One story was the gravitational center of the news universe last week and will likely continue to be a political lightening rod: the Trump Administration’s separation of immigrant children from their undocumented parents at the border.
Journey to the center of the news universe
Posted inEducation
DeVos has scuttled more than 1,200 civil rights probes
A ProPublica analysis of data on more than 40,000 civil rights cases has found that, under Secretary Betsy DeVos, the U.S. Department of Education has closed more than 1,200 civil rights investigations that were begun under the Obama administration and lasted at least six months. The cases were closed without any findings of wrongdoing or corrective action, often due to insufficient evidence.
Posted inPolitics
CT Dems ‘shocked’ about condition of immigrant detentions at border
WASHINGTON — Connecticut lawmakers at the U.S.-Mexico border this weekend said they were moved, and even shocked, by what they saw up close as the effect of the Trump administration’s immigration policy. “It was worse than we ever thought,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District.
Posted inPolitics
Reuniting immigrant kids with parents? Not so easy.
WASHINGTON – After a day visiting immigration facilities at the Texas border Friday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal said “there is no plan, there is no strategy” to reunify immigrant kids who have been separated from their undocumented parents. Others say it will be difficult, for a number of reasons, for migrant kids to rejoin their parents.
Posted inPolitics
AFL-CIO endorses Eva Bermudez Zimmerman, Jahana Hayes
The state AFL-CIO rejected convention-endorsed Democrats in two high-profile primaries Friday by backing political newcomers with strong union ties: Eva Bermudez Zimmerman for lieutenant governor and Jahana Hayes for the open 5th Congressional District seat.
Posted inPolitics
Fasano’s pet project: Banning the leasing of dogs and cats
State Senate Republican leader Len Fasano of North Haven has a pet legislative project — literally. He wants Connecticut to ban the practice of leasing, rather than selling, dogs and cats.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
“Greatness all around us, and that greatness will change our world’
Graduation season is always special. Seeing the culmination and celebration of a year of student progress, learning, and teaching brings with it pride and a sense of hope for all our graduates’ futures. This graduation season is particularly personal for me as it’s my first year at the State Director for the Northeast Charter Schools Network, and I’ve become intimately familiar with our schools, their educators, scholars, and families.
Posted inHousing
Connecticut rental housing is among nation’s least affordable
Connecticut renters face one of the least affordable housing markets in the country, a new report says, and the state’s low-income renters face an especially difficult challenge in affording a place to live.
Posted inEducation
U.S. House bill cuts thousands from Connecticut’s free school lunch program
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House on Thursday narrowly approved a massive farm bill that would cut thousands of children from free school meals in Connecticut. That bill, opposed by every House Democrat, would curb eligibility for food stamps, too.
Posted inPolitics
On city dime, Ganim pops up in Texas for immigration protest
Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim reminded Democrats on Thursday he knows how to stay in the public eye without cost to his campaign for governor: Ganim was among the U.S. mayors protesting outside a temporary immigration detention center in Tornillo, Texas that has become a political touchstone.
Posted inNews
CT Dems to travel to border as Congress stumbles on immigration
WASHINGTON – Sen. Richard Blumenthal is the latest Connecticut lawmaker to announce plans to travel to the U.S.-Mexico border this weekend to visit with immigrant children who have been forcibly separated from their undocumented parents. Meanwhile, a hardline immigration bill failed in the U.S. House Wednesday and GOP leaders postponed a vote on another immigration bill.
Posted inMoney
Ruling enables CT to capture millions in taxes from online sales
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Thursday opening the door for states to capture sales tax receipts for online and other remote transactions could help Connecticut capture more than $100 million annually in new revenues.
Posted inEducation
Regents approve plan to consolidate community colleges in 2023
The governing board of Connecticut’s 12 community colleges voted Thursday to move forward with implementing a new plan to merge the schools into a single accredited institution — but this time in five years.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Not America’s first act of cruelty toward children
So many in the U.S. are decrying the Trump administration’s separation of immigrants from their children along our southern border, claiming, “This is not who we are.” It certainly isn’t all of who we are, but there are two such glaring examples of how it was exactly who we were – or who our government was – that we can’t ignore them if we hope to look honestly at our past and become the nation so many think we already are.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Breaking up families? America looks like a Dickens novel
The news has been full these past few weeks of disturbing stories from the nation’s borders. The Trump administration has separated immigrant children from their parents precisely to discourage others from trying to enter the country.
What has struck me, as a professor of English literature, are the startling parallels between the Trump administration’s policy on immigrant families and the “New” Poor Laws of England in the 1830s, whose cruelty was illuminated by Charles Dickens in novels and other writings.