Latest news with #ObamaAdministration
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Quote of the Day: Pardons Prop Up Crimes of a Certain Collar
'Of course, stealing by fraud is still stealing. It's just that this is the way rich people do it.' BARBARA L. MCQUADE, a U.S. attorney in Michigan during the Obama administration, on how President Trump's pardons of white-collar criminals could normalize nonviolent offenses.
SBS Australia
3 days ago
- Business
- SBS Australia
Australia can drive the shift to a global clean energy economy
Australia can drive the shift to a global clean energy economy Published 30 May 2025, 9:10 am A former White House climate aide says hosting next year's UN climate conference with Pacific nations would be a huge opportunity for Australia to lead the world on clean energy. Ali Zaidi worked for both the Obama and Biden administrations as National Climate Advisor. He spoke to SBS about how he views Australia's climate action efforts.
CNN
3 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Many US families depend on immigrant nannies. Trump's policies could upend that
Catalina, a 23-year-old US citizen, confidently drives to her job as a nanny and earns a fair wage. Yet her mother – an undocumented immigrant from Peru – has worked in the shadows for 30 years. 'Even though we have the same job, do the same thing, and work the same hours, the pay is very different,' Catalina tells CNN. 'I've done very well because I was born here, and the pay is very good when you speak Spanish.' CNN has changed her name to protect her identity and her mother's safety. During Barack Obama's time in the White House, Catalina's mother considered returning to Peru, according to her daughter. The Obama administration focused on curbing interior deportations (as opposed to deportations at the border) and, especially in its later years, on so-called 'quick returns' of recent border arrivals who were perceived to have fewer ties in the US. 'A lot of people told her nothing would happen, and indeed, nothing did,' Catalina says, explaining her mother ultimately decided to stay. However, the harsh immigration policies of Donald Trump's administration paint a bleaker picture for both. The 23-year-old fears her mother could be detained when she drops off the children of a family she cares for every afternoon to support her own family. 'She's a single mom. I'm the oldest daughter, so if something happens to her, I'd have to take care of my siblings,' Catalina says. 'She had to sign a paper leaving everything to me, just in case: what to do with my siblings, her things, her money. It's awful to think about, but she feels prepared.' Catalina's mother has raised her children alone and dedicated part of her life to childcare, a sector facing a deep staffing crisis—one that has worsened in recent months, as experts say immigrants are essential to sustaining it. 'The childcare sector broadly has long been facing a crisis and a shortage of workers. And immigrant workers are critical to keeping that system running. Both the formal sector and the informal sector,' Wendy Cervantes, director of Immigration and Immigrant Families at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), tells CNN. According to a report from the National Women's Law Center, 20% of early educators in the US – an umbrella term encompassing preschool teachers, home-based childcare providers, teachers aids and program directors – are immigrants. Women make up 'a significant percentage' of the workforce in this sector nationwide. 'Care work is the work that makes all other work possible and enables all families to thrive,' the report says. However, caregivers face low wages, lack of benefits, vulnerability to exploitation, and job insecurity. Undocumented workers, for their part, also lack basic labor rights and protections. Although she has lived in the US for years, Catalina's mother does not have access to work benefits like health insurance or social security. 'She gets paid in cash or by check, but no benefits. Nothing,' Catalina says of her mother's working conditions. Every year, undocumented immigrants living in the US pay billions of dollars in taxes even though they know they won't be able to enjoy the benefits unless their status is regularized. Additionally, the constant threat of being reported limits her even when accepting jobs. 'If a job comes from an American family, I don't think she'd take it. She's afraid that if something happens, someone will call the authorities.' According to Cervantes, immigrant childcare workers 'are often an invisible workforce.' Despite their crucial role in the early education of an increasingly diverse child population, they are not sufficiently recognized. 'One thing that often goes unrecognized is that these workers are among the few who are bilingual and culturally competent, particularly in the formal sector, which is highly sought after. Many families want their children in bilingual education programs, and these workers are essential for serving an increasingly diverse child population,' adds the CLASP director. Beyond the numbers, the tightening of immigration policies under Trump's administration has directly impacted the reality of thousands of families like Catalina's. A few weeks after Trump took office, his administration announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents could now make arrests near places like schools, churches, and hospitals, ending a longstanding policy that prevented them from operating in so-called 'sensitive locations.' 'And now, in some states where there is greater cooperation with local police, a nanny simply driving to work could be arrested, deported, and separated from her family,' Cervantes notes. Catalina's mother experiences that anxiety firsthand every day when she gets in the car to pick up the children she cares for in the afternoons. 'When she arrives, there are always police officers managing traffic. Sometimes she hides in the car, doesn't get out. She waits for the kids to get in the car. It's awful,' Catalina says. 'If I meet her at the school, she feels a little better. But if she's alone, she doesn't.' Without protective policies in place, like the 'sensitive locations' policy, it is much harder for nannies to serve families and feel safe continuing their work, Cervantes warns. 'The way immigration enforcement measures are being applied across the country is happening with very little oversight and accountability. More people are becoming vulnerable to deportation because there is no longer prosecutorial discretion, for example, for parents or people with humanitarian reasons not to be deported. There's no way to prioritize who should or shouldn't be deported. Everyone is a priority. Therefore, everyone without status is in danger,' adds the CLASP director. Catalina is currently studying, hoping to build her mother a house in Peru in case she decides to return one day. 'Here my mom has no one, no family, no sisters, no mother. Nothing. She's alone,' she says, but insists she doesn't want to leave her alone either. 'She worries more because she says, 'My daughter will be left alone.'' Meanwhile, the Trump administration's growing push to advance its mass deportation plan could further harm the US childcare system. 'If we lose immigrant workers, especially those who care for our children, as a country we will suffer. If deportations continue at the current pace, if this budget proposal passes Congress—which would allow the administration to further increase its enforcement measures—and if we keep seeing more people lose their immigration status, then this will have a very negative impact on the workforce overall, making it harder for all working mothers and fathers to find childcare and go to work,' Cervantes says. This is the invisible role of Catalina's mother: she is the one who allows others to work while their children are cared for. Without her and many like her, the United States would be a very different country.
