By Daniel Sheehan, AFOP Executive Director
In a surprise to many pollsters and pundits, and much of the general public, businessman Donald J. Trump on November 8 won the 2016 presidential election and is now moving forward with this transition team as president-elect to set up a new government. AFOP wishes him and the new administration well in their efforts to work for the public good in behalf of all in this great nation of ours. Read More
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DOL Blog (10/21)
The Department of Labor recently announced $50.5 million in State Expansion Grants under the ApprenticeshipUSA Initiative. The 18-month grants, ranging from $700,000 to $2.7 million, were awarded to 37 grantees across the country. Read More
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DOL Blog (11/15)
In May, the Department of Labor published a final rule that will extend critical overtime protections to millions of workers. The rule updates the salary threshold below which most salaried workers are overtime eligible (and above which they may be exempt from overtime depending on their duties). Read More
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By Teresa Gerton, DOL Blog (11/15)
Faith and community organizations helped millions of Americans during the Great Recession, despite feeling the economic impact themselves. Today, across the administration, we are taking a moment to reflect on our efforts to provide opportunities for all Americans seeking to build brighter futures and to thank all the partners and organizations for their hard work. Read More
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Application Deadline: December 8, 2016
The purpose of this grant program is to assist eligible entities in implementing farm to school programs that improve access to local foods in eligible schools. On an annual basis, USDA awards up to $5 million in competitive grants for training, supporting operations, planning, purchasing equipment, developing school gardens, developing partnerships, and implementing farm to school programs. Read More
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Application Deadline: December 8, 2016
NIFA requests applications for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program for fiscal year (FY) 2017 to support the delivery of education, mentoring, and technical assistance programs to help beginning farmers and ranchers in the United States (U.S.) and its territories with entering, establishing, building and managing successful farm and ranch enterprises. Read More
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At the invitation of the United States Department of Labor, AFOP Executive Director Daniel Sheehan attended a panel discussion consisting of Labor Secretary Tom Perez, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, and White House Deputy Director of Public Engagement Julie Chavez Rodriguez, in recognition of October’s National Hispanic Heritage Month. Secretary Perez asked the panelists about the history of the farmworker movement, its achievements and challenges, the nature of true leadership, and what the future holds for farmworkers. Read More
Read more about the session here.
View President Obama’s declaration here.
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From Florida's Farmworker Career Development Program
Diego was chosen as the Florida Farmworker Career Development Program Participant of the Year. He was honored at the FCDP Annual Conference in August in Orlando. Read More
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By Melanie Forti, AFOP Programs Director (12/1)
Talking about sex among Latinos can be considered taboo, especially for the older Latino folks. But talking about HIV/AID is even worse because all the stigmas. Read More
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By Reid Maki, Washington Post (10/16)
Former AFOP communications director and Child Labor Coalition partner Reid Maki responds in the Washington Post to the newspaper’s story about child labor being a “necessary evil.” We strongly recommend you read this artful and convincing critique of a common misperception. Read the full article here...
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By Juliana Hinton, AFOP Communications Coordinator (11/24)
Working with farmworkers in the U.S. and in particular migrant and seasonal farmworkers you’ll hear too many stories of abuse of rights. Abuse of human, civil, and labor rights is rampant in agriculture, a common denominator when talking about profitable industries. However, you don’t hear as often of the success stories, where farmworkers harvest with pride, constantly aware the importance of their job and their worth. Where they go to work in a safe environment and take strong and joyful strides into the fields, where they are at peace. Read More
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By Adrienne DerVartanian, Farmworker Justice (11/15)
The surprising presidential election result poses serious threats to the wellbeing of farmworkers – the people who labor on our farms and ranches – and their family members. We are united with the many undocumented farmworkers and their families who are fearful of next possible steps on immigration policy under the Trump Administration. Farmworker Justice will continue assisting farmworker organizations throughout the country to limit the potential damage from the new Administration and Congress. We will be fighting against President-elect Trump's proposed deportations and other harsh immigration policies. We also will be closely watching the H-2A program to protect against attacks on its modest protections.
