Chop Wood, Carry Water 2/28
Hi, all, and happy Tuesday!
Hope you’re well-rested, because I’ve got lots of important actions for you below! We’ll be reaching out to our elected officials about child immigrant labor exploitation, advocating for the ERA, and circling back to Secretary Buttigieg about, well, “Bomb Trains.” As if we didn’t have enough to worry about.
In very short order President Biden will be addressing the country about the Republicans’ plan to gut the ACA and Medicaid. Listen in if you can—he knows of what he speaks; this is likely to be the next front in our ongoing battle.
There’s lots to do, in other words. Fortunately there are lots of us doing it! Many hands do, indeed, make light(ish) work. Remember, if we keep up our efforts and avoid succumbing to despair we can, and will, turn the tide.
So chop wood, carry water, and don’t quit before the miracle!
Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
Over the weekend, the New York Times published a horrifying piece describing how a huge number of unaccompanied immigrant minors have been funneled into exploitative and illegal child labor on behalf of major U.S. corporations. This is unacceptable, inhumane, and hurts all workers. I want the Senate to hold oversight hearings to explore these allegations as soon as possible. Our government is utterly failing these kids, and the corporations who hire them are violating the law and exploiting them. Thanks. [Source]
Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
Over the weekend, the New York Times published a horrifying piece describing how a huge number of unaccompanied immigrant minors have been funneled into exploitative and illegal child labor on behalf of major U.S. corporations. This is unacceptable, inhumane, and hurts all workers. I want the House to hold oversight hearings to explore these allegations as soon as possible. Our government is utterly failing these kids, and the corporations who hire them are violating the law and exploiting them. Thanks. [Source]
Extra Credit ✅
The Lever is out with new, deeply alarming reporting about something they refer to as “Bomb Trains.” These are trains that carry containers filled with liquefied natural gas, and they were banned until Trump came along. To quote the article:
Some 25 million Americans live in the one-mile evacuation zone of trains carrying crude oil, according to one estimate. Super-cooled and highly compressed, liquefied natural gas could prove an even bigger danger, and federal policy has long prohibited its transportation by rail. According to the law firm Earthjustice, the accidental breach of just one train tank car carrying the gas could trigger an explosion big enough to destroy a city, while 22 tank cars’ worth contains the energy equivalent of the nuclear bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.
Yet Trump thought it would be fine to start transporting LNG through population centers around the country. Why? To quote the lever again:
The Trump administration’s move to open up railroads for the LNG shipments followed a multi-year lobbying campaign by natural gas companies and the Association of American Railroads (AAR), the railroad industry’s chief lobbying group.
Unfortunately, the Biden Administration and Pete Buttigieg’s Department of Transportation have not yet acted to repeal Trump’s rule. It’s terrifying. Such trains could begin moving through our country as soon as 2024.
So let’s write Secretary Buttigieg again, at SecretaryScheduler19@dot.gov. I’ve got a click-to-send at https://tinyurl.com/stopbombtrains, or, if for some reason that doesn’t work for you, you can copy and adapt this letter, (which I more or less adapted from the Lever article.) Let’s make some noise!
Extra Extra Credit ✅✅
Please ask President Biden to add gender equality to our Constitution by publishing the fully ratified 28th Amendment (Equal Rights)! Sign here.
Get Smart! 📚
The WisDems organizing team is hosting a Gearing up for the Spring Election training with special guest Judge Janet Protasiewicz herself! It’s this Wednesday, March 1st at 6pm CST.
From them:
Following the Primary, we are excited to hit the ground running for the final 37 days of the Spring elections. During this training, we will discuss our plan for Direct Voter Contact in the final weeks, the voters we will be talking to, volunteer recruitment and everything we need to Get Out the Vote. Please sign up for the call ahead of time. We look forward to you joining us!
I’ll be there. Hope to see some of you!
Spread the Word! 📣
Today President Biden will lay out the stakes of MAGA Republicans’ Congressional agenda to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid during his remarks in at 3pm ET. This new fact sheet details the devastating impact GOP plans would have on Americans’ health care. Please spread the word!
Win Races! 🗳
I’ve signed up to make calls into Wisconsin with the Center for Common Ground today, from 3-5 PT. Voter suppression is alive and well in this state—read this if you don’t believe me. These calls will work to counteract it. Are you free to join me? Use this link to sign up.
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
[to POTUS and all 3 reps] [Based on this article] [Quick send text SIGN PKLTWG to 50409]
Over the weekend, the New York Times published a horrifying piece describing how a huge number of unaccompanied immigrant minors have been funneled into exploitative and illegal child labor on behalf of major U.S. corporations:
Migrant children, who have been coming into the United States without their parents in record numbers, are ending up in some of the most punishing jobs in the country, this New York Times investigation found. This shadow work force extends across industries in every state, flouting child labor laws that have been in place for nearly a century. Twelve-year-old roofers in Florida and Tennessee. Underage slaughterhouse workers in Delaware, Mississippi and North Carolina. Children sawing planks of wood on overnight shifts in South Dakota.
Largely from Central America, the children are driven by economic desperation that was worsened by the pandemic. This labor force has been slowly growing for almost a decade, but it has exploded since 2021, while the systems meant to protect children have broken down. The Office of Refugee Resettlement, the H.H.S. division responsible for unaccompanied migrant children, has reportedly become “one that rewards individuals for making quick releases, and not one that rewards individuals for preventing unsafe releases.”
The Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for ensuring sponsors will support these kids and protect them from trafficking or exploitation. They are failing at their job.
This entire situation is horrifying and must be remedied. Please ask Secretary Becerra to stop rolling back safety protections for these children, and please do whatever it takes to stop child labor from remaining a reality in our country. This should not be who we are. Thanks.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
Glad to hear you are feeling better, Jess!