<p><strong>Human Rights Watch Report: Fields of Peril: Child Labor in US Agriculture</strong></p>
<p>Human Rights Watch reported on May 5, 2010, that the United States is failing to protect hundreds of thousands of children engaged in often grueling and dangerous farmwork.&nbsp; The international rights watchdog called on Congress to amend federal law that&nbsp; permits children under age 18 to work for hire in agriculture at far younger ages, for far longer hours, and in far more hazardous conditions than in any other occupation or industry.</p>

<p><strong>Ignacio Volunteers embark on a journey to border</strong></p>
<p>The U.S.-Mexico border is a crucial place of encounter. It is the only place in the world where the developed world literally comes face to face with the underdeveloped world. This place is like no other where the boundaries that separate &ldquo;us&rdquo; from &ldquo;them&rdquo; become blurred. It is a place where one easily becomes confused, not quite clear on whether one is stepping on U.S. or Mexico territory. Here the dominant anti-immigrant rhetoric and the rationale for &ldquo;enforcement only&rdquo; policy is naturally contested.</p>

<p><strong>A</strong><strong>n unprecedented disaster for the environment, the economy, and the livelihood of Gulf Coast fishing communities</strong></p>
<p>As the Gulf oil spill of April 20, 2010, continues unabated (as of May 31), the spill is a massive, unimagined, and unprecedented environmental disaster. Although scientists debate the exact amount of oil leaking at the base of the accident site and are uncertain about the exact depth and width of the spill, the spread of the spill threatens damage to the coasts of Louisiana&mdash;where it is already beginning to hit&mdash;as well as Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.</p>

<p><strong>Recommended Policy Responses</strong></p>
<p align="left">As the economic crisis exacerbates long-standing challenges facing marginalized communities, the economic recovery has been elusive for too many people of color. Although the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the overall unemployment rate remained steady at 9.7 percent last month, the Black unemployment rate has risen from 15.8 to 16.5 percent. This is the second similar jump in the past five months in which unemployment among people of color continues to increase while unemployment for whites remains steady or has decreased.</p>

<p>Organizing to Promote Community Safety and Peace</p>
<p>Recently more than 25 community leaders from the Catholic Church in Louisiana gathered in Grand Coteau for a state-wide meeting regarding <em>Justice for Immigrants. </em>The purpose of the meeting was to promote statewide collaboration on the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) postcard campaign advocating for comprehensive immigration policy reform. The participants sat attentively listening to the speakers but when the leaders were invited to ask questions concerning the details of the campaign, the meeting took a different focus. Leaders began to speak up about their concerns regarding the social injustices and inhumane treatment of immigrants living in their respective communities. As the conversation unfolded, it became evident that there is a pressing need for local faith communities to organize on behalf of the immigrant families. These are families who are suffering greatly due to the increasing law enforcement strategies that our federal and state governments are jointly employing to identify undocumented immigrants, arrest them, and eventually deport them.</p>

<p><strong>Congressional Response Mixed, Sometimes Dismal</strong></p>
<p>While pundits and politicians observe the first signs of a spring thaw in the abysmally deep economic trough we are in, workers in the U.S. and the Gulf South are still waiting for signs that their lives will be better. In the Gulf South, the number of persons unemployed has more than doubled from 1,208,649 in February, 2008, to 2,654,281 in February, 2010. Almost one-and-a-half million workers in the region have lost jobs during this two-year period. While Louisiana (still &ldquo;benefiting&rdquo; from Hurricane recovery spending) and Texas continue to have unemployment levels below the national average of 9.7 percent, Florida (12.2%), Mississippi (11.4%), and Alabama (11.1%) all exceed the national level. Alabama, moreover, has seen the greatest growth in unemployment&mdash;an astonishing 156% increase in just two years! Mississippi was not far behind with a 145-percent increase.</p>

<p>An &ldquo;industry&rdquo; that has emerged over the past forty years and that has been booming over the last decade is known as &ldquo;payday lending.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp; A payday loan, sometimes called a paycheck advance, is a small, supposedly short-term loan that allows a borrower to cover urgent needs such as rent or mortgage payments, utilities, and/or medical bills.&nbsp;&nbsp; According to the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), between 2000 and 2006, total sales volume of payday loans had nearly tripled from $10 billion to $28 billion nationally.[1]&nbsp;&nbsp;CRL finds that 90 percent of payday lending revenues are based upon fees stripped from trapped borrowers&mdash;the typical borrower pays back $793 for a $325 loan.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In 1986, writing in their pastoral letter Economic Justice for All, the U.S. bishops observed this about the state of income inequality in this country:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In comparison with other industrialized nations, the United States is among the more unequal in terms of income distribution.&nbsp; Moreover, the gap between rich and poor in our nation has increased during the last decade.&nbsp; These inequities are of particular concern because they reflect the uneven distribution of power in our society.&nbsp; They suggest that the level of participation in the political and social spheres is also very uneven. (No. 184)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The bishops could hardly have imagined that the inequality of a quarter century ago (measured in 1983 numbers) not only would not decrease, but it would rapidly continue to increase to the pres</p>

<p>Unaccompanied migrant children are a growing population within the global phenomenon of large scale migration.&nbsp; Although there are few statistics available on the exact number of this population, a recent study from the Women&rsquo;s Refugee Commission reports that in 2007, more than 90,000 unaccompanied children were apprehended along the southern border of the United States. [1]&nbsp; For most people living in the U.S. it is difficult to fathom the idea of a child at the age of 5, 9, 13, or even 16 traveling across international borders without a familiar adult companion.&nbsp; Many of these children are seeking to reunite with family members.&nbsp; Others whose families live in dire poverty are sent out alone in search of work to help sustain the family back home. &nbsp;Still many other migrant children are victims of domestic violence, gang violence, abusive child labor practices, human trafficking, rape, forced prostitution, or armed conflict in their home countries.&nbsp; They travel long and dangerous distances seeking refuge here in the United States.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The latest legislative buzz is the <strong>C</strong>omprehensive <strong>I</strong>mmigration <strong>R</strong>eform for <strong>A</strong>merica's <strong>S</strong>ecurity <strong>a</strong>nd <strong>P</strong>rosperity <strong>A</strong>ct of 2009 (CIR ASAP).&nbsp; This bill, drafted by Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and co-sponsored by 89 other representatives, has revived the immigration debate in Congress.&nbsp; The U.S. Bishops&mdash;as do many other proponents for immigration reform&mdash;applaud the efforts of Representative Gutierrez and are pleased that the bill does address many of the concerns they have.&nbsp; The acronym &ldquo;CIR ASAP&rdquo; captures the urgency for immigration reform.&nbsp; And indeed it is urgent that we act today for the sake of our nation&rsquo;s welfare.&nbsp; In anticipation of a congressional debate early this year, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has launched a few initiatives to urge all U.S. Catholics to work in unison to bring about comprehensive immigration reform as soon as possible in 2010.</p>