispanics, against African American descendents of slaves who, despite the advances on the topic of civil rights, continue to be discriminated against.

The injustices have not ceased. Institutional racism continues, alive and kicking.

In that way, the knee of white supremacy, now from the position of power with Trump, has not been removed from the neck of a nation of minorities who have been hurt, vilified, abused, ignored, and distanced from the true safety that a socio-economic system without precedent, like the United States’, has pretended to offer. Unfortunately, the system only works for some people.

Since the protests began in recent days Trump has only incited them. “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” he tweeted when the disturbances in Minneapolis began. Then he tries to backtrack, but at the last provocation comes back because that is his nature; he can’t avoid it. Now he has used the crisis to blame Democrats and liberals. The nation needs calm and direction, two things that Trump is incapable of offering.

It doesn’t take much to put this historic moment in context: with a relentless virus that has killed more than 100,000 U.S. citizens; with a new racial revolt that promises to shake up, yet again, already tense social relations; and with a leader who foments hate to take political advantage as the elections draw nearer, this nation suffocates: like George Floyd, the United States can’t breathe.l

Protestors aganst George Floyd’s death at a standoff with the San Francisco police force. David Odisho / Shutterstock.com

Photo: Johnny Silvercloud / Shutterstock.com

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13

FAMILY MATTERS

Raising Her Together, But Apart

BY KENNETH BRASWELL

I

t happened—the day that most young people look forward to their entire lives. Our daughter turned 21, and she could not have been happier. It’s a milestone that marks the day she became a legal adult. Her mother and I rejoiced for her. Not just because she “did it,” but because “we did it.”

When Nzinga was just a year and a half old, her mother and I separated. Like most romantic relationship endings, it wasn’t easy. My family, which I loved so dearly, was breaking up. Suddenly, I felt like a failure again. It was déjà vu all over; first the absence of my father for which I secretly blamed myself and then the early abandonment of my first child. I bombarded myself with questions of whether I would ever get this “family thing” right.

Like so many other couples with children trying to navigate the ending of relationships, we found ourselves in the family court system; allowing the court to make decisions about our daughter that we couldn’t find a way to come to ourselves.

However, after mediation and wise counsel, we came to an epiphany, we could do this together.

We kept the child custody and visitation order in place so that we could have a Plan B if we ever found ourselves in a position in which we could not make an amicable

parenting decision on our own. It wasn’t very easy at first; and to be frank, at times it was painful. However, over time, our ability to have a non-romantic, co-parenting relationship became easier and easier.

The secret sauce to our success? We put a motivational factor at the forefront that neither of us could disagree on—the goal of the love and well-being of our daughter.

Fast forward to May 3, 2020, when our beautiful daughter turned 21. She came to this milestone with a college education, business certification, and as an emerging business owner and world traveler, not to

mention a heart of love and compassion. I believe this is because she had two parents who never lost sight of our primary goal.

Nzinga’s mother and I fought the odds and redefined the statistical analysis that says 72% of African American children who are born in nonmarital households will eventually have little to no contact with their father. Over 21 years, we proved that successful co-parenting could be done.

What did we learn, and what do we want to pass on to other parents trying to figure out co-parenting relationships?

Commitment is the first step. You must commit to making your child’s well-being

your number one priority and task no matter what. You must be willing to be flexible enough to stick with it and work things out during the times when it may not be easy, or you may not feel like you like each other very much. Keep your child in the forefront of every decision you make.

Don’t let your feelings or emotions about your co-parent become an obstacle to your responsibility of being an involved parent.

Lastly, know that co-parenting becomes easier when you foster an appreciation for the magnitude of the importance of the other parent. You are BOTH essential, necessary, and significant to your child’s health and well-being.

One of the most important things for our daughter is she has an embedded narrative and experience of two supportive, cooperative parents who provided a loving base from which she has launched her future and that gives her the confidence to shoot for the stars. Even though her parent’s romantic relationship ended, for Nzinga WE ARE A FOREVER FAMILY.l

Kenneth Braswell is the Executive Director; Project Director Fathers Incorporated; National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse. Kenneth has over 30 years of community development experience, and has previously worked as the Director of the New York State Fatherhood Initiative.

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MONEY MATTERS

14

Capital One and Other Debt Collectors Are Still Coming for Millions of Americans

BY PAUL KIEL & JEFF ERNSTHAUSEN PROPUBLICA

W

hen someone who has COVID-19 coughs or exhales they release droplets of infected fluid. Most of these droplets fall on nearby surfaces and objects, such as desks, tables or telephones. People could catch COVID-19 by touching contaminated surfaces or objects, and then touching their eyes, nose, or mouth. If they are standing within 1 meter of a person with COVID-19 they can catch it by breathing in droplets coughed out or exhaled by them. In other words, COVID-19 spreads in a similar way to flu. Most persons infected with COVID-19 experience mild symptoms and recover. However, some experience more serious illness and may require hospital care. Risk of serious illness rises with age: people over 40 seem to be more vulnerable than those under 40. People with weakened immune systems and people with conditions such as diabetes, heart and lung disease are also more vulnerable to serious illness.

Since 2018, Capital One has been a looming presence in Julio Lugo’s life, ever since the company sued him, as it did 29,000 other New Yorkers that year, over an unpaid credit card. But when the coronavirus hit the city this March, it wasn’t on his mind.

At Mount Sinai in Manhattan, where he works, he’d been drafted into the hospital’s frenzied effort against the virus. He normally gathered patient information at the front desk of a radiology clinic in orderly shifts, 9 to 5. Now he was working 16-hour days, often overnight. At one moment he might be enlisted to help a

team of doctors or nurses put on their full-body protective equipment and then he would rush to disinfect another team.

He lost track of the days, only orienting himself by the need to juggle care with his ex-wife of their two young children who were now out of school.

But despite a global pandemic, Capital One didn’t forget about him. The company began in late March to seize a portion of his wages to collect on that debt — one that he says wasn’t even his.

Federal, state and local officials have all taken some steps to protect Americans from the ravages of the economic crash

due to COVID-19. Congress halted a substantial portion of evictions, foreclosures and collection on student loans.

And when it sent $300 billion in stimulus checks out to families, many states took steps to make sure that debt collectors didn’t grab the money. But one of the most aggressive and common forms of debt collection has generally been allowed to continue: seizure of wages for old consumer debts.

The main protection Americans have gotten from debt collectors has been inadvertent, a byproduct of state courts being closed to most hearings, including those pushed by debt collectors. But this didn’t help people like Lugo who were the target of actions that began before the closures. Wage garnishments can run indefinitely once begun. As a result, essential workers and others who were lucky enough to keep their jobs have still been at risk of forfeiting a portion of their paychecks.

No one tracks wage garnishments either federally or at the state level, and continued on page 15

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15

MONEY MATTERS Capital One Coming/ continued from page 14 that’s a key reason they get little public attention. But ProPublica has found that it hits workers earning $40,000 or less the hardest and is particularly common in predominantly black communities.

Because garnishments are set at a percentage of income (25% in most states) regardless of whether someone can afford it or not, they often provoke a financial emergency and cause the debtor to let other bills go unpaid.

While new collection activity has dropped off, some major debt collectors have been laying the groundwork for a return to normal by filing suits by the thousands, according to a ProPublica review of online court records from county and state court websites. For example, in Maryland, two major debt collectors alone filed over 2,000 suits in April.

When the courts fully reopen, as they already have in some states, these companies will be first in line to win new court judgments. Those debtors who still have jobs will be forced to either make payments or risk their wages being seized. With 48% of American households having experienced a loss of employment income in the past few months, many will have no wages to take. But debt collectors can be patient and wait until they do.

Even more worrying to consumer advocates is what lies ahead. Households often rely on credit cards during

moments of financial stress. In recent months, more have been paying rent with their cards. Eventually the bill will come due, which could lead to a wave of collection suits as the nation attempts to recover.

“There’s going to be a whole swath of people who never thought they’d be in a position to default,” said Pamela Foohey, a law professor at Indiana University who argues in a recent paper with two colleagues that Congress should impose a debt collection moratorium to allow for recovery. “It’s not productive to be garnishing people’s wages when they need to pay for food and get back on track financially,” she said.

Over the past couple decades, Capital One, Lugo’s pursuer, helped lead the way in transforming the nation’s local courts into collection machines. As recently as the 1990s, these courts conformed to the picture most people have in their heads, primarily working as a venue where a

judge resolved disputes between two sides represented by a lawyer. Now the most common type of case is debt collection, a recent Pew Charitable Trusts report found. Lining up against debtors who are almost never represented by an attorney, debt collection companies win millions of court judgments each year, which then allow them to seize debtors’ wages for years into the future. An old unpaid bill will fall off a credit report after seven years, but a court judgment can haunt someone forever.

While different types of plaintiffs may flood the courts in different areas (from payday lenders to nonprofit hospitals), those collecting on credit card debt have driven this trend over time, according to ProPublica’s review of court data from several states.

The change has been obvious in courts everywhere, from New York to Las Vegas (where the local court decided to give such cases their own category,

“Civil – Credit Card Collection”) to rural Iowa.

“It does bother me that courts have become sort of a tool for credit card companies. We’ve just become part of their business machinery,” said Judge Chris Foy, who presides over the district court in the small town of Waverly, Iowa.

The most common plaintiffs don’t tend to be household names that advertise with bold TV campaigns: Most are debt buyers, companies that buy up bad debts in bulk. The exception is Capital One. Aggressive debt collection is key to Capital One’s profitability. Last year, the same year the company reported $5.5 billion in net income, it recovered $1.4 billion from its card accounts that had been previously charged-off, or recognized as losses. It was a haul hundreds of millions of dollars beyond any other card issuer, even much larger ones like JPMorgan Chase.

In a statement, a Capital One spokeswoman said the bank files more suits than other banks because it makes riskier loans. According to public filings, as of the end of this year one-third of Capital One’s cardholders had a credit score under 660, generally considered the threshold that identifies those most likely to have trouble paying debts back. The bank’s current card offers for such customers carry an annual interest rate of 27%.

“Most regional, community and especially large banks retreated from the subcontinued on page 16

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MONEY MATTERS Capital One Coming/ continued from page 15 prime segment to focus on more affluent customers, resulting in a growing population of people with less access to the banking system,” the spokeswoman said.

“Capital One remains a full spectrum lender.”

“Debt collection for us is about helping customers resolve their delinquent debt and reducing losses, not making money,” she said, and the bank always attempts to work with borrowers before suing. As for Lugo’s case, the company said it couldn’t comment because it was currently in litigation.

The best estimate of the national scope of garnishments comes from ADP, the nation’s largest payroll services provider.

At the request of ProPublica, ADP first undertook a study of payroll records six years ago. It followed up with a second survey in 2017. Both times, it found that 2.9% of workers had their wages garnished for consumer debts in the previous year. That works out to about 4 million nationally. Notably, both surveys were done during a period of economic expansion. In the Great Recession, between 2007 and 2009, the number of suits skyrocketed, according to ProPublica’s review of filings from several states.

Court judgments also allow collectors to seize money from bank accounts, often emptying them. But taking a portion of a paycheck is far more common, according to a ProPublica review of court data in Missouri and Georgia.

Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the New York State Courts, told ProPublica that garnishments were allowed to continue because “existing orders were considered essential matters.”

Those burdened with a garnishment amid the pandemic could request an emergency court hearing to have it suspended, according to guidance given to the city’s marshals, who administer garnishments. Michael Woloz, a spokesman for the marshals, said they “do everything they can to accommodate” people with hardships.

Susan Shin, legal director of the New Economy Project, a legal aid organization in New York City, said her group has been getting calls since March from New Yorkers asking for help with ongoing wage seizures. Capital One was often the plaintiff. People were afraid of risking

16 As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Americans got protection from evictions, foreclosures and student debt. But debt collectors have continued to siphon off their share of paychecks from those who still have jobs.

their health to go out and seek help from the courts. “Why put someone in that position?” she said. Relatively few people who need help find their way to legal aid.

ProPublica spoke with three New Yorkers who struggled to address seizures of their pay after the pandemic hit. Although all three managed to eventually halt the garnishments with the help of a legal aid attorney, the cases show how such suits can hang over people’s lives for decades. Two of them asked ProPublica not to use their last names out of fear it would displease their employers.

Capital One, asked about the cases, said, “Our policy is to work with any customer who needs help and is impacted by COVID-19.”

Capital One sued Robert in 2007 for about $1,900. He is HIV positive and fell behind because of health issues, he said, and has been in and out of work over the years. For almost a decade, he said, he didn’t hear from Capital One. But last fall, soon after Robert began a new job, he received notice telling him to arrange payment on the debt or he would be at risk of garnishment.

He eventually struck a settlement to pay Capital One a total of $300 on a payment plan of $20 a month. But shortly after he made his first payment, he was shocked to find that his wages had been garnished anyway. The seizures continued for weeks, well into March of this year. Both Capital One and the marshal’s office told ProPublica that Robert’s employer had been sent notice not to execute the garnishment, but that it had done so anyway in error and that the checks had been promptly mailed back to the employer.

Capital One sued Grace, a social worker in Queens, in 2013 after she lost her job and fell behind on her payments. Like Robert, she said she hadn’t heard from

Capital One for years. In February, she received a letter from the marshal warning her that her pay would be garnished if she did not make other arrangements to pay off her debt of $2,800.

When the virus hit and the courts largely shut down, she assumed it was a problem that could wait. “I was just trying to get by,” she said. After the garnishment started, she searched online for help and found her way to Shin, the legal aid lawyer. The money has since been returned, but Grace knows the seizures could start again when the courts reopen.

Given Lugo’s hectic days and nights working at the hospital, it wasn’t until mid-April, when 500 New Yorkers were still dying every day from the virus, that he discovered $168 missing from his latest paycheck. Although he was sued in 2018, he didn’t find out about the suit until his wages began to be garnished last year, he said. One reason is that the debt is not his, he said.

In a legal filing, with the help of a legal aid attorney, he argued that his nowdeceased father likely stole his identity to take out the card. A process server falsely claimed to have served his mother with notice of the suit, he said.

The filing stopped the garnishments last year, but in early March, he missed a court hearing because it conflicted with a parent-teacher conference at his child’s school, he said. He thought the hearing would be rescheduled, but unbeknownst to him, it triggered a new garnishment.

“Being that the courts were closed, I couldn’t understand how they could just start taking out money again without letting me know,” he said.

Eventually, again with help from a legal aid attorney, he was able to stop the garnishment and get a new court date, currently set for August.

After the virus hit in March, Capital One largely suspended filing any new

debt collection lawsuits. But other big debt collectors did not, including Encore Capital, the nation’s largest debt buyer.

ProPublica reviewed online court filings in eight states where courts had largely stopped hearing new cases and found that Encore still filed over 1,600 lawsuits in April.

Encore reported collecting $1.3 billion in old debt in the U.S. last year and was looking forward to another good year when March came.

Encore CEO Ashish Masih told analysts last month that the company is still optimistic. Widespread unemployment and the courts closing hurt the company’s near term prospects, but Masih said this would only cause a “delay, not a permanent loss” in what the company hoped to collect in 2020. Eventually, he said, “the court processes will start working,” and “we hope to recoup about 90% of collections over time.”

In response to questions from ProPublica, Encore said that according to its company policy, “We’ve suspended collections for any consumer who lets us know they’ve been directly impacted by COVID-19.”

Across the country, courts are taking steps to resuming full function. In Arkansas, where the virus did not initially hit hard, but has been spreading faster lately, the state supreme court announced in early May that all courts could reopen to hearing any type of case starting May 18. How exactly to do this is up to local courts, and solutions range from video hearings to in-person hearings with a limited number of people in the courtroom and temperature checks before entering.

Wage garnishments in the state never stopped, said Susan Purtle, an attorney with Legal Aid of Arkansas, which serves almost half the state. That’s partly due to the large number of meat processing plants there, she said. “Those clients have continued to work,” she said, and so had wages to take.

But recently, she said, calls about new suits have been coming in. Typically, she’s seeing court hearings scheduled for July or August. Once they begin again, collectors will resume winning judgments that can be used to collect on the debtors who still have jobs. For the ones who don’t, the companies will wait until they do. l

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17

EDUCATION

5 Things College Students Should Include in A Plan for Their Wellness check on how well that personal wellness plan is going. Decide if tweaks to the plan are needed. As one example, weight gain in college is common given meal plans that offer all-you-can-eat and easy access to unhealthy food choices. If a behavioral challenge around nutrition occurs, modify the personal wellness plan to incorporate guidelines around healthy eating.

BY DAVID L. DI MARIA THE CONVERSATION

A

s a psychologist and the mother of two college-aged students, I am concerned about my children’s future emotional well-being. I know that the late teens to early 20s are a time when the majority of many lifetime mental health disorders take hold.

Given all the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic – from isolation to limited job opportunities – the need for supports to address mental health issues seems likely to increase.

As parents and other guardians get ready to prepare their teens for college, they should not neglect helping those new college students in terms of their overall well-being. Well-being is influenced by lots of factors, so an important part of supporting your wellness is to create a personal plan of action. Doing so is called “wellness planning.”

Colleges and universities are beginning to recognize the importance of wellness planning. They are seeing the need to expand their traditional mental health and counseling services to include wellness as a prevention strategy for all students.

But personal wellness plans must be customized to meet each individual student’s own needs. And I believe that since it is unclear whether new college students will be on physical campuses this fall or learning online, these plans are more important than ever. Here are five essential things that any wellness plan for incoming college students should address: 1. Define what well-being looks like Well-being has been generally defined as feeling good and having a positive life outlook. To answer what well-being looks like for you – socially, emotionally and behaviorally – begin by reflecting on the everyday strategies that you already find most effective in coping with daily life.

Identify areas that seem to pose the biggest struggles now. For instance, some people may be grumpy and anxious

if they have not done some form of physical exercise, so well-being for these people would involve daily physical activity.

2. Set strategies If you identify sleep habits as a problem, try out some recommended strategies for improving sleep habits such as having a consistent time for going to bed and getting up or limiting electronic use before bedtime.

If you feel socially isolated, find opportunities to strengthen connectedness, such as joining a new group or volunteering.

strategies or organizations such as Campus Mind Works at the University of Michigan.

Make sure to prioritize options that help build a strong social network.

Eliminate options that may challenge your ability to maintain your personal wellness plan.

4. Evaluate Set a reminder, perhaps monthly, to

5. Make a backup plan Don’t always go it alone in figuring out how to adapt a personal wellness plan.

Make a plan to connect with others when things are not working as planned. Even though college is a time for independence, there may be situations where coping strategies fall short and help is needed.

Identify someone in your current network, like a relative or close friend, to serve as a trusted person to reach out to.

Also, be open to the possibility that sometimes professional support is warranted.l Sandra M. Chafouleas is a Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Connecticut

3. Identify college resources Once a plan is in place, search for resources at college that will help you to execute it. Make a list of the clubs and organizations that look exciting, and be open to trying new things. Check out their social media to see which ones seem most interesting and in line with your wellness priorities. If you are interested in opportunities for open conversation and reducing stigma about mental health, look to join campus organizations such as Active Minds.

Look for resources to relieve stress or practice new relaxation techniques.

Colleges and universities often have dedicated web resources on tips for stress management. Some may even link to

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ISLAND FOCUS: JAMAICA

18

Who Protects Workers’ Health, as Tourism Industry Opens?

BY CALVIN G. BROWN WIREDJA.COM

M

ONTEGO BAY: With the opening of Jamaica’s borders to international visitors on June 15, there is widespread concern that uncontrolled access by visitors to Jamaica’s tourism product may expose the island’s tourism workers to a-symptomatic covid-19 virus carriers to the detriment of our product.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced on Sunday that the island’s borders would be opened to international visitors on June 15, who would voluntarily determine whether they want to be tested by health professionals upon arrival.

He noted that the Jamaican economy, like most countries globally, has suffered a severe setback as a result of the pandemic.

“The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) recently reported an [estimated] decline of 1.7 per cent in real gross domestic product [GDP] for [the] quarter ending March 2020, and has projected a decline of 12 to 14 per cent for the April

to June quarter and four to six per cent for the fiscal year 2020/21 overall,” Holness informed.

He said this represented the most significant economic decline Jamaica has recorded in over four decades and, as such, it is key that the full resumption of economic activities be facilitated.

Holness said that the Government will be seeking to implement new controlled entry protocols that will be based on a risk assessment of the countries from which persons are seeking to enter Jamaica.

He said countries that have a similar management and profile results for the

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epidemic such as spread, death rate, infection prevention, control measures, and contact tracing protocols could constitute a “travel bubble” that would determine the protocols to be applied to entry from those states. Persons seeking to enter Jamaica from countries within the travel bubble, he said, “may not need to be tested on arrival.”

Travel bubbles, also called travel bridges or corona corridors, do away with that waiting period for a select group of travelers from certain countries where the coronavirus has been contained. In a travel bubble, a set of countries agree to open their borders to each other but keep borders to all other countries closed.

“They would, however, be subjected to health status screening, including temperature checks, checks for symptoms, and everyone must go through a sensitization program with public health officials utilizing flyers and audio-visuals.

“We're also considering including a pledge document which everyone coming in would need to sign to indicate that they would observe the protocols here that all Jamaicans have been observing which would have served us well,” said Holness.

He said based on the health status and risk assessment by a public health officer of those re-entering the country, Jamaicans will be subjected to a mandatory 14-day quarantine period if they are not coming from a travel bubble country.

Tourists will not be subjected to this unless they exhibit symptoms of the virus, the prime minister said.

Tourism minister Edmund Bartlett is maintaining that his ministry would be putting in place what he describes as “robust” measures to safeguard the health of future visitors, when the tourism industry’s operations resumes.”

He however declined to say what measures will be implemented to ensure that the health of the island’s tourism workers is not compromised. It is estimated that there are in excess of 350-thousand persons who depend on the tourism industry for a livelihood.

Bartlett, says his ministry has been working overtime with local and international experts to refine all the requisite protocols, to make Jamaica the most COVID-resilient tourist destination globally.

“We are working towards a summer opening. Our opening is imminent, but I

don’t have a date as of yet. Thank goodness, however, we are flattening the [Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID19)] curve and the rate of death has remained static,” Bartlett told the Jamaica Information Service.

Bartlett argued that with a summer restart, the industry could record visitor arrivals averaging between 20 and 30 per cent, with the figure rounding down to 20 per cent during the fall period, before picking up to about 60 or 70 per cent over the winter season.

“We could end up with another two million visitors – somewhere around 50 per cent of last year, if we can have a summer start… between June and August,” he added.

The majority of Jamaica’s tourism comes from the United States, Canada, Spain, the United Kingdom and many European Union Countries, many of which are still being affected by the Covid-19 virus.

In addition, countries like the United States, Spain, Italy and Brazil are yet to bring the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease in their countries under control.

The Minister said that with the Caribbean being the most tourismdependent region globally, there is no room for complacency, noting that regional heads have to prepare for the “ushering of a new era.”

“Before the threat of the novel coronavirus, Jamaica’s tourism sector was confidently entering into its tenth consecutive year of growth.

Bartlett pointed out that the industry’s out-turns for first two months of the calendar year – January and February- were “strong”.

“We had 5.5 per cent gross tourist arrivals – we brought in 1.25 million visitors and earned US$859 million dollars.

That would have put us on a path to earn US$4 billion by the end of the year, with 4.5 million visitors.

We were doing extremely well.

However, as of March 10, the numbers fell to zero. You can imagine the horror of that moment! That’s a big blow,” he informed.

Following a record-breaking year in 2019, tourism receipts for January and February indicated that the sector was growing at a rate of 5.2% in 2020. Today the industry… filled with uncertainty and economic challenges… is facing a new paradigm,” Mr. Bartlett added.

He, however, lauded the work of the public health teams, under the leadership

by Ministry of Health and Wellness, Dr. Christopher Tufton, whom, he said, have done “a very good job in terms of containment” the COVID-19 outbreak.

Consequently, Mr. Bartlett said “we have less than 50 people in hospitals and over 100 in recovery”, which is an encouraging indicator for the future.

The country's borders were closed to incoming passenger traffic on March 24 to limit the community spread of COVID-19.l

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19

ELDER CARE

COVID-19 Creating Long-term Challenges for Families with Loved Ones in Long-term Care

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hile states across the country are beginning to reopen after months of prolonged isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the major challenges that may continue for the near future is not being able to visit loved ones in nursing homes. Since residents of these facilities are among the most vulnerable to the coronavirus, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recommends that nursing homes not reopen to outside visitors until the last phase of its reopening guidelines.

“One of the hardest parts of the COVID-19 pandemic for families who have relatives with Alzheimer’s disease living in a care setting is not being able to see their loved ones in person,” said Jennifer Reeder, LCSW, Director of Educational and Social Services for the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA). “Many nursing homes are likely to continue limiting or prohibiting outside visitors, given how fast COVID-19 can spread and the high risks to seniors with underlying health conditions. However, there are ways families can stay connected with their loved ones from anywhere.”

AFA is offering tips to families to help stay connected until in-person visits resume:

Connect using technology. Video chat platforms like FaceTime, Zoom or Skype allow you and your loved one to see and talk with one another from anywhere.

Many care settings are helping families stay connected this way. Ask your loved one’s care setting if they can offer this type of service. Phone calls, emails and letters are also good ways to keep in touch.

Send favorite items. A care package with your loved one’s favorite snacks, trinkets and other fun items can let them know that you are thinking of them. It can also help provide them with comfort, improve their mood and reduce stress or anxiety. Be sure to check with the care setting first to find out if any items are prohibited for health reasons.

Have a dialogue through photographs.

Some care settings are working with families to regularly send pictures of their residents to their loved ones and also inviting families to send photos in return for the residents to see. In some cases, they’ll encourage “themed” photos (i.e., wearing a funny hat) to keep things fun and engaging. This can also have the added benefit of eliciting memories.

Don’t be afraid to ask for updates from the care setting. Keep in touch with staff and get regular updates on your loved one. If your loved one has special care needs, such as physical or occupational therapy, or needs other personal care services, like getting toenails or fingernails cut, find out how the facility is delivering those services or what alternatives are in place. Ask about what steps the care setting is taking to deliver activity programming (i.e., music, art, dance/movement, crafts, exercise) that can help keep your loved one engaged

and active. Additionally, all care settings are required to have plans in place to monitor and prevent infections and safeguard the health of their residents and staff. They should be able to provide you with information about these procedures, if asked.

AFA’s Helpline, staffed entirely by licensed social workers, is available seven days a week to answer questions or provide additional information and support. The Helpline can be reached by: Calling 866-232-8484 l

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DIASPORA CONCERNS

20

Cities with ‘Sanctuary’ Policies Save Lives from Domestic Violence

BY WALTER EWING AMERICAN IMMIGRATION COUNCIL Many communities across the U.S. have adopted so-called “sanctuary policies” that are intended to ensure that we all live in safe neighborhoods. When these policies are in place, local police don’t take part in the enforcement of federal immigration laws.

These policies allow immigrants to work with local law enforcement in reporting and investigating crimes without fear for themselves or family members of being targeted for deportation.

With that in mind, people are much more likely to report crimes, regardless of their immigration status. New evidence suggests that one category of crime that sanctuary policies can help reduce is domestic violence.

In a newly released study, two economists find that sanctuary policies significantly reduce the most extreme form of domestic violence: domestic homicide.

The study finds that introducing sanctuary policies within a county lowers the domestic homicide rate for Hispanic women by an astonishing 62%. It draws this conclusion from crime data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation

(FBI) between 2003 and 2017.

The primary reason for this dramatic decrease is that sanctuary policies empower Hispanic women to call the police to report domestic violence without fear it will result in a deportation.

Therefore, the escalation of domestic violence is more often interrupted before it reaches the point of murder.

The study concludes that “sanctuary policies appear effective in offering Hispanic women a true sanctuary against domestic violence.”

It is important to keep in mind that there is no one kind of sanctuary policy.

The authors of the study focus on juris-

dictions with some combination of the following six policies in which local police: nDo not arrest people solely for federal immigration violations. nDo not enter into 287(g) agreements with Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) that deputize police officers to enforce federal immigration laws. nLimit their response to ICE “detainers”—which are requests by ICE for police to hold someone in jail for up to 48 hours beyond the time they would otherwise be released. nDecline to contract with the federal government to hold immigrants in detention. nDecline to allow ICE agents into local jails without a warrant. nRestrict immigration enforcement in “sensitive locations” like hospitals, schools, or court houses.

Sanctuary policies correspond with the best practices of community policing.

The root of the approach is the recognition that police officers cannot effectively serve a community unless they have the trust of community members.

In the immigration context, community members need to trust that police officers will serve and protect everyone equally regardless of immigration status. If police become proxy immigration agents, that trust is broken.

In the case of domestic violence, women will not report their abusers to police if they fear that their legal status, or the status of their family, might be used against them for immigration purposes. Abusers often use the immigration status of their victims as a weapon. They threaten to turn the victims into immigration authorities if the victims dare to call the police to stop the abuse.

While sanctuary policies protect the victims of crime, they do not shield criminals. Police are free to enforce all criminal laws against anyone no matter their immigration status. Nor do sanctuary policies in any way hide immigrants from federal authorities. The police are not stopping ICE agents from entering a community and apprehending anyone who lacks legal status.

We are all more secure when people believe they can trust in law enforcement.

The public debate about sanctuary policies should be driven by facts and our collective desire to create and support a safer society for all.l

Walter A. Ewing, Ph.D., is an Editor and Writer at the American Immigration Council. Walter has authored numerous reports for the Council, including The Criminalization of Immigration in the United States (co-written in 2015 with Daniel Martínez and Rubén Rumbaut), which received considerable press attention.

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IMMIGRATION

21

“Keeping Dreamers, TPS Holders in Our Workforce and Communities is Essential...”

BY AMERICA’S VOICE

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n the one year anniversary of the passage of H.R. 6 in the House of Representatives, Reps. Lucille Royal-Allard (D-CA), Nydia Velásquez (D-NY), and Yvette Clark (D-NY) explain in an op-ed for The Hill: “We did our job one year ago, and remain committed to ensuring that our nation’s interests are at the forefront of our work. We strongly believe that H.R. 6 is critical to protecting and honoring the sacrifices of our essential workers, and to preventing the further disruption of communities across America that have been battling the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

DACA recipients and TPS holders are fighting on the frontlines of this global crisis while they urgently await the Senate to pass legislation granting them permanent protections. It’s been a year, and over 1 million DACA recipients and TPS holders are still waiting for Republican Senators to pass The Dream and Promise Act. The op-ed is excerpted below: Our nation remains in the grips of a coronavirus pandemic that has already claimed the lives of more than 100,000 Americans. It is sobering to know that

Photo: Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock.com

lives could have been saved had the administration acted more quickly….

More than 200,000 DACA recipients and 130,000 TPS beneficiaries work in jobs that the Department of Homeland Security recognizes as essential to the critical infrastructure of the nation. They are doctors, nurses, and home health aides; farmworkers, food processors, and grocery store clerks. They work in our manufacturing plants, warehouses, and transportation services, putting themselves and their family members at risk of infection every day to care for their fellow Americans, bring food to our tables,

and keep the economy running.

But like too many essential workers in our country, instead of being given the protection and support they deserve while performing these services, these immigrant workers are being treated as largely expendable or disposable; approximately 1 million DACA recipients and TPS holders are facing the reality that they may soon be forced to leave the only communities they know as home. Throughout President Trump’s term in office, he has taken steps to cruelly and abruptly end DACA and eliminate these TPS protections. Although courts have blocked these actions from taking effect, decisions are expected very soon, which could uphold the president’s actions and upend the lives of countless individuals and families. In the middle of a pandemic, when hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients and TPS holders are risking their lives to support our communities, and heading into an economic recovery that will require the ingenuity and tenacity of all Americans, we cannot allow these individuals to live with this fear and uncertainty any longer.

A year ago today, we worked with our colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass H.R. 6, the

American Dream and Promise Act, on a bipartisan basis. This historic bill would provide a path to citizenship for Dreamers, Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) recipients, and TPS holders, who are American in every way–who have been raising families in the U.S., starting businesses, and contributing to our communities for so many years. As the coauthors of H.R. 6, we were proud to champion this effort to support immigrants who are enriching the fabric of our nation every single day. Unfortunately, this bill has now been languishing in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) legislative graveyard for one full year. …We continue to urge Leader McConnell and our Republican colleagues in the Senate to bring H.R. 6 up for a vote. We did our job one year ago, and remain committed to ensuring that our nation’s interests are at the forefront of our work. We strongly believe that H.R. 6 is critical to protecting and honoring the sacrifices of our essential workers, and to preventing the further disruption of communities across America that have been battling the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.l

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IN THE NEWS

22

Indicted Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Loses Bid to Suppress iPhone Evidence

BY TOM McPARLAND NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL

A

federal judge on Tuesday denied a bid by Sylvia Ash, the indicted Brooklyn Supreme Court justice, to suppress evidence she produced to the state-chartered credit union whose board she used to chair.

The ruling, from U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of New York, rejected arguments by Ash and her Morrison & Foerster attorney that federal prosecutors had obtained the data from her Municipal Credit Union-issued iPhone in violation of her Fifth Amendment protections against selfincrimination.

In a 19-page opinion, Kaplan found that Ash had failed to support her claims that the government was behind MCU’s request that she return the phone amid an internal probe of wrongdoing by its former chief executive, and said her argument that she was compelled to do so was “insufficient to warrant a hearing, much less to suppress the phone.”

The ruling also allowed prosecutors to use Ash’s emails, as well as statements she made to investigators and a grand jury, as evidence in the case.

Carrie Cohen, who is representing Ash in the criminal obstruction case, had argued that MCU was already cooperating with the federal government when it made the request in June 2018, and had failed to inform her client that the contents of the phone could be used against her.

At the time, Kam Wong, the former CEO of the 500,000-member financial

Judge Sylvia Ash

institution, was under federal indictment for stealing nearly $10 million from MCU. He later pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to five and a half years in prison.

The Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Ash last October with trying to help cover up Wong’s scheme, alleging that she had wiped the phone of relevant text messages and then lied to investigators looking into Wong’s conduct. Ash, who left the MCU board in August 2016, has pleaded not guilty, and remains free on $500,000 bond.

Prosecutors have stated that they “did not ask or direct” MCU to return the phone, which contained emails, texts and other communications between Ash and Wong.

Kaplan said that although the government’s response “arguably falls short of an unambiguous assertion” regarding its alleged involvement, it was “quite reasonable” that the credit union had its own

interest in obtaining MCU-issued devices, and Ash had willingly complied.

“Ash’s argument fails regardless of whether the government somehow instigated … MCU’s request,” he said.

Cohen, Ash’s attorney, said she was “disappointed in the ruling and continues to believe the government obtained evidence in violation of Judge Ash’s rights.”

“We now will press forward to trial to set the record straight and restore Judge Ash’s good name and reputation,” she said.

The Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office did not provide comment on Tuesday.

Ash, 62, has served as a New York state judge since 2006. She was elected to the Kings County Supreme Court in 2011 and became presiding judge of the court’s commercial division in January 2016. She has been suspended from her post, pending the resolution of her criminal case.

Prosecutors alleged that during her time on MCU’s board, Ash reaped “tens of thousands” of dollars in reimbursements and other benefits under Wong’s leadership, including airfare, hotels, entertainment and payment for her phone and cable bills, as well as other expenses.

