News Headline

Obama Wins Historic Nomination

OurFuture.org Staff — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:19:17 -0400

Senator Barack Obama was nominated by his party today to be the 44th president of the United States. The unanimous vote made Obama the first African-American to become a major party nominee for president. It brought to an end an often-bitter, two-year political struggle for the nomination with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who, standing on a packed convention floor electric with anticipation, moved to halt the roll call in progress so that the convention could nominate Obama by acclamation. That it did with a succession of loud roars, followed by a swirl of dancing, embracing, high-fiving and chants of "Yes, we can."

Lawsuit Details ICE Detainee's Death

OurFuture.org Staff — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:53:36 -0400

A lawsuit filed in federal court a year ago by a Dominican detainee makes complaints about health care at a detention center in Rhode Island that are similar to accounts of how the center treated a Chinese New Yorker who died Aug. 6 in immigration custody. That inmate was suffering from a fractured spine and extensive cancer that had gone undiagnosed until five days before his death. Lawyers and relatives of Hiu Lui Ng said that when he was racked with pain and too weak to walk, detention officials refused him a wheelchair, failed to take him to scheduled appointments for an M.R.I. exam or a CT scan, and instead took him in shackles to Hartford — where he was pressured to withdraw his appeals and accept deportation.

Self-Deportation Program Scrapped

OurFuture.org Staff — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:23:17 -0400

A pilot program allowing illegal immigrants to surrender to authorities and have more control over their deportation has been dubbed a failure. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it is ending its "Scheduled Departure" program when the three-week trial concludes. Only eight people participated in the program, officials said. "Quite frankly, I think this proves the only method that works is enforcement," Jim Hayes, acting director of ICE's detention and removal operations said.

Sallie Mae Spent $640K Lobbying

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:10:33 -0400

Sallie Mae, the nation's largest student lender, spent $640,000 lobbying in the second quarter for government help to shore up the troubled student loan market and on legislation related to other issues affecting the industry, according to a recent disclosure report. The company lobbied on access to capital for student lenders and a variety of legislation touching on student lending, education spending and banking. Congress sets the interest rates borrowers pay and the subsidy levels lenders receive under the federal student loan program. Lawmakers last year cut about $20 billion in federal subsidies to lenders to pay for increases in student aid. That cut into lenders' profits, as did the credit crunch, making it expensive to raise the capital they need to offer student loans.

Minorities Often Majority

OurFuture.org Staff — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:24:04 -0400

Foreshadowing the nation's changing makeup, one in four American counties have passed or are approaching the tipping point where black, Hispanic and Asian children constitute a majority of the under-20 population, according to analysis of newly released census figures. Racial and ethnic minorities now account for 43 percent of Americans under 20. Among people of all ages, minorities make up at least 40 percent of the population in more than one in six of the nation's 3,141 counties. The latest population changes confirm the breadth of the nation's diversity, and suggest that minorities — now about a third of the population — might constitute a majority of all Americans even sooner than projected by census demographers, in 2050.

Immigrant, Pregnant, Is Jailed Under Pact

Isaiah J. Poole — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:06:59 -0400

In a case that has outraged immigration activists, county police outside Nashville, Tenn., arrested a pregnant undocumented worker and, when she was about to give birth, chained her to a hospital bed. Once she had given birth, the baby was taken away from her for two days and the father was denied contact. County officials were acting under a cooperation agreement signed in April 2007 with federal immigration authorities that gave immigration enforcement powers to county officers. These agreements are proliferating, empowering local law enforcement to use harsh tactics to crack down on illegal immigrants.

Hurricane Katrina affected racial, partisan politics in Louisiana, study finds

Alex Carter — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:08:01 -0400

The changes in voter demographics resulting from Hurricane Katrina have greatly affected the political landscape of both the metropolitan New Orleans area and the state, said University of New Orleans political scientist Edward E. Chervenak who compared and analyzed data from Louisiana's gubernatorial elections in 2003 and 2007.

LA State Supreme Court Takes Insurance Companies over Katrina Victims: Flood Damage is Excluded

Alex Carter — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:34:34 -0400

The Louisiana Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously ruled that homeowners insurance policies do not have to cover damages caused by levee breaches in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Threat Feared to Freedom of Information Act

Isaiah J. Poole — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 10:24:28 -0500

Weeks after signing a new law designed to end the stonewalling of Freedom of Information Act requests by the Bush administration, Bush has proposed shifting a newly created ombudsman's position from the politically independent National Archives and Records Administration to the Department of Justice. Because the ombudsman would be the chief monitor of compliance with the new law, that move is akin to killing the critical function, some members of Congress and watchdog groups say.

Interest Group Spending Nears Record

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:22:04 -0500

Spending by interest groups in the presidential campaign could top $1 billion for the first time. Spending by 50 of the largest independent political groups jumped to $130.8 million in 2007, up 55% from 2003, the year before the last presidential election.