| California is facing a record low turnout in 2020’s census. With conventional canvassing and door knocking impossible, advocates worry about undercounts in vulnerable communities. You can take the census online here. On April 28th, International Workers Memorial Day, Trump used the Defense Production Act to compel meat processors across the country to stay open, or reopen, despite the plants being the site of some of the highest rates of COVID-19 transmission nationwide. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union reported the same day that at least 20 meat processing plant workers had died and 5000 had been hospitalized or were showing symptoms of the virus. In addition to forcing these plants to stay open at the expense of workers’ lives, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Labor Department are vowing that the federal government will defend employers against worker lawsuits over workplace exposures during the pandemic. The move comes at a time when some state governments are also signaling to workers that they will lose continuing unemployment benefits if they decline to return to their workplace out of concern for their health and safety. Immigrant detainees at ICE detention centers continue to report being on hunger strike for their release and for protections against COVID-19 as the number of confirmed cases among detainees and employees grows daily. Incarcerated immigrants at Otay Mesa, site of the largest outbreak of any detention center nationwide, report that ICE is massively underreporting cases in detention. ICE has tested only 705 out of 30–40,000 detainees as of this week, with 60% of those tested coming back positive. Thus far, 70% of federal prison inmates tested have been positive for COVID-19. A federal judge this week upheld Trump’s recent executive order that uses nativist arguments of “protecting American workers” during the pandemic to bar green cards for many for a period of 60 days or more. Administration officials have indicated to supporters in private calls that the order is a preview of more long-term restrictions to immigration. According to the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning council, more than 1,100 physical and verbal attacks against Asian Americans have been documented since late March across 46 states, with women more likely to be targeted than men. Activists in California are calling on county supervisors to denounce discrimination and hate crimes targeting Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, the FBI issued an intelligence report warning of an increase in hate crimes “based on the assumption that a portion of the US public will associate COVID-19 with China and Asian American populations.” Echoing historical xenophobic and racist tropes used against Asian Americans and communities of color, President Trump, other politicians, and media figures have repeatedly used the phrase “China virus” to refer to the pandemic rather than the terms “coronavirus” or “COVID-19” used by public health officials. Incidents can be reported to Stop AAPI Hate here. Some law enforcement agencies are publicly pushing back against the Judicial Council’s April 6 emergency bail schedule, which lowers bail for low-level crimes to $0 statewide in an effort to reduce crowding in jails and combat the spread of COVID-19. “These misguided judges and the professional apologists for criminals saw an opportunity to utilize COVID-19 to advance their dangerous views on incarceration,” said the head of the San Jose police union. In November, California will vote on SB-10, which will eliminate cash bail permanently and replace it with a risk-based system. A Northern California police officer is under investigation after a viral video of the officer punching a 14-year-old African American boy while pinning him to the ground was released by the boy’s family, creating nationwide outrage. Tanya Faison, founder of Black Lives Matter Sacramento, noted that this was the third encounter in the past year in the Sacramento area that involved police officers over-policing children of color. In June, Sacramento police officers put a spit hood on a 12-year-old boy, and in July, three 13-year-old boys were held at gunpoint by a Sacramento police officer, Faison said. This week the California Labor Secretary has created a separate portal for the Pandemic Assistance Program. Self-employed and gig workers can now apply for $600 a week and receive compensation for any wages lost or diminished since March 29. Many are still struggling to access the original EDD Unemployment website, and although the state has planned to hire more staff, 43% of those who have already applied are waiting to receive benefits. Conservative groups have filed a lawsuit against Governor Gavin Newsom, after Newsom’s announcement on April 15 that the state would allocate $75 million in aid for undocumented immigrants as part of a plan to provide $125 million in aid for those without legal status. The plan, allocating $500 per adult, would be financed partly by NGOs. This does not cover even basic necessities in Los Angeles, where the average rent alone is $2,375 for a one-bedroom apartment. Governor Gavin Newsom detailed four stages for California to begin loosening stay-at-home orders. The first phase, which we are currently in, involves the state increasing its testing, contact tracing, stores of personal protective equipment, and hospital surge capacity, while also having essential workplaces make physical and workflow adaptations and encouraging behavioral changes by individuals. Hitting benchmarks here will enable Phase 2, which allows for lower-risk sectors to gradually reopen with modifications that maintain social distancing guidelines, including some retail stores, manufacturing sites, offices where telecommuting is not possible and some public spaces like parks and trails. This phase will also require wage replacement, to allow sick workers to remain at home. Phase 3 will allow for the reopening of higher-risk workplaces, while Phase 4 will mark the end of stay-at-home orders and permit the reopening of the highest-risk events, like large-scale concerts, conventions and live-audience sports. To achieve Phase 4 will require coronavirus therapeutics to be in place. Beginning May 4, LA City Council will resume weekly meetings on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. |