Page 10 - Immigrant Issues News Today

Congress is considering legislation to place more oversight on diagnostic lab tests currently not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Advocates and medical experts argued the legislation is needed to reduce false positives which can delay critical treatment for cancer patients. Mark Fleury, policy principal of emerging science for the American Center Action Network, said cancer patients in particular rely on molecular diagnostic tests. ...

A faith-driven community event in Greensboro this Thursday offers a full day of free workshops on healthy eating, mental health, HIV prevention and more. Its organizers say they hope to raise awareness about inequities in the health care system. Jessica Stokes, associate director for Partners in Health and Wholeness, which is a program of the North Carolina Council of Churches, said she hopes the "Faith and Health Summit" gives people the tools they need to improve their healt...

Members of a Texas group working to end mass incarceration thought they were making headway, but now theyre not so sure. Faith in Texas has ideas for how Dallas County could reduce the prison population by 25%, and received support from a county judge to draft a proposal. Joe Swanson, lead community organizer for the group, said the reform talks have stalled, and the Dallas County commissioners have appointed a committee to determine if a new jail should be built. ...

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Crisis Pregnancy Centers are drawing more scrutiny. In June, California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned the centers advertise reproductive health care services, but their true mission is to dissuade people from seeking an abortion. ...

Every election, thousands of people are disenfranchised from voting because they are incarcerated. But Houstons Harris County Jail has shown the two are not mutually exclusive. In 2021 a polling place was available at the jail for the first time. ...

A police oversight group has formally recommended Portland adopt a technology known as "ShotSpotter" to help tackle gun violence, but the technology has been met with some skepticism. ShotSpotter uses artificial intelligence with data collected from hidden microphones to determine the location of gunshots and inform the police department. Dan Hon, a Portland-based strategy consultant in government and civic technology, said the technology still has to make some leaps to deter...

Examples of proposed policies and candidates tied to false claims of election fraud have spread to Minnesota, and a new national report found the movement is not slowing down ahead of this falls vote. A trio of voter-rights groups issued findings into how state legislatures are trying to subvert elections, including more leeway to reject results, requiring partisan or outside audits, and shifting power away from election administrators. Some ideas have been floated by Minnesota Republicans but ...

The pandemic appears to have increased the level of violence in U.S. cities, and a new study found local officials and mayors, especially those of color, face the brunt of it. Heidi Gerbracht, co-founder of the Women Mayors Network and founder of Equity Agenda, said death threats, vandalized homes and outrage at public meetings have all been reported by local government officials. ...

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit challenging Nebraskas requirements for voter-led initiatives and referendums to qualify for a statewide ballot. Currently, campaigns must collect signatures from at least 5% of voters in 38 of the states 93 counties to qualify. Daniel Gutman - a contract attorney for the ACLU of Nebraska - is leading the litigation. ...

Good-government groups are criticizing the Supreme Courts decision Monday eliminating rules on how much a candidate can spend to pay back loans he or she made to the campaign. The justices sided with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who sued over rules, which said a candidate can only raise $250,000 after an election to pay back a personal loan. ...