Finally: Disaster Assistance Bill Signed into Law, Offering Help to Many States and Territories
Deborah Weinstein,
June 6, 2019
Finally: people in disaster-struck communities across America should see more help soon. Members of the Coalition on Human Needs stand with them in welcoming this aid. We congratulate the House of Representatives and Senate for overwhelming votes to enact $19.1 billion to help states and territories recover from hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons, tropical storms, flooding, earthquake, volcanic eruption, and wildfires.
Why are migrant children dying? And what can we do about it?
David Elliot,
June 6, 2019
The deaths of migrant children at our southern border continue. In the past nine months, six have died -- Darlyn Valle, 10, in September; Jakelin Caal Maquin, 7, and Felipe Gomez Alonzo, 8, in December; Juan de Leon Gutierrez, in April; and Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez, 16, in May. (In addition to those five, an unnamed 2 ½ year-old boy died last month.) To put all of these deaths in context, before September, the last time a migrant child died in federal custody was in 2010; yet in the past nine months of the Trump Administration, half a dozen children have lost their lives.
CHN praises House passage of American Dream and Promise Act
Deborah Weinstein,
June 5, 2019
Members of the Coalition on Human Needs congratulate the 237 members of the House of Representatives whose votes to enact the American Dream and Promise Act (H.R. 6) took us forward, towards the more just and inclusive nation Americans want and need.
After decades of progress, children’s health coverage is now in jeopardy
David Elliot,
May 31, 2019
More evidence surfaced this week that children continue to be the latest casualties of the Trump Administration. A new report shows that about 828,000 fewer children nationwide were enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP at the end of 2018 than in 2017. That statistic is alarming because it could mean that the child uninsured rate – which has been steadily declining since the historic enactment of CHIP in 1997 under President Clinton – has reversed itself and is now on the rise.
Urban Institute: due to fear, one in seven adults in immigrant families forgoed public benefits
David Elliot,
May 29, 2019
A new briefing paper released last week by the Urban Institute shows that one in seven adults in immigrant families did not participate in a noncash benefit program in 2018 out of fear of risking future green card status. The Trump Administration is pushing a proposed rule that would consider an immigrant’s past use of noncash public benefit programs, such as SNAP or Medicaid, as a negative factor in applications for green cards (i.e., permanent residency) or temporary visas. But even before the rule has taken effect, new evidence suggests that it is having a substantial "chilling effect" on people who qualify for public benefit programs.