For now, we are carefully monitoring developments in the upcoming Trump Administration, including any indications on what immigration, labor and other key policies will be. For those who have DACA or are DACA eligible, we have included resources for DACA and potential DACA recipients and immigrant communities post-election. Thanks to the UFW Foundation and ILRC for preparing these materials. The UWF Foundation's materials are attached and ILRC's talking points can be found at this link: https://www.ilrc.org/daca-talking-points. Both organizations advise those who are eligible for DACA renewal to do so promptly as it is unclear what will happen to applications not completed by January 20. In addition, we also agree with the widespread recommendation for potential new DACA applicants that it is better not to apply now but instead to wait until we learn more about the incoming administration's plans for DACA. The UFWF has also prepared a Know Your Rights piece for individuals who would like to know more about their rights during enforcement actions. See the attached materials for more detail. |
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From California Human Development
When Frances Ortiz-Chavéz was a teenager, she spent her summers picking California’s peaches and tomatoes. Today, she uses her hands for more delicate work, but the impact of her time spent in the fields remains—and speaks clearly—through the art she creates. ‘From the first day I walked into an all English-speaking classroom, I turned to art as a way to express my deepest feelings and a way to fit in,” says Ortiz-Chavéz. Read More
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Politico (12/6)
President-elect Donald Trump’s get-tough stance against illegal immigration faces a key test on his first day in office: whether to follow through on his campaign trail pledge to revoke President Barack Obama’s 2012 directive that gave undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children a chance to work here legally without getting deported. Read More
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Center for American Progress (11/18)
To date, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, has allowed more than 741,000 young people a reprieve from deportation and a renewable work permit. Studies have shown that having DACA brings big benefits for individuals, families, and communities. Read More
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National Immigration Law Center (11/29) The National Immigration Law Center has announced a new community resource: www.InformedImmigrant.com. Created by several organizations, including Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC, Center for Community Change, FWD.us, National Immigration Law Center, SEIU, United We Dream and others, InformedImmigrant.com features guidance in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and legal resources to help immigrants and their families during these uncertain times. The site will be continuously updated with additional guidance and information as it becomes available.
What you'll find:
- Legal information/FAQs in English and Spanish;
- A list of over 600 immigrant rights/immigrant-serving organizations and their donation links for when allies are looking for places to volunteer/donate;
- A legal resource PDF with known and regularly used legal services look-up tools;
- Know your rights materials.
Coming soon:
- Know your rights video tutorials;
- Full site in Spanish & Korean;
- Toolkit on creating healing spaces tool-kit from UWD.
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National Skills Coalition (11/2)
A new report from the nonprofit English for New Bostonians is providing a unique view of adult English learners in Massachusetts. The analysis found that the overwhelming majority of survey respondents (85%) were in the labor force. Read More
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National Skills Coalition (10/4)
A new paper by National Skills Coalition and National Youth Employment Coalition finds that well-designed work-based learning opportunities can provide youth with occupational and work readiness training while providing income support for disconnected and at-risk youth. Read More
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Children’s HealthWatch Blog (10/27)
A condition known as “marginally food secure” goes underreported in national survey datasets, and these people who are worried about their access to food are counted as food secure, notes this blog post. Policy changes that can fix this “hidden food stress” include ensuring workers make living wages and have access to food, housing, utility and child care assistance programs, increasing the SNAP benefit by switching to the Low Cost Food Plan, and clear reporting on marginal food security in national datasets. Read More
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The New York Times (11/9)
After a close race fueled by record outside spending, Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, won the Nevada Senate contest on Tuesday to become the first Latina senator. Read More
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By Andrew Schaefer, Carsey School of Public Policy (10/6)
Using American Community Survey data, this report explores the demographic characteristics of both immigrant and native-born populations by metropolitan status. Read More
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USA Today (10/25)
One-third of low-wage workers say they will never be able to afford retirement, according to research, and minority women in particular face this struggle. Many black, Latina, and Asian women must work past retirement age to afford basic living expenses, notes a 2016 National Institute on Retirement Security report. Read More
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By Kathleen Romig, CBPP (10/25)
Social Security lifted 22 million people out of poverty last year, our new analysis of Census data finds. Social Security’s anti-poverty effect extends to every state, lifting more than 1 million elderly people out of poverty in California, Florida, and Texas, our 50-state analysis shows. Read More
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International Business Times (10/29)
Experts note that climate change could contribute to food scarcity through droughts and more intense storms. Even after Hurricane Matthew flooded communities in the southeastern United States, communities were still feeling the effects, but temporary changes to SNAP benefits helped with the recovery. Read More
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The AFOP Washington Newsline (ISSN# 1056-8565) is produced by the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP), a national federation of agencies serving migrant and seasonal farmworkers. AFOP’s mission is to improve the quality of life for migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families by providing advocacy for the member organizations that serve them.
The publication is funded by subscriptions and the members of AFOP. The Washington Newsline receives no financial support from the federal government. Staff may be reached by calling (202) 384-1754.
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