PathWays PA Policy Blog

The news coming from our southern borders this past week has been among the worst we've had - and it was already bad . Below is a summary of what we've seen this week: On Tuesday, June 18, the President announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would begin mass deportations on June 23. That process has been "delayed" two weeks to give Congress time to take action, according to a recent tweet. That same day, the government argued in court that they were not required to give soap or toothbrushes to detained children . Meanwhile, lawyers and others who have visited border facilities are reporting inhumane and dangerous conditions. These lawyers say detained children at a border station in Clint, Texas, have had no access to showers, laundry facilities, toothbrushes, or soap . Children at the facility are reportedly caring for each other. One attorney warned of a "pervasive health crisis" where "virtually everyone we saw was ill."

From our friends at Stop the Debt Trap Earlier this year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it would rescind the ability-to-repay standard from the 2017 final rule. That means that payday loan sharks would not have to follow the common-sense practice of determining whether a borrower could repay a loan before granting it. This practice would trap more people in endless cycles of debt and hurt consumers. Currently, the CFPB is assessing tens of thousands of comments that support keeping the ability-to-repay standard. Congress is lending its voice to this process: Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) is sponsoring a letter urging the CFPB to keep the ability-to-repay in their final rule. We need your help to get as many members of the House of Representatives to sign on to this letter as possible. Now is the time for action: Before consumer protections are gutted, we need you to call your member of Congress and tell them to side with consumers, not with the payday l

This will be a working meeting to talk about and brainstorm the capacity the coalition has individually and as a group to get the word out about the importance of lead screening and about the availability of remediation services, as well as how to streamline the ways children are connected to the array of services they may need. The coalition needs your expertise and connections within the county! Delaware County Lead Poisoning Prevention Coalition Meeting Tuesday, June 25 from 9 am to 11 am Media Municipal Building 301 N. Jackson Street Media Please RSVP to Ann at annb at pccy.org by Tuesday, June 18

The situation for migrant children and families on our borders is worsening. In May, we learned about even more migrant children dying while detained in US custody. According to Families Belong Together, 7 children have now died while in custody or shortly after their release . Adults are also dying in custody, with three adults, including a transgender woman, dying in three days in early June. Multiple sources (including the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General) have detailed overcrowding and poor conditions at detention centers near the border. In El Paso , a processing center designed to hold 125 migrants had a population between 750-900 people. Detainees were observed standing on toilets to gain breathing space and were wearing "soiled clothing for days or weeks." In May, tents were set up to hold detained families in McAllen, Brownsville, and Rio Grande City. Closer to home, families are still being held at the Berks County Detention Center in