By Johanna Schenner

In California, agriculture and the tech industry are currently experiencing an ongoing labor shortage despite record levels of unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These labor shortages are not novel, as testified by the establishment of the agricultural guest worker scheme in 1918 at the federal level and the tech industry’s H-1B version in 1990. In October 2020, the current Administration introduced significant changes to the H-1B guest worker scheme by i) increasing the wage levels for such workers; ii) reducing the number of jobs that qualify for the guest worker scheme; and iii) decreasing the visa…

By Roberto Pallais and Dongsu Kim

Disaster Strikes Sonoma

Sonoma County, home to nearly 500,000 people, is known for its famous vineyards and great weather. However, its name has recently been on the news for its yearly wildfires, including the most recent one that burned down 310 houses. Early in the year, Sonoma grappled with spikes in Covid-19 infections. By mid-March 2021, almost 29,000 people had been infected.

Such tragedies have caused a disproportionate amount of strain on vulnerable populations in the county, especially for undocumented immigrants or those living with undocumented family members. An example of this is how…

By Zoe Lee-Park

Activists for environmental justice have shown that the most powerful and privileged members in our society still devalue the lives of poorer people of color in subtle but powerful ways: they put toxic sites and hazardous operations in and around the most vulnerable neighborhoods. Immigrants have a unique precarity in this regard, particularly in our country. Our current federal policies do not incorporate nor educate newcomers so that they can have a voice in planning decisions, such as in zoning industrial plants and in energy generation. …

By Anny Patino

Central Valley resident Van Vanlandingham found himself sharing a room in a rehabilitation nursing home with two men who talked about the physical and sexual abuse gay men experienced and he became fearful. Vanlandingham is gay and, like many other LGBTQ+ people, he was hesitant and afraid to share his identity because of the homophobia in nursing homes, doctors’ offices, and assisting living facilities. …

By: Jiayu Fang

Who are experiencing the strongest stress under the current crisis of COVID-19?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this group includes essential workers in the food industry, racial and ethnic minorities, and those lacking access to information in their primary language. In the U.S., many immigrants fall into these categories. 69% of immigrant workers work in the ‘essential infrastructure’. 88% of immigrants come from places other than Europe and North America. And 83% of immigrants speak languages other than English at home. …

By Zoe Lee-Park

The United States is overwhelmingly responsible for causing and accelerating climate change. As President Joe Biden has now chosen his Climate Team, I’ve wondered if his top advisors have considered or will consider climate injustice: the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world will bear the most devastating impacts of climate change, from intensified hurricanes to growing crop losses. Even though they have contributed the least to the crisis, they will suffer the most.

We see this pattern within our own nation, too: powerful people, often white and affluent, have the highest standards of living, but…

Por Alein Y. Haro

Hoy, 18 de junio, recibí mensajes de felicitación por la decisión de DACA de la Corte Suprema de mantener el programa a pesar de los múltiples intentos del presidente de ponerle fin. Verá, soy estudiante de doctorado de UC Berkeley y & “DACAmented.” Podría haberme convertido en lo que llamaría “completamente” ; indocumentada en cualquier momento si DACA fuera revocado. DACA es el hilo del que estoy aferrada para continuar mi viaje, tanto académica como personal en este país.

Mi vida, la vida de miles de otros beneficiarios de DACA y los diez millones de inmigrantes…

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

By Noah Allison

Preface

The piece below is a synthesized snapshot from a dissertation chapter. It is important for readers to know that this text describes situations prior to the onslaught of the current viral crisis. During the first few weeks of the pandemic, few places suffered as much as Northwestern Queens. The patch of densely packed areas recorded more than 7,000 cases in the first week of the outbreak. According to healthcare professionals, a primary reason for this is that the pandemic is disproportionately affecting day laborers, restaurant and delivery workers, and cleaners, those who make up the largest share…