CNN
3 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Many US families depend on immigrant nannies. Trump's policies could upend that
Catalina, a 23-year-old US citizen, confidently drives to her job as a nanny and earns a fair wage. Yet her mother – an undocumented immigrant from Peru – has worked in the shadows for 30 years. 'Even though we have the same job, do the same thing, and work the same hours, the pay is very different,' Catalina tells CNN. 'I've done very well because I was born here, and the pay is very good when you speak Spanish.' CNN has changed her name to protect her identity and her mother's safety. During Barack Obama's time in the White House, Catalina's mother considered returning to Peru, according to her daughter. The Obama administration focused on curbing interior deportations (as opposed to deportations at the border) and, especially in its later years, on so-called 'quick returns' of recent border arrivals who were perceived to have fewer ties in the US. 'A lot of people told her nothing would happen, and indeed, nothing did,' Catalina says, explaining her mother ultimately decided to stay. However, the harsh immigration policies of Donald Trump's administration paint a bleaker picture for both. The 23-year-old fears her mother could be detained when she drops off the children of a family she cares for every afternoon to support her own family. 'She's a single mom. I'm the oldest daughter, so if something happens to her, I'd have to take care of my siblings,' Catalina says. 'She had to sign a paper leaving everything to me, just in case: what to do with my siblings, her things, her money. It's awful to think about, but she feels prepared.' Catalina's mother has raised her children alone and dedicated part of her life to childcare, a sector facing a deep staffing crisis—one that has worsened in recent months, as experts say immigrants are essential to sustaining it. 'The childcare sector broadly has long been facing a crisis and a shortage of workers. And immigrant workers are critical to keeping that system running. Both the formal sector and the informal sector,' Wendy Cervantes, director of Immigration and Immigrant Families at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), tells CNN. According to a report from the National Women's Law Center, 20% of early educators in the US – an umbrella term encompassing preschool teachers, home-based childcare providers, teachers aids and program directors – are immigrants. Women make up 'a significant percentage' of the workforce in this sector nationwide. 'Care work is the work that makes all other work possible and enables all families to thrive,' the report says. However, caregivers face low wages, lack of benefits, vulnerability to exploitation, and job insecurity. Undocumented workers, for their part, also lack basic labor rights and protections. Although she has lived in the US for years, Catalina's mother does not have access to work benefits like health insurance or social security. 'She gets paid in cash or by check, but no benefits. Nothing,' Catalina says of her mother's working conditions. Every year, undocumented immigrants living in the US pay billions of dollars in taxes even though they know they won't be able to enjoy the benefits unless their status is regularized. Additionally, the constant threat of being reported limits her even when accepting jobs. 'If a job comes from an American family, I don't think she'd take it. She's afraid that if something happens, someone will call the authorities.' According to Cervantes, immigrant childcare workers 'are often an invisible workforce.' Despite their crucial role in the early education of an increasingly diverse child population, they are not sufficiently recognized. 'One thing that often goes unrecognized is that these workers are among the few who are bilingual and culturally competent, particularly in the formal sector, which is highly sought after. Many families want their children in bilingual education programs, and these workers are essential for serving an increasingly diverse child population,' adds the CLASP director. Beyond the numbers, the tightening of immigration policies under Trump's administration has directly impacted the reality of thousands of families like Catalina's. A few weeks after Trump took office, his administration announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents could now make arrests near places like schools, churches, and hospitals, ending a longstanding policy that prevented them from operating in so-called 'sensitive locations.' 'And now, in some states where there is greater cooperation with local police, a nanny simply driving to work could be arrested, deported, and separated from her family,' Cervantes notes. Catalina's mother experiences that anxiety firsthand every day when she gets in the car to pick up the children she cares for in the afternoons. 'When she arrives, there are always police officers managing traffic. Sometimes she hides in the car, doesn't get out. She waits for the kids to get in the car. It's awful,' Catalina says. 'If I meet her at the school, she feels a little better. But if she's alone, she doesn't.' Without protective policies in place, like the 'sensitive locations' policy, it is much harder for nannies to serve families and feel safe continuing their work, Cervantes warns. 'The way immigration enforcement measures are being applied across the country is happening with very little oversight and accountability. More people are becoming vulnerable to deportation because there is no longer prosecutorial discretion, for example, for parents or people with humanitarian reasons not to be deported. There's no way to prioritize who should or shouldn't be deported. Everyone is a priority. Therefore, everyone without status is in danger,' adds the CLASP director. Catalina is currently studying, hoping to build her mother a house in Peru in case she decides to return one day. 'Here my mom has no one, no family, no sisters, no mother. Nothing. She's alone,' she says, but insists she doesn't want to leave her alone either. 