Author
York, Pa. students who fought book ban tell their story to U.S. House panel
By: Ariana Figueroa - April 8, 2022
'I deserve to walk into my school library and find a book with someone like me,' York student Olivia Pituch said.
Biden extends pause on federal student loan repayments to Aug. 31; Dems keep up push for debt cancellation
By: Ariana Figueroa - April 6, 2022
Officials said they're "committed to ensuring that student loan borrowers have a smooth transition back to repayment.”
U.S. House approves insulin price caps; Pa.’s Fitzpatrick among GOP crossover votes
By: Ariana Figueroa - April 1, 2022
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Thursday passed a bill on a bipartisan 232-193 vote that would limit the price of insulin, as congressional Democrats met throughout the day with health care advocates to make their case for the proposal. Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Patty Murray of Washington state held a virtual round table with […]
Decades after Emmett Till’s death, Biden signs law making lynching a federal hate crime
By: Ariana Figueroa - March 30, 2022
WASHINGTON — Nearly 70 years after 14-year-old Emmett Till was kidnapped and murdