February 7, 2020

Inside this issue

• CCUSA Presents the Washington Weekly

  CCUSA Presents the Washington Weekly  
 
Washington is wrapping up a busy week that saw additional countries added to the immigration restriction list, a State of the Union address, acquittal in the impeachment trial, and discussions concerning supplemental aid for Puerto Rico.

Immigration Restriction

Late last Friday, the administration added six countries to the list of nations that will face increased travel restrictions to the United States. The countries were: Nigeria, Burma (Myanmar), Eritrea, Sudan, Tanzania, and Kyrgyzstan.

The proclamation stops immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, and Nigeria from obtaining immigrant visas, allowing them to immigrate to the United States permanently, but they are still eligible for temporary visas. Immigrants from Sudan and Tanzania will be banned from participating in the diversity lottery, which allows citizens from countries of low levels of immigration to come to the U.S.

Immigrants who obtain visas before that date will be able to travel to the United States. Visas for students and some temporary workers, including some visas set aside for potential employees with specialized skills, will not be affected. The restrictions are scheduled to take effect on February 22, 2020.

Catholic Charities USA joined in a statement with other Catholic leaders to share their disapproval. The statement said, "We note with particular sadness, and have witnessed firsthand, the trauma of family separation that occurs with travel bans, which will only increase with this new proclamation." You can read the full statement here.

Puerto Rico Supplemental Funding

The House is voting today on a $4.67 billion supplemental aid package for disaster relief funding for Puerto Rico. The supplemental funding comes after multiple earthquakes devastated portions of Puerto Rico earlier this year. The bill includes $3.26 billion for the Community Development Block Grant to assist with long-term recovery, and $1.26 billion in funds for disasters that occurred in 2018 and 2019. The bill also has additional tax provisions including expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and child tax credits. The provisions would cost an estimated $16.1 billion annually for the next 10 years. The Senate has indicated that the House bill is a nonstarter and is not planning to take up the House measure.

CCUSA issued a letter to the House imploring them to pass the emergency funding.  In the letter, Sister Donna Markham, president and CEO of CCUSA, said, "Catholic Charities continues to devise more effective and efficient ways to serve the health, social welfare and educational needs of individuals and families living in poverty. This is especially needed during times of disaster recovery."

You can read the full letter here.

Faith and the Common Good
Lucas Swanepoel of Washington, D.C. correctly identified that the first Negro History Week was held in 1926.  It was announced the second week of February to be "Negro History Week." This week was chosen because it coincided with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln on February 12 and of Frederick Douglass on February 14.  Educators and the Black United Students at Kent State University first proposed a Black History Month in 1969, and the first month-long celebration took place in 1970.  Six years later, Black History Month was celebrated across the country and President Ford recognized the month and urged Americans "to seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history."

Historian Carter G. Woodson is often cited as the father of Black History Month.  Woodson felt deeply that at least one week would allow for the general movement to become something annually celebrated. He soon realized that the subject deserved to resonate with a greater audience.  He wanted to encourage the coordinated teaching of the history of American blacks in the nation's public schools. Woodson contended that the teaching of black history was essential to ensure the physical and intellectual survival of the race within broader society. 

The theme for Black History Month 2020 is African Americans and the Vote.  The year 2020 marks the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment and the culmination of the women's suffrage movement.  The year 2020 also marks the sesquicentennial of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) and the right of black men to the ballot after the Civil War.  The theme speaks, therefore, to the ongoing struggle on the part of both black men and black women for the right to vote.
As we celebrate this theme, we reflect on the importance of our voices in public life and our responsibility to vote. Click here to view a recent video from USCCB about Catholics in Public Life.
 
Prayer for Black History Month
Spirit of Abundance, God of Grace, Mother of Hope,
We pause now to remember those stories that are all around us,
But so often passed over,
Those stories that when told are shared because
Of what someone is, not who they are.
This month in our nation's character
Is Black History month.
Help us to realize that Black history is
All our histories.
May the day come when these stories
Are so wildly taught that no month need
Be separately divided.
We know this day will not come until we as a people
Make different choices.
We pray now for those new choices.
May we come to see a day where the prison system
Becomes redemptive, not punitive.
A day where the legal system learns to focus more squarely on the facts,
And the not colors of our skin.
A day where our schools are as well funded, as the needs demand.
May our role models be allowed to excel when they thrive,
And not be taken down for their rich heritage.
We know this will require a shift in power.
And this can be scary for some.
Give those full of fear - hope.
May we come to know grace,
So that our hearts will not be hardened to the pain around us.
There are so many beautiful stories needing to be told.
And we need to get the chance to hear them.
Widen our vision so that the history that is shared this month,
And every month,
Come to be known as our history too.
We are most human when we see the humanity in others.
- Author Unknown

Trivia What was the name of the anti-slavery newspaper founded by Frederick Douglass? 
Please send your answers to [email protected]

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