Michigan's immigrant youths put in legal limbo

For Sergio Martinez, proving that he has been in the United States from the age of 5 hasn't been easy.

U.S. Immigration and Customs officials wanted every report card, school award, immunization record and transcript he has acquired over 21 years
Luckily, his mother provided him with all of his records, practically enough documentation to fill a Sunday newspaper.

"You name it, they asked for it. I'm surprised they didn't ask for a hair sample," said Martinez, 24, who lives in Detroit.

He is among the 308,935 young adults who were brought into the country illegally as children who have applied for a two-year deferment from deportation under an Obama administration policy announced this year.

But the stack of records will not be enough for Martinez to get a driver's license or state identification card in Michigan.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121203/METRO/212030340#ixzz2DzJluC14

Book tells of local efforts to combat poverty

Bonnie Bazata, executive director of the St. Joseph County (Indiana) Bridges Out of Poverty Initiative, has contributed a chapter to “From Vision to Action: Best Practices to Reduce the Impact of Poverty in Communities, Education, Healthcare, and More.”

The book, published in October by aha! Process, includes stories of South Bend and 10 other communities nationwide that are seeing impact in different fields from the Bridges Out of Poverty framework. The program operates in more than 80 communities.

“Bridges Out of Poverty starts with a set of ideas about how to think about the dynamics of poverty and economic class and what we can do differently,” says Bazata, who started the community effort eight years ago when she was working at Saint Mary’s College.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/community/sbt-book-tells-of-local-efforts-to-combat-poverty-20121202,0,2374774.story

New Poverty Data, Still Not Looking Good for Millions

The Census Bureau recently released new data capturing the state of poverty in the U.S. using the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). The U.S. government uses two measures for quantifying poverty: (1) the official poverty measureand (2) the SPM.

The official measure, also known as the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), is used to determine the eligibility of individuals applying for means-tested public benefit programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

 http://www.theshriverbrief.org/2012/11/articles/asset-opportunity/new-poverty-data-still-not-looking-good-for-millions/

Kalamazoo homeless youth program hopes to tap into Calhoun County

In a small room of the Catholic Charities Diocese of Kalamazoo building are a few desks, shelves of food and bright green duffel bags. Here, a three-person team works to help reach the thousands of local homeless and at-risk young people.

“A lot of times you hear from youth who reached the point of success for themselves,” said Brooke Hill, case manager for the Kalamazoo-based Ark Services for Youth’s street outreach team. “They usually say it came from someone just listening, someone just caring, someone just reaching out.”

Now, after a previous attempt to reach homeless youth in Battle Creek fell short of its expectations, the nonprofit is hoping to do more in Calhoun County.

“We’ve been there the whole time, but not with as much of a presence as we wish we had,” said Ben Moe, supervisor of outreach.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20121125/NEWS01/311250003/Kalamazoo-homeless-youth-program-hopes-tap-into-Calhoun-County

Childhood Poverty in America as Told by Children on Frontline

Watch Poor Kids on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

5-year limit on welfare challenged in Michigan Supreme Court

The welfare benefits of at least 11,000 recipients are at stake in the Michigan Supreme Court, which is weighing whether the state overstepped its authority in enforcing a five-year lifetime limit on receiving cash assistance.

After a new law took effect in October 2011, state Department of Human Services Director Maura Corrigan changed policy to end welfare benefits for people who were beyond 60 months of eligibility under federal law. The state has a 48-month limit, but months that recipients get a hardship exemption - working single parents, for instance, or caregivers for disabled family members - do not count.

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/11/5-year_limit_on_welfare_challe.html#incart_river_default

The Harvest / La Cosecha

More than 400,000 children work in American fields to harvest the food we all eat.

Children working in agriculture endure lives of extreme poverty

• The average farmworker family makes less than $17,500 a year, well below the poverty level for a family of four.
• Poverty among farmworkers is two times that of workers in other occupations
• Farmworkers can be paid hourly, daily, by the piece or receive a salary, but they are always legally exempt from receiving overtime and often from receiving even minimum wage.
• Families often cannot afford childcare and so have no choice but to bring their children out into the fields.
• Increasing the incomes of migrant farmworkers by 40% would add just $15 to what the average US household spends every year on fruits and vegetables, according to a researcher at University of California Davis.

Source:

http://theharvestfilm.com/facts

The Harvest / La Cosecha will be screened on April 20, 2013 at Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in St. Joseph, Michigan as part of a Social Justice Film Series sponsored by Pilgrim, St. Augustine Episcopal-Benton Harbor, Berrien Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship, 1st Presbyterian Benton Harbor, and the St. Joseph Buddhist Sangha.


Eva Longoria on child migrant farmworkers - The Harvest/La Cosecha from Shine Global on Vimeo.

Court: Michigan's ban on affirmative action is unconstitutional

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals today declared unconstitutional Michigan’s ban on affirmative action approved by voters in a 2006 ballot initiative.

The majority opinion in a divided court said the state ban on affirmative action violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution by making it more difficult for a minority student to get a university to adopt a race-conscious admissions policy than it is for a white student to get a university to adopt an admissions policy that considers family alumni connections.

“Ensuring a fair political process is nowhere more important than in education,” the court said.

“This is a tremendous victory for students,” said Detroit attorney George Washington, who represented the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action in the case.

http://www.freep.com/article/20121115/NEWS06/121115041/1001/news

Poverty, as seen through the eyes of children

"There are good days and bad days."

That's how 12-year old Tyler Smith describes his life in Iowa, where he says he and his sister often go hungry because their mom doesn't make enough money to provide three meals a day for the family. "Sometimes when I switch the [TV] channel and there's a cooking show on," says Smith, "I get a little more hungry. I want to vanish into the screen and start eating the food."

... a new documentary airs on PBS next Tuesday, Nov. 21

http://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/poverty-seen-through-eyes-children

Bono Preaches the Gospel of Social Justice at Georgetown

I would suggest to you that the biggest obstacle in the way (of fulfilling human potential) right now is extreme poverty. Poverty so extreme that it brutalizes, it vandalizes human dignity. Poverty so extreme it laughs at the concept of human dignity. Poverty so extreme it doubts how far we've traveled in our journey of equality; the journey that began with Wilberforce taking on slavery and a journey that will not end until misery and deprivation are in stocks.

- Bono

http://sojo.net/blogs/2012/11/13/bono-preaches-gospel-social-justice-georgetown