'She worries more because she says, 'My daughter will be left alone.'' Meanwhile, the Trump administration's growing push to advance its mass deportation plan could further harm the US childcare system. 'If we lose immigrant workers, especially those who care for our children, as a country we will suffer. If deportations continue at the current pace, if this budget proposal passes Congress—which would allow the administration to further increase its enforcement measures—and if we keep seeing more people lose their immigration status, then this will have a very negative impact on the workforce overall, making it harder for all working mothers and fathers to find childcare and go to work,' Cervantes says. This is the invisible role of Catalina's mother: she is the one who allows others to work while their children are cared for. Without her and many like her, the United States would be a very different country.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former surgeon general says Congress has failed to protect children's mental health
Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy accused Congress of failing 'in its responsibility to protect our kids' from the harms of social media and called on lawmakers to 'step up and act now' in an interview on NBC News' 'Meet the Press' that aired Sunday. Murthy, who served as surgeon general during the Obama and Biden administrations, said he would specifically like to see Congress pass legislation that would force social media apps to include warning labels about their harms to children and would allow for more data transparency from social media companies so that researchers can more accurately study the effects of the internet on kids. The former surgeon general compared social media to cars, pointing to the introduction of safety features like seat belts, air bags and crash testing decades ago. 'Those have reduced the number of deaths,' Murthy told 'Meet the Press' moderator Kristen Welker. 'We've got to do the same for social media, because what we're doing now, Kristen, is we're basically — it's the equivalent of putting our kids in cars with no seat belts, with no air bags, and having them drive on roads with no speed limits and no traffic lights. And that is just morally unacceptable.' Congress has tried in recent years to pass legislation to better regulate social media platforms and their interactions with children, with the Senate passing the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) last year with strong bipartisan support. But both bills faced headwinds from civil liberties groups and social media companies. COPPA 2.0 faced criticism from advertising companies as it sought to update a 1998 law of the same name by raising the age at which companies are allowed to collect information about children from 12 to 17. It also included provisions that would place limits on how third-party companies can advertise to children under 17. KOSA, meanwhile, would create a 'duty of care' for social media companies, making them legally liable for feeding kids content that could be harmful to their mental health. Civil liberties groups warned that social media companies could overcompensate to reduce their legal liability, leading them to censor anything that could be deemed controversial. Neither bill received a vote on the House floor last year. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., reintroduced KOSA in the Senate earlier this month. Murthy, who is the author of the 2020 book 'Together: Why Social Connection Holds the Key to Better Health, Higher Performance, and Greater Happiness,' linked the rise in social media use among children to the broader loneliness epidemic, warning that chronic loneliness can be detrimental to people's health. 'That's when it starts to increase inflammation in our body, increase our risk for heart disease, and other conditions that ultimately shorten our life,' the former surgeon general said. Online connections, Murthy added, are not the same as connecting and sharing friendships and relationships with people in person. 'I worry about, for young people in particular, is the impact that technology is having on their social connection,' the former surgeon general said. 'We tend to think, 'Oh, kids are on social media. That's great because they're connected to one another.' But no, we have to recognize there's a difference between the connections you have online and the connections you have in person.' Murphy warned that 'more kids are struggling with this intense culture of self-comparison online, which is shredding their self-esteem.' 'A lot of them are trying to be somebody that they're not online. And they actually don't have as many friendships in person as we all need. So you put this all together and what you see is escalating loneliness and isolation,' he added. Murthy also warned that kids are more at risk of experiencing the negative effects of social media simply because their brains are not fully developed. 'They are more susceptible to social comparison, to social suggestion, their impulse control is not as well developed. And that puts them more at risk of the negative effects of social media,' he said. Former Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, D-R.I., who is now a mental health advocate, also joined 'Meet the Press,' agreeing with Murthy's assertion that the government was not doing enough to help children on this front. 'Our country is falling down on its own responsibility as stewards to our children's future,' Kennedy told Welker. One proposal he offered was to create a 'prevention fund,' pointing to the lack of preventive care for mental health ailments. 'If we're really serious about making a difference, we need to simplify the system. We need to change the reimbursement model. And, by the way, if we want good results, we have to invest in a — what I call a 'prevention fund' of sorts,' Kennedy said. 'What I would like is all the payers, the state, the Feds, to put in dollars based upon the actuarial impact of these illnesses. … Why aren't we putting some of those dollars in a prevention fund where we can identify those people at highest risk and invest now?' he added. This article was originally published on