According to the charging documents, she continued to receive Apple devices and other perks from Wong even after she resigned from the MCU board.

Meanwhile, Joseph Guagliardo, a former New York City Police Department officer and former member of MCU’s supervisory committee, pleaded guilty in January to stealing more than $400,000 while serving in a leadership role with the nonprofit bank.l

Bill to Prevent the Biased Misuse of Emergency Services

Assemblywoman Diana Richardson

W

lbany, NY: On June 10, legislation introduced by Assemblywoman Diana C. Richardson (D-Brooklyn) to create a civil penalty for the biased misuse of emergency services when there is no reason to believe a crime or offense is occurring, was passed by the Assembly.

"Calling 911 for non-emergencies prevents emergency responders from helping people who are actually in danger and poses an even bigger threat to people of color in the current political climate," said Assembly Member Diana Richardson. "When officers report to a scene with limited information and that information sounds critical enough, they may respond with tactical force. As we have seen, it takes only a few seconds for a situation to escalate. This legislation sends the message loud and clear that it is not a crime for people of color to exist in public spaces, and it establishes a means of recourse should they encounter such treatment."

The bill (A.1531-B) stipulates that any person who summons a police or peace officer without reason to suspect a violation of the law, criminal conduct, or an imminent threat to a person or property, but is instead motivated by a belief regarding race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, age, disability or sexual orientation, could be liable in a civil action for injunctive relief, damages or other appropriate remedies.

In recent years, emergency responders have received several 911 calls which report people of color simply for cutting grass, using a swimming pool, or selling water, most recently the case of Amy Cooper who called 911 in Central Park because an African-American birdwatcher asked her to leash her dog in the Ramble, where dogs must be leashed at all times.

These calls were motivated by ethnic and racial bias, rather than by any meaningful threat. Assembly Member Richardson’s legislation will prevent the misuse of 911, and ensure emergency services remain readily available for anyone in eminent danger. l

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23

IN THE NEWS

Demonstration Against the 71st Precinct

BY THE MOVEMENT TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE

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e the Movement to Protect the People, MTOPP and Flower Lovers Against Corruption, FLAC join the Medgar Evers College Students’ Rally and Protest Against Systematic Oppression and Racism Perpetuated by the 71st Precinct located in Community Board 9 in Brooklyn.

The unpredicted protests, riots and violence against racism in this country and in particular the Police force, has put a spotlight on to how the police have been used to suppress and oppress Black people right within their communities.

Since 2014, the 71st Precinct has been used as a weapon of racial suppression as the residents have been fighting against major real estate development along the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Community Board 9.

Our leaders have been arrestedby the 71st Precinct, our community boards meetings have been surrounded by the Police with paddy wagons ready to arrest lawful abiding residents all to intimate, create an atmosphere of fear and to suppress the residents’ rights to take part in Community Board meetings regarding rezonings and development projects.

Just this year alone, instead of the 71st Precinct enforcing a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against developers not to build, the 71st Precinct harassed, called names and eventually arrested the residents who were defending the TRO, when they failed to.

This is a normal community board meeting, where in the upper right hand corner there are several police officers in attendance. Up until 2014, the police were never at any CB9's meeting, but now they are there at every meeting to intimidate, harass, suppress our voices and deter others from coming to the meetings.

When the community residents came out to Community Board meetings in opposition to proposed developments along the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, again as has been the case since 2014, the police surrounded the meetings, paddy wagons were situated outside ready to arrest residents creating an atmosphere of intimidation, suppression and fear.

To stop this pppression and racist policy of the 71st Precinct, here is a list of our demands: nCommanding officers meet with us nEnd over policing at CB9’s meetings nDismantle the71st Precinct Council

Meeting - Reform with victims as members nEnd arrests quotas nEnd racial discriminatory policing and special treatment, use of excessive force, etc nEngage in a mental health partnership to prevent killings like Shaeed Vassell nEnforce Temporary Restraining Orders against developers! nRemove officers with 3 or more complaints from direct interaction with the people nEngage in meetings between groups and organizations with reoccurring issues

Flyer circulated in the community regarding the arrest of Alicia Boyd. nDisclose New and Old Officers’ records, once 50-a is repealed by the State Help We have truly gotten this far, by the people's generosity, determination and belief in protecting of our public green spaces and the community. Thanks for your continued help and support! For more information go to www.mtopp.org or call (718) 703-3086.l

In Massive Win for Immigrants: Federal Judge Blocks ICE from Making Arrests at NY Courthouses

N

ew York, NY: On June 10, Judge Jed S. Rakoff, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, declared Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) policy of courthouse arrests to be illegal and enjoined ICE from making arrests of anyone on the grounds of New York State court-

houses or of anyone required to travel to a courthouse as a party or witness to a lawsuit. Judge Rakoff’s declaration comes after the New York Police Department (NYPD) admitted that ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents were protecting police precincts during protests following the murder of George Floyd.

After Judge Rakoff issued his decision, Steve Choi, the Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition, issued the following statement.

“ICE's increased presence in New York’s courthouses has undermined both public safety and our legal system, transforming our courts into another front in Trump’s campaign to terrorize immigrant communities. Like the stop

and frisk policies of the NYPD, it represents another piece of the decades-long criminalization of people of color. As we celebrate today’s decision by Judge Rakoff declaring ICE arrests of people at New York Courthouses illegal, we call on the New York State Legislature to swiftly pass the Protect Our Courts Act.”l

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Italian Travel Magazine “Dove” Features Jamaican-Canadian Chef and Cookbook Author, Noel Cunningham

nSPORTS

nHOROSCOPE

Kitchen Corner Mahi Mahi with Coconut Rice and Mango Salsa

BYSTAFF WRITER. JAMAICANS.COM

A

ward-winning International chef, cookbook author Noel Cunningham, has been featured in Italy’s top Travel and Lifestyle Magazine among popular places in Jamaica you must visit. This feature came in time as the Government of Jamaica announced the reopening of the country.

Dove is an Italian language travel magazine that aims to act as a personal travel agent for readers seeking adventure and discovery. Highlighting all the best deals and packages to help readers plan their perfect trip to some wondrous and exotic destinations. Dove also showcases the hidden out-of-town gems to give you an edge over other tourists.

Dove has been the leading magazine in the travel and lifestyle sector for more than 25 years. The magazine, entirely dedicated to travel and lifestyle. It has a distinctive character in the ability to suggest unique travel ideas designed for readers and high profile travelers.

Over the years Noel has been recognized locally and internationally for his culinary skills which have led to numerous features in print publications, television, and radio shows mainly in Canada, Jamaica and the United States. His expertise is backed with recognition as a champion of brand Jamaica in the Culinary Arts by the Prime Minister Youth Awards. In February of this year, Chef Noel was named the Best Chef in Toronto in the ByBlacks People’s Choice Awards.

Chef Noel continues to elevate Jamaican cuisine onto the global stage with his debut bestselling cookbook, television appearances, Facebook Live shows, and through his weekly articles in the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper.

He has been working in the hospitality industry since the age of nineteen in some of the leading Hotels, in the

A Caribbean-inspired dish with dimensions of sweet, spice and tanginess. Delicious!

— By SYRAH4689, Allrecipes.com

Chef Noel Cunningham

island’s tourist mecca as a certified chef de partie, which propelled him onto the “Culinary Catwalk.”

Appleton Estate, Dunn’s River Falls, Sandals Montego Bay, Sugar Mill, Half Moon Hotel, The Pelican Grill, Pier One, Tracks and Records were among some of the must visit spots in Jamaica.

“When I got the interview request email from Silvia Ugoltti who is an Italian travel journalist. I was blown away by the fact that a magazine so far, reaching out to me not only to feature me but to recommend my favorite places to eat and have fun in Jamaica. Then I found out that Dove is the leading travel and lifestyle magazine in Italy. It’s the Vogue of tourism. A full Italian language magazine.” said Chef Noel Cunningham.l

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Ingredients 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce 2 teaspoons lemon juice 1 clove garlic, crushed 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper ½ teaspoon minced fresh ginger root 2 tablespoons chopped green onion (optional) salt to taste 4 (4 ounce) mahi mahi fillets 2 cups uncooked jasmine rice 2 cups water 1 cube chicken bouillon 1 tablespoon butter (optional) ¾ (14 ounce) can coconut milk 2 tablespoons white sugar 1 ½ teaspoons butter 1 ½ tablespoons white sugar 1 ½ cups fresh mango, cubed Directions Step 1: Whisk together the olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, black pepper, ginger, green onion, and salt in a bowl. Add the mahi mahi and toss to evenly coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Step 2: Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack in the middle of the oven.

Step 3: Bring the rice, water, chicken bouillon, and 1 tablespoon butter to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes. Pour in the coconut milk and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Stir, and simmer uncovered until the rice has absorbed most of the coconut milk.

Step 4: While the rice is cooking, remove the mahi mahi from the marinade, and shake off excess. Discard the remaining marinade. Place fish in a large baking dish in a single layer. Broil in the preheated oven until the fish flakes easily with a fork, 10 to 15 minutes. If the fish browns too quickly, cover the baking dish with a sheet of aluminum foil.

Step 5: Melt 1 1/2 teaspoons butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar in a skillet over medium-high heat. When the mixture begins to bubble, stir in mango cubes. Cook and stir until mango is tender, about 5 minutes. Serve by placing a mahi mahi fillet over a scoop of hot rice and top with the mango salsa.l Nutrition Facts Makes 4 servings. Per serving: 808 calories; 28.9 g total fat; 94 mg cholesterol; 549 mg sodium. 107 g carbohydrates; 30.9 g protein

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SPORTS & BOOKS England vs West Indies: Jason Holder Says Tourists Feel Safe on England Tour

26 Reading for Summer

W

est Indies captain Jason Holder says his players feel safe after arriving in England and "at some point", some kind of normal must return.

West Indies landed in the UK on Tuesday, June 9 for their three-match Test series which begins on 8 July at biosecure venues.

They are the first international sports team to visit since the coronavirus lockdown, but Holder said his team had not felt pressured into playing.

"A lot of people were crying out for cricket," Holder told BBC Sport.

"It is not the case we wanted to be guinea pigs but, having said that, we always had a tour plan here in the UK this summer.

"After we spoke about the possibilities of it coming off, everybody was comfortable and here we are now."

There has been no international cricket anywhere in the world since 13 March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

While there have been some cases and deaths in the Caribbean, the virus' impact has been much less than in the UK where more than 40,000 people have died.

"It is not about money for us — we want safety and want to make sure we are treated fairly, and we just get on with it," Holder said.

"If you put yourself in the position of a healthcare worker or someone who has worked on the front line throughout this whole pandemic, they have not had the

Jason Holder PhotoMitch Gunn / Shutterstock.com:

opportunity to sit back at home and run from the virus.

"They have had to deal with it full on.

"We are fortunate we have not been in that position but having said that, at some point in time you have to make an effort to get back to some kind of normality."

Since arriving in the UK, West Indies have entered quarantine at Emirates Old Trafford where they will spend three weeks preparing before heading to the Ageas Bowl in Southampton for the first Test.

The second and third matches will take place at Old Trafford with the players

staying at the hotels on site at both venues.

Holder, 28, praised the work done by the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB] in explaining the safety measures that would be in place before the team agreed to travel and for implementing the measures for their arrival.

He said hand sanitizer, disposable gloves and thermometers had been widely available at their hotel.

"Things like that give you a sigh of relief and that much more comfort," Holder said.

"If we didn't have things like this it would make you wonder if it was actually safe and again, I cannot thank the ECB enough for what they have done so far."

Holder also said his team will discuss whether to support anti-racism protests that have been seen around the world since the death of George Floyd.

Some sports stars have taken a knee in support of the protests.

Holder feels the movement could help galvanize his team.

"We have had previous series, particularly against England, where people have come out and said things prior to series and that has fueled us as West Indians," Holder said.

"Who knows, this could be something serious we could build on and get some real positive energy throughout the entire group." l —BBC Sports

Woke: A Young Poet's Guide to Justice is a collection of poems to inspire kids to stay woke and become a new generation of activists.

H

istorically poets have been on the forefront of social movements.

Woke is a collection of poems by women that reflects the joy and passion in the fight for social justice, tackling topics from discrimination to empathy, and acceptance to speaking out.

With Theodore Taylor's bright, emotional art, and writing from Mahogany L. Browne, Elizabeth Acevedo and Olivia Gatwood, kids will be inspired to create their own art and poems to express how they see justice and injustice.

With a foreword by best-selling author Jason Reynolds.

Following an introduction that defines what it means to be woke, these poems combine clear declarations with easy-tograsp metaphors to convey progressive values. Privilege is compared to a toolbox (“We can choose/ to use it to help people who don’t have what we do”) and gender to a rainbow (“There are so many shades between boy and girl”). Each poem’s intended value appears next to its page number—including individuality (“Teeth Dance With Silver”), body positivity (“The Good Body”), and ableism (“The Ability to Be”). The text’s direct style is matched by Taylor’s clear illustrations, notable for their bold lines and bright colors. With its references to figures such as Janet Mock and Trayvon Martin, it’s a useful conversation-starter on the topic.

Ages 8–12. l —Publishersweekly.com & Goodreads.com

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27

LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS

Affairs: How to Heal After You Found Out

BY ALICIA ROTH, ESTES THERAPY

I

nfidelity is almost always a source of intense hurt and emotional distress, but an affair doesn’t have to mean your relationship is over.

While infidelity is rated as the most serious hurtful event a couple can face, many marriages and relationships can survive the storm and sometimes even make it through even stronger than before the affair occurred. Let’s face it though, it’s going to be a tough road ahead to overcome the damage of an affair and both partners need to be truly motivated to heal.

Discovering your spouse cheated or had an affair is one of the toughest things to go through in a marriage. If your partner has cheating on you, there will be a wide range of intense emotions you are bound to go through: sadness, anger, fear, confusion, embarrassment, hurt, and paranoia are just a few. Facing up to the reality of what they have done, and deciding how to move forward, takes a lot of strength. No matter which direction you go, you will have to learn how to heal.

These are some tips on how to heal for the hurt partner:

Aim to stay Calm: Although your emotions and reactions make total sense, it will be important to express how this injury has impacted you in an organized way. Try to have some compassion for yourself; this is really hard. It may beneficial at this time to seek some support from an individual therapist or couples therapist in order to think and express yourself more clearly. When flashbacks or painful memories occur, don’t try to go through it alone- let your partner in on what’s going on, ask for reassurance, and let them know how they can help. It may seem hard to believe since they were the one who caused the pain, but your partner is going to have the biggest impact of

I’m done!

helping you heal from the affair.

Don’t ask about specific details: Ask for important details about the affair, but not microscopic ones. You may want to know every detail, but this likely won’t be helpful. Discuss what is necessary to restore the trust. You do need to know how long the affair went on, if your safety could be at risk, and how emotionally involved your spouse was in it. Try your best not to push for additional details that will only create more sting.

Realistic expectations: During the aftermath of an affair, a marriage is in a very fragile state. Your emotions will be too.

Your emotions may fluctuate uncontrollably from week to week, day to day, or from one hour to the next. This can be confusing to your partner so try to set realistic expectations about what you need to start to rebuild trust and feeling safe again. Although what you are intending to do is avoid this from happening again, try to avoid statements like “always” and “never” (“I want you to have your phone on and available 24/7” or “I never want you to come home even 5 minutes late”). Don’t set yourself up to fail when you know certain expectations are unrealistic. Research shows that it will take some time for a couple to fully recover from the negative effects of an affair. Don’t set yourselves up for disappointment by expecting your marriage to return to normal by a certain date.

Acknowledge that your partner still has feelings: This may be very hard to do when you feel so hurt and betrayed, but the couples who are most successful in overcoming affairs are both able to consider each other’s views and feelings.

You may be totally unaware that your partner is struggling with deep-seated feelings of shame, guilt, and embarrasscontinued on page 32

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There are practical tools that everyone can use to improve their mental health and increase resiliency regardless of the situations they are dealing with.

VISIT MHANATIONAL.ORG/MAY FOR TOOLS2THRIVE.

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29

HEALTH

This Surprising Discovery About Shaking Babies Will Save Lives

BY MILAN TOMA. Ph.D.

B

abies are at far greater risk of brain damage than previously thought. Even activities that seem innocent, like a run in a jogging stroller, can inflict abusive head trauma.

And head injuries often go entirely undetected, so parents unwittingly repeat the same harmful behaviors.

These conclusions, which come from a new study I co-authored, must be used to better educate new parents and inform manufacturers as they design car seats, safety helmets, and the like.

Abusive head trauma, or AHT, is typically referred to as —"shaken baby syndrome" — the consequence of awful, deliberate abuse. Every year, an estimated 1,300 infants suffer this brain trauma.

Roughly one in four tragically dies. Of those who survive, about 80 percent develop lifelong disabilities.

Of course, the overwhelming majority of parents would never intentionally harm their children. But it's possible to inflict AHT without even knowing it.

There are several reasons why this unsettling truth is just now coming to light. It's difficult to diagnose AHT. Some cases result in noticeable injuries,

including bone fractures. But others result in far milder symptoms. Many victims of AHT show no signs of trauma.

Plus, studying the biomechanics of AHT —what occurs inside a child's skull when his or her head moves back and forth rapidly—presents its own challenges. There's no ethical way to observe or replicate such injuries in a scientific setting.

Thankfully, there's another way to

study the problem. My colleagues and I used computer models to simulate the biomechanics of AHT. Specifically, we looked at how the cerebrospinal fluid cushions the brain when a child is shaken repeatedly.

What our models revealed is startling.

Even at the lowest frequency we studied —two shakes per second—a single shake is dangerous. After that initial shake, the cerebrospinal fluid stops cush-

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ioning the brain altogether, causing the child’s brain to collide with the skull wall.

In other words, it doesn't take a violent act of frustration to damage a baby's brain. Something as ordinary as playfully tossing a child in the air or jogging with a baby could inflict head trauma.

Our conclusions suggest several strategies for preventing head trauma in young children. The first is simple — parents must avoid any activity that shakes their infant's head even once, however harmless it might seem.

Designers should rely on biomechanical models when designing items like car seats, strollers, and other products. In 2018, U.S. emergency rooms treated children under five for 59,000 injuries related to nursery products. Strollers were involved in 8,200 of those injuries.

Across all of these incidents, the child's head was the most commonly injured part of the body.

Better-constructed products based on the latest biomechanics research could go a long way toward reducing head injuries in children.

At the very least, researchers should use biomechanical simulations to evaluate the safety of existing baby products.

Newer products are not necessarily safer than older ones. In February, biomechanics researchers found that World War Iera combat helmets provided better protection from certain kinds of explosions than current military helmets.

The latest biomechanics research reveals that babies are more vulnerable to head trauma than previously thought.

It's time to minimize this trauma — or eliminate it — by using these findings to educate new parents and design safer baby products. l Milan Toma, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at New York Institute of Technology College of Engineering and Computing Sciences. This piece originally ran in the International Business Times.

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June is Men's Health Month awareness | prevention | education | family

01

Eat Healthy. Start by taking small steps like saying no to super-sizing and yes to a healthy breakfast. Eat many different types of foods to get all the vitamins and minerals you need. Add at least one fruit and vegetable to every meal.

100%

Women are 100% more likely than men to visit the doctor for annual exams and preventive services.

1 2 in

1 in 2 men are diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime compared to 1 in 3 women.

02

Get Moving. Play with your kids or grandkids. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Do yard work. Play a sport. Keep comfortable walking shoes handy at work and in the car.

Most importantly, choose activities that you enjoy to stay motivated.

1994

On May 31, 1994 President Clinton signed the bill establishing National Men’s Health Week.

“Recognizing and preventing men’s health problems is not just a man’s issue. Because of its impact on wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters, men’s health is truly a family issue.”

Congressman Bill Richardson (May 1994) In 2000 there were fewer than 80 men for every 100 women by the time they reach age 65 – 74.

80

03

Make Prevention a Priority.

Many health conditions can be prevented or detected early with regular checkups from your healthcare provider. Regular screenings may include blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, prostate health and more.

Online Resources Men’s Health Month menshealthmonth.org Men’s Health Network menshealthnetwork.org Get It Checked getitchecked.com Talking About Men’s Health Blog talkingaboutmenshealth.com Women Against Prostate Cancer womenagainstprostatecancer.org

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31

HEALTH

New Sexual Health Services and Resources During COVID-19 Pandemic

T

he Health Department today announced citywide home delivery of safer sex products and HIV self-test kits to supplement sexual and reproductive health services currently available in the city. The Health Department’s Chelsea and Fort Greene Sexual Health Clinics are offering limited walk-in services for New Yorkers’ sexual and reproductive health needs, including emergency contraception, HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) for people starting treatment for the first time and HIV, and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing for people under 18 years old. New Yorkers can also call the NYC Sexual Health Clinic Hotline for telehealth services.

“We are committed to protecting the health and safety of New Yorkers, and that includes their sexual health,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot.

“As we adapt to living in the time of COVID-19, we must find alternative solutions to maintaining public health support for all New Yorkers.”

“Even during a global pandemic, sex remains an important part of overall health and well-being for many people,” said Dr. Oni Blackstock, Assistant Commissioner for the Health Department’s Bureau of HIV. “As New Yorkers have had to adapt to the realities of the pandemic, so have the Health Department’s service models. Door 2 Door and the Community Home Test Giveaway Virtual Program will allow New Yorkers to access sexual health services from the comfort and safety of their own homes.”

The Health Department’s NYC Condom Availability Program (NYCAP) launched Door 2 Door, a new service through which New Yorkers living in the five boroughs can order free condoms and other safer sex products for home delivery. Each year, the Health Department distributes an average of 30 million male condoms, internal condoms, and lubricant packs to over 3,500 nonprofit organizations and businesses citywide. Recognizing the limitations of community-based distribution during COVID-19, the Health Department designed Door 2 Door to ensure continued access to these products.

Visit nyc.gov/condoms to access the Door 2 Door order form and select from the full array of ONE® Condoms products: NYC Condoms, including NYC Legend XL and ARTCondomNYC condoms; Extra Strong, Extreme Ribs, Super Sensitive, Super Studs, FlavorWaves and VANISH Hyperthin condoms; and lubricant packs. Products come in multiples of 30 and are delivered in discreetly packaged envelopes. Orders are limited to two products at a time, and one order per individual every 30 days, while supplies last.

New York City-based nonprofits and

businesses can still order condoms and safer sex products through the NYC Safer Sex Portal.

“All New Yorkers should be doing everything they can to be healthy during this crisis, and that includes taking care of their sexual and reproductive health.

That’s why it’s so important for them to be able to receive safer sex materials and HIV testing at home. I commend Commissioner Barbot and the Department of Health for their steadfast dedication to delivering these new services to keep New Yorkers healthy and safe,” said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer.

“When people need access to condoms, the Health Department is always ready to deliver,” said Davin Wedel, CEO and founder of ONE® Condoms. “I’m inspired by the commitment and creativity of NYCAP staff as they work to ensure continued access to condoms and safer sex products. We’re thrilled to partner with the Door 2 Door program and do our part to help New Yorkers stay safe.”

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring full access to safer sex products for New Yorkers is key to reducing new HIV and STI infections, with the goal of ending the HIV epidemic,” said Lynnette Ford, Senior Vice President of Programs and Prevention Services, at GMHC. “Our longstanding partnership with the Health Department is especially vital as we face restrictions in our prevention work, including testing. The new Door 2 Door service complements GMHC's latest initiative to provide at-home HIV testing kits shipped directly to people's homes.

We are grateful to the Health Department for their work to ensure the health and well-being of all New Yorkers.”

Last month, the Health Department launched the Community Home Test Giveaway Virtual Program to help reduce barriers to HIV testing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants receive online coupon codes from partner organizations to redeem online for a free OraSure OraQuick HIV self-test kit delivered to their home address. The program has partnered with over 50 community-based organizations, community health centers, hospital-based clinics, small businesses, and other settings citywide, with 838 online coupon codes distributed to date. By promoting free HIV

self-tests on multiple platforms, including social media, dating and hook-up apps, text messaging, and email, the program continues to reach communities most affected by HIV. “As I reflect on our current work to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, I am reminded of how far we’ve come in the fight against HIV,” said Stephen Tang, President and Chief Executive Officer of OraSure Technologies. “When it comes to eradicating HIV, the first step is to know your HIV status. We are pleased to work with programs like the Health Department’s Community Home Test Giveaway Virtual Program which brings

free at-home HIV tests to people in the community, so they can get tested and get results in the privacy and safety of their own homes. Our hope is for people to get tested, know their HIV status, and get linked to appropriate care. That’s the key to ending the HIV epidemic.”

“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, NewYork-Presbyterian's HIV Prevention Program was delivering comprehensive sexual health care to least 250 patients per month, and by the end of March we had moved the majority of our patients to a telehealth model,” said Caroline Carnevale, Nurse Practitioner at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. “However, this new process lacked the HIV testing necessary for routine PrEP follow-ups.

The Health Department’s Community Home Test Giveaway Virtual Program has allowed our HIV Prevention Program to quickly and effectively deliver our patients at-home HIV test kits during a time of significant sexual health service limitations citywide. We are so grateful to be included in this important initiative and applaud the Health Department for continuously working to end the HIV epidemic, even amidst a global pandemic.”l

UNLOCK Your right to health care with dignity Unlock affordable health services and having your own doctor Become a member of NYC Care!

NYC Care, the key to the City’s health care, is a no- or low-cost medical services program offered by NYC Health + Hospitals to New Yorkers who do not qualify for health insurance.

To learn more and to enroll, call 1-646-NYC-CARE (1-646-692-2273).

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JOBS & RECESSION

32 Affairs: How to Heal/ continued from page 27

How to Prevent Anxiety

E

specially if you’re not consistently hearing back from companies to which you apply, the job search can be one of life’s most stressful experiences.

A lukewarm job market can negatively impact your confidence and leave you wondering what you can improve to better your job opportunities. If you’re unemployed, financial worries can amplify your anxiety even more.

There are tips and tricks you can incorporate into your search to keep your head. You’ll be happily employed before you know it.

Consider New Industries Maybe you have a background of customer service within the retail industry.

You’re great with people and take pride in maintaining customer relationships.

Just because you’ve specialized in retail settings doesn’t mean you couldn’t bring the same skill set to the legal, entertainment or manufacturing industries.

Keep your options open when searching for a job or you could pigeonhole yourself into a job sector that may limit you professionally. Create two separate resumes: one for the retail industry and one that indicates you’re open to transitioning into a new setting. This will help

recruiters and hiring managers get a sense of your specific goals.

