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MARCH 2022 ISSUE



EDITORIAL: OVER A CUP OF TEA



Love comes in many ways



BY HEIDI M. PASCUAL

While vacationing in Houston, Texas a few years back, I heard a beautiful love story which I want to share with you for Valentines Day. It’s a story not many people hear every day, for it’s not a typical boy-meets-girl affair and voila, both fell in love after a while, regardless of length of time being together in dates and/or mutual living arrangements..


As we may know, Texas is home to many international oil companies. One of the bigger oil companies located in Houston employs an extraordinary man. I said extraordinary because he’s quadriplegic, yet his brains work extremely well, so much so that only a handful other employees could match his wisdom, decision-making, and technical knowledge of the oil industry. This man has two undergraduate diplomas-- in geology and petroleum engineering--graduating at the top of his class in both courses, and a PhD in the latter. Unfortunately, a vehicular accident in his 20s left him paralyzed from the neck down and barely kept him alive. It’s amazing how he accepted his fate and went on with his life productively.


I could only think of Steven Hawking as probably the only person comparable to him. I will name him Thomas for this story. Thomas is well known throughout the company as its lead asset, despite being unable to even climb an oil rig or hike with other geologists or engineers to find black gold. To his company, Thomas has always been indispensable, such that they offered him a stockholder’s portfolio that he couldn’t refuse, and a salary rarely offered to able-bodied employees with similar educational background. What many people do not know is Thomas’ secret for staying “happy” and satisfied with his life.


Right after Thomas’ accident, his parents contacted friends in the Philippines to look for a full-time, stay-at-home caregiver who’d be willing to make life easier for Thomas. It was difficult to find one willing to “sacrifice” his/her mobility in the United States, for Thomas needed someone beside him 24/7, providing ALL services to a quadriplegic who could hardly speak. Thomas’ parents eventually flew to the Philippines to interview possible job-seekers, hoping to find the best match for Thomas. Their son needed a committed person preferably with some nursing or medical background. They have heard so much about Filipinos as exceptional caregivers, nurses and doctors in the U.S. They just wanted to get someone directly from the country, believing it would make a lot of difference, compared to getting a caregiver in the U.S. on a per-hour basis. -- READ MORE​



our STORIES AND FEATURES





Why Immigration Relief Matters



By Trinh Q. Truong


Immigrants Help Build and Strengthen Our Economy
Undocumented immigrants make significant economic contributions and are integral members of communities across the United States immigration relief is necessary to continue growing the economy and strengthening communities nationwide, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Immigration relief is long overdue for the 10.4 million undocumented immigrants living and working across the United States. Over the past two years, undocumented immigrants have worked through a deadly pandemic to sustain the industries and services that the country relies on.
-- CLICK STORY TO READ MORE



2021 Survey of DACA Recipients Underscores the Importance of a Pathway to Citizenship



By Tom K. Wong, Claudia Flores, Ignacia Rodriguez Kmec, Karen Fierro Ruiz, & Nicole Prchal Svajlenka

Since former President Barack Obama first announced Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) on June 15, 2012, it has provided temporary relief from deportation as well as work authorization to more than 830,000 undocumented young people across the country.


From September 8 to November 5, 2021, the Center for American Progress, United We Dream, and the National Immigration Law Center—led by Tom K. Wong of the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at the University of California, San Diego and CAP—fielded a national survey to further analyze the experiences of DACA recipients. 2021 marked the seventh consecutive year that these organizations have surveyed DACA recipients. For this most recent study, the authors surveyed 1,021 DACA recipients across 40 states as well as Washington, D.C.. -- CLICK STORY TO READ MORE



Build Back American:
Revitalizing Domestic Manufacturing and Reducing U.S. Dependence on China




By Mike Williams and Laura Edwards


The United States has failed, up to this point, both to take proper action on climate change and to dedicate the necessary resources and support toward building a domestic manufacturing base for global clean technology supply chains. This failure has provided a clear opening for other countries to grasp the competitive foothold for those budding supply chains. The clearest benefactor of the United States’ inaction? China.


China has turned this opportunity into market dominance for clean technology. It is the world’s largest manufacturer of solar components and has the world’s largest capacity for wind turbine component manufacturing. -- CLICK STORY TO READ MORE



CAPAC Chair Statement on America COMPETES Act



From CAPAC


Washington, D.C. , Feb. 4— The House of Representatives today passed H.R. 4521, the America COMPETES Act, a comprehensive package of science, commerce, trade, foreign policy, manufacturing, and education policy to improve American competitiveness. This bill includes $2 billion to support industries reliant on semiconductors, like automobiles and electronics and another $45 billion to improve supply chain resilience and manufacturing technology. The America COMPETES Act will also make investments in the future, by creating a new Directorate for Science and Engineering Solutions to accelerate research and development that address pressing issues like climate change, cybersecurity, and global competitiveness. It modernizes our support for workers who have lost jobs due to trade while also improving our laws to ensure trade is more fair to the US, while continuing to protect the supply chain. Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), issued the following statement:

: -- CLICK STORY TO READ MORE



Congress Can Expand Health Coverage and Lower Health Costs Now



By Nicole Rapfogel and Emily Gee


In the past couple years, federal policymakers have made historic improvements in access to health coverage. With the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)’s expansion of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies for marketplace plans set to expire at the end of this year, however, millions of Americans could face higher costs for coverage starting in 2023. Policymakers in the U.S. Senate must prevent this outcome and act swiftly to extend the marketplace premium tax credits, while making affordable coverage available to the more than 2.2 million uninsured Americans in the Medicaid coverage gap.


The ARPA, signed into law on March 11, 2021, provides expanded premium tax credits to offer more affordable health coverage to many Americans and increases these tax credits for those already subsidy-eligible—making zero-premium or low-cost coverage available to millions of lower-income Americans as well as those who were unemployed in 2021. -- CLICK STORY TO READ MORE​



Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVOTE) Responds to Senate’s Failure to Vote on Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act



From APIAVote


WASHINGTON, DC - Christine Chen, Executive Director of Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote, issued the following statement after the United States Senate failed to put the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act to a vote. “We at APIAVote are greatly disappointed with the Senate’s failure to put the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act to a vote. In 2021 alone, 34 new laws in nineteen states were enacted to restrict access to the ballot box and more are under consideration today. It has never been more clear: Americans’ freedom to vote is under attack by some politicians’ decision to place political gain over the integrity of our democracy.”


“Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) came out to the polls in historic numbers in 2020 and 2021. In many cases, we were the margin of victory that determined elections, and we chose to elect leaders who have helped make significant progress for our communities in the past several months: the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act is now law, California has allocated $150 million for combating anti-Asian Hate, and Illinois and New Jersey will now require Asian American history in schools. All of this is at-risk, however, if our access to voting is diminished.” .-- CLICK STORY TO READ MORE



LOCAL NEWS



MADISON & DANE COUNTY in Wisconsin



County Executive Parisi Statement: More Transparency Needed in Quadren Wilson Case



Madison Mayor’s Blog: Gun Bills in Legislature Make Problem Worse Not Better



MORE NEWS



Guns and Violence Against Women: A Summary of Key Challenges and Solutions





Gun violence in the United States is a public health crisis. Every day, more than 100 people are killed with a firearm, more than 200 are nonfatally injured, and more than 1,000 are threatened with a gun.1 There are many forms of gun violence, each affecting communities differently, and women in particular are uniquely affected.​

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CAIR Asks Wisconsin Senate to Reject Bill Banning Anti-Racism Training





(WASHINGTON D.C., 2/7/2022) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on the Wisconsin state Senate to reject a bill scheduled for a public hearing on Tuesday that would ban government agencies from requiring employees to attend trainings about systemic racism.



My First Week as a Resident Fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics!





In case you haven’t heard, I am serving as a Resident Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics this Spring semester!


The Institute of Politics (IOP) was established in 1966 with a mission to unite and engage largely undergraduate students with academics, politicians, activists and policymakers in a nonpartisan fashion, to learn about the world of politics and public affairs from those with real world experience in the field.

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Contact





heidipascual2016@yahoo.com