As lawmakers on Capitol Hill continue the mark-up of Senate bill 744 – otherwise known as comprehensive immigration reform – there has been the usual beltway chatter that comes with high-profile legislation. Everyone loves to play armchair quarterback – or armchair senator – analyzing what each amendment means for the fate of this bill. But political junkies and lawmakers need to see beyond the usual political games and talking points.
The SPLC and other civil rights organizations asked the Louisiana Supreme Court today to overturn a state law that makes it a felony for immigrants to drive a vehicle without carrying proof that they are lawfully present.
Registration is now open for the 12th annual National Mix It Up at Lunch Day event, sponsored by the SPLC’s Teaching Tolerance program. More than 5,000 schools across the country are expected to take part in the event, set for Oct. 29.
A coalition of some of the nation’s most prestigious law firms today began filing a series of federal lawsuits to prosecute multiple human trafficking and racketeering allegations against a Gulf Coast marine services company and its network of recruiters and labor brokers.
Several plans to overhaul the nation’s immigration system, including Senate Bill 744, contain important protections for U.S. and foreign workers that must be preserved as the legislation moves through Congress. But they lack critical protections to prevent foreign workers from enduring the kind of exploitation prevalent in the current H-2 guest worker program.
In a U.S. economy where tens of millions are struggling, guestworkers on H-2B visas are trapped at the bottom. These so-called "low skilled" temporary workers occupy fields from hospitality to construction to landscaping to food processing -- alongside 24 million U.S. workers in the same sectors. And the job quality of those 24 million depends on whether guestworkers can blow the whistle on abuse.
A federal court in California today heard arguments from SPLC attorneys challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Title 38 – statutes that prevent the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from granting equal benefits to gay and lesbian veterans and their spouses.
Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish Head Start program is denying impoverished Latino preschoolers access to the program – violations of federal laws and regulations that have led the Southern Poverty Law Center to demand the program stop this discrimination.
When violence erupts in a community such as Newtown, Conn., or Oak Creek, Wis., schools can play an important role in helping children navigate our sometimes-violent world, according to the inaugural Summer issue of Teaching Tolerance magazine, released today by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
