February 19, 2021

Inside this issue

• CCUSA Presents the Washington Weekly

  CCUSA Presents the Washington Weekly  
  This week immigration took center stage in Washington as the House unveiled a comprehensive immigration reform bill. Congress continues to put pen to paper on another round of COVID stimulus, while the economy continues to feel the effects of the pandemic.

Immigration Reform
On Thursday, Congress introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill, The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which would provide a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. prior to January 1, 2021. The process would take at least eight years and would start by allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain a work permit and travel abroad with the ability to return to the U.S. They would be eligible for green cards if they pass a background check and pay their taxes. Individuals sheltered under the DACA and TPS programs, as well as farmworkers, would also be eligible to apply for green cards immediately. 

Additionally, the bill takes steps to address some of the underlying causes of migration, provides investments in technology and infrastructure at ports of entry on the border, provides additional protections for immigrant workers, widens the availability of visa and green cards, and provides protections for immigrant workers. 

The likelihood of passage appears extraordinarily slim due to the filibuster rules in the Senate. Comprehensive immigration reform efforts in the Obama and George W. Bush administrations both came up short of passage. Catholic Charities USA remains committed to working with Congress and finding solutions for our immigrant sisters and brothers. In a press release, CCUSA President and CEO, Sister Donna Markham OP, PhD, said, "Our agencies are committed to their ministries of serving immigrants, especially the families and children that come to our country. We hope Congress will address these proposals within the coming weeks and pass bipartisan legislation." You can read the full statement here.

Covid-19 Aid Package
The House continued to draft a new round of COVID-19 aid relief this week. The legislative details have begun to surface including more targeted, $1,400 stimulus checks, $400 expanded unemployment insurance benefits through August 29th, expansion of the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit, and incrementally increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. The package could potentially pass the House with a simple majority but would require budget reconciliation in the Senate to pass with a simple majority. The budget reconciliation process gives power to the Senate parliamentarian to determine what is eligible and ineligible within a bill. Some speculate that a minimum wage increase is ineligible under budget reconciliation, but it will be up to the Senate parliamentarian to make the final judgement. The House is aiming to vote on the package by the end of next week.

Unemployment claims remain at stubbornly record highs. Another 861,000 people filed claims for unemployment for the first time last week. This marks a 67,000-person increase from the previous week and continues to signal that the economy remains stalled. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program saw 516,299 Americans file new claims last week. Continued jobless claims were at 4.5 million in the week that ended February 6th, while 18 million people received benefits under the government's various programs in the week ending January 30th. Economists are bullish on the economy due to the vaccine rollout and the coming warmer weather months allowing for more outdoor activities, which is expected to give the employment market a boost.

It was reported on February 18th that the U.S. had at least 71,874 new coronavirus cases and 2,620 new coronavirus deaths. The number of cases is down 44% from the average two weeks prior and deaths are down 39% from two weeks ago. The last few weeks have shown promising signs of a decline in cases and deaths as the vaccine continues to rollout across the US. The CDC reported that 41 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, including 16.2 million who have been fully vaccinated. Although signs are promising, people should remain vigilant in their use of a mask and social distancing. To learn more about how you can get the vaccine please contact your state health department for more information on its plan for COVID-19 vaccination.

Faith and the Common Good The United Nations' World Day of Social Justice is annually observed on February 20 to encourage people to look at how social justice affects poverty eradication.  It also focuses on the goal of achieving full employment and support for social integration.
 
Prayer for Justice
God, you have given all peoples on common origin.
It is your will that they be gathered together
as one family in yourself.
Fill the hearts of humankind with the fire of your love
and with the desire to ensure justice for all.
By sharing the good things you give us,
may we secure an equality for all
our brothers and sisters throughout the world.
May there be an end to division, strife, and war.
May there be a dawning of a truly human society
built on love and peace.
We ask this in your name.
Author Unknown
 
Lent
As we begin this season of Lent, CCUSA provides daily reflections written by members of the CCUSA network.  Sign up to receive the Daily Lent Reflection emails and other CCUSA messages here.
 
Trivia Which civil rights activist received a posthumous Pulitzer Prize special citation?
Please send your answers to [email protected]

On February 12, the trivia question was, " Who was the first African American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature?"

Lisa Smith of Oakland, California correctly identified Toni Morrison as the first African American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993.  Born on February 18, 1931 as Chloe Ardelia Wofford and known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist, essayist, book editor, and college professor. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed Song of Solomon (1977) brought her national attention and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 1988, Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved (1987). 

Born and raised in Lorain, Ohio, Morrison graduated from Howard University in 1953 with a B.A. in English.  In 1955, she earned a master's degree in American Literature from Cornell University. In 1957 she returned to Howard University, was married, and had two children.  In the late 1960s, she became the first black female editor in fiction at Random House.   One of her most celebrated works, Beloved, was made into a 1998 film.

In 1996, the National Endowment for the Humanities selected her for the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government's highest honor for achievement in the humanities. Also, in 1996, she was honored with the National Book Foundation's Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. On May 29, 2012, President Barack Obama presented Morrison with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

Upon her death in 2019, the New York Times published what they considered 12 of Toni Morrison's Most Memorable Quotes. Please share the weekly with your friends, family and networks so that we can build a movement of solidarity for those most in need!

You can also access advocacy opportunities through our advocacy and policy page.

Stay connected with our work to end poverty, follow us on Twitter at @CCharitiesUSA.

If you would like to help further Catholic Charities' commitment to alleviating, reducing, and preventing poverty you can contribute here.  

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