Maintaining a positive, flexible approach to your job search can help you make new connections and feel confident about taking on new challenges.

Don’t Over-Analyze It is human nature to wonder why you’re not getting the attention you feel you deserve. You put in the work of finding an open position, tailor your resume for it and submit your materials. Then the waiting comes. The longer you wait, the more frustrated you become. It’s during this time that your mind can wander.

Does your experience not match what the company is looking for? Are you lacking some kind of training or project experience called for by the job?

Sometimes asking yourself these questions can do more harm than good, and it’s best to stay focused on your objective: finding a job.

Keep plugging away with your job search and stay positive. It’s impossible for you to figure out what a hiring manager is basing his or her decisions on.

The job could have been awarded to an internal employee with more experience with the company’s processes. Maybe the job announcement has been extended.

Regardless, staying focused on what you can control can help you maintain a good outlook on your opportunities to find a new job.l —www.freeparalegal.org

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ment. Both of you need to empathize with each other’s feeling, and understand how those feelings affect the healing process. To create lasting recovery from an affair, the couple needs also to attend to what was going on in the relationship before the affair occurred. This doesn’t excuse the affair in any way, but it gives a picture to how space was made for a threat to enter in. High relationship quality acts as a protective factor to infidelity.

When couples feel really close and secure in their relationship, there is far less room for a third party to get between them. Work to rebuild your sense of safety and connection.

Try your best not to abandon your marriage prematurely, without allowing sufficient time for the healing process to take place. Yes, this may take some time and there’s no telling how long. Variables like: the type or circumstances of the affair, the length of the marriage, the amount of lying or deceit that took place, whether injuries like this have occurred before, and other factors can further increase the length of time it takes to heal. If you really want to save your marriage, both of you need to hang in there long enough to see positive results.

Make sure you are both communicating and engaging in constructive discussion about how you both feel. This may be a helpful time to seek help from a skilled couples therapist who has experience working with infidelity and affairs. A trained couples therapist will help organize how the affair happened, help move past and heal from the injury, and come up with specific ways to strengthen and restore your relationship connection in addition to keeping it strong to face any challenges that may come your way moving forward.l

Alicia Roth MFT #90046 is a therapist with Estes Therapy lead by Jennine Estes, MFT a Marriage and Family Therapist in San Diego, CA. Estes is certified in Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples and writes relationship and self-growth advice for her column, Relationships in the Raw. She is the creator of #BeingLOVEDIs campaign.

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ELECTIONS 2020

34

The Biden Plan for Securing Our Values as a Nation of Immigrants

I

t is a moral failing and a national shame when a father and his baby daughter drown seeking our shores.

When children are locked away in overcrowded detention centers and the government seeks to keep them there indefinitely. When our government argues in court against giving those children toothbrushes and soap. When President Trump uses family separation as a weapon against desperate mothers, fathers, and children seeking safety and a better life.

When he threatens massive raids that would break up families who have been in this country for years and targets people at sensitive locations like hospitals and schools. When children die while in custody due to lack of adequate care.

Trump has waged an unrelenting assault on our values and our history as a nation of immigrants.

It’s wrong, and it stops when Joe Biden is elected president.

Unless your ancestors were native to these shores, or forcibly enslaved and brought here as part of our original sin as a nation, most Americans can trace their family history back to a choice–a choice to leave behind everything that was familiar in search of new opportunities and a new life. Joe Biden understands that is an irrefutable source of our strength. Generations of immigrants have come to this country with little more than the clothes on their backs, the hope in their heart, and a desire to claim their own piece of the American Dream. It’s the reason we have constantly been able to renew ourselves, to grow better and stronger as a nation, and to meet new challenges. Immigration is essential to who we are as a nation, our core values, and our aspirations for our future. Under a Biden Administration, we will never turn our backs on who we are or that which makes us uniquely and proudly American. The United States deserves an immigration policy that reflects our highest values as a nation.

Today, our immigration system is under greater stress as a direct result of Trump’s misguided policies, even as he has failed to invest in smarter border technology that would improve our cargo screening.

His obsession with building a wall does nothing to address security challenges while costing taxpayers billions of dollars. Most contraband comes in through our legal ports of entry. It’s estimated that nearly half of the undocumented people living in the U.S. today have overstayed a visa, not crossed a border illegally.

Families fleeing the violence in Central America are voluntarily presenting themselves to border patrol officials. And the real threats to our security–drug cartels and human traffickers–can more easily evade enforcement efforts because Trump has misallocated resources into bullying legitimate asylum seekers.

Trump fundamentally misunderstands how to keep America safe because he cares more about governing through fear

and division than common sense solutions.

Trump’s policies are also bad for our economy. For generations, immigrants have fortified our most valuable competitive advantage–our spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship. Research suggests that “the total annual contribution of foreign-born workers is roughly $2 trillion.”

Key sectors of the U.S. economy, from agriculture to technology, rely on immigration. Working-age immigrants keep our economy growing, our communities thriving, and country moving forward.

The challenges we face will not be solved by a constitutionally dubious “national emergency” to build a wall, by separating families, or by denying asylum to people fleeing persecution and violence. Addressing the Trump-created humanitarian crisis at our border, bringing our nation together, reasserting our core values, and reforming our immigration system will require real leadership and real solutions. Biden is prepared on day one to deliver both.

As president, Biden will forcefully pursue policies that safeguard our security, provide a fair and just system that helps to grow and enhance our economy, and secure our cherished values. He will: nTake urgent action to undo Trump’s damage and reclaim America’s values nModernize America’s immigration system nWelcome immigrants in our communities nReassert America’s commitment to asylum-seekers and refugees nTackle the root causes of irregular migration nImplement effective border screening The Biden Commitment to a Fair and Humane Immigration System Joe Biden understands the pain felt by every family across the U.S. that has had a loved one removed from the country, including under the Obama-Biden Administration, and he believes we must do better to uphold our laws humanely and preserve the dignity of immigrant families, refugees, and asylum-seekers.

The Obama-Biden Administration strongly supported the bipartisan comprehensive immigration solution that passed the Senate in 2013 and which would have put our country’s immigration policies on a much stronger footing.

When the Republican House refused to even bring that bill to a vote, the Administration took action to fundamentally change the course of our nation’s immigration policies, offering relief and stability to hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who contribute to our communities every single day.

As Vice President, Biden championed the creation and expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) pro-

Editorial credit: Christopher Penler / Shutterstock.com

gram; the Central American Minors program, which allowed parents with legal status in the U.S. to apply to bring their children up from Central America to live with them; and the creation of a White House task force to support new Americans and help them integrate into their new homes and communities.

In a departure from their predecessors, the Obama-Biden administration took steps to prioritize enforcement resources on removing threats to national security and public safety, not families. It also issued guidance designed to end mass work-place raids and to prevent enforcement activities at sensitive locations such as schools, hospitals, and places of worship.

Critically, the Obama-Biden administration recognized that irregular migration from the Northern Triangle countries of Central America cannot be effectively addressed if solutions only focus on our southern border. The better answer lies in addressing the root causes that push desperate people to flee their homes in the first place: violence and insecurity, lack of economic opportunity, and corrupt governance. As Vice President, Biden spearheaded the administration’s efforts in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras–bringing high-level attention to these issues and securing bipartisan support for a $750 million aid package to help the Northern Triangle countries implement critical, concrete reforms.

These efforts were beginning to deliver results and reduce migration rates until Trump froze the majority of the funding, began his campaign to terrorize immigrants and assault the dignity of the Latino community, and created the current humanitarian crisis at our border with his irresponsible and inhumane policies.

As president, Biden will finish the work of building a fair and humane immigration system–restoring the progress Trump has cruelly undone and taking it further. He will secure our border, while ensuring the dignity of migrants and upholding their legal right to seek asy-

lum. He will enforce our laws without targeting communities, violating due process, or tearing apart families. He will ensure our values are squarely at the center of our immigration and enforcement policies.

Take Urgent Action to Undo Trump’s Damage and Reclaim America’s Values The next president will need to take urgent action to end the Trump Administration’s draconian policies, grounded in fear and racism rather than fact, work to heal the wounds inflicted on immigrant communities, and restore America’s moral leadership. As president, Biden will move immediately to ensure that the U.S. meets its responsibilities as both a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.

Modernize America’s Immigration System As president, Biden will commit significant political capital to finally deliver legislative immigration reform to ensure that the U.S. remains open and welcoming to people from every part of the world–and to bring hardworking people who have enriched our communities and our country, in some cases for decades, out of the shadows. This is not just of concern to Latino communities, this touches families of every heritage and background. There are approximately 1.7 million undocumented immigrants from Asia in the U.S., as well as hundreds of thousands from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean. Biden will immediately begin working with Congress to modernize our system, with a priority on keeping families together by providing a roadmap to citizenship for nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants; growing our economy and expanding economic opportunity across the country by improving and increasing opportunities for legal immigration; and preserve the longstanding directive of our immigration system to reunite families and enhance our diversity. l Source: www.joebiden.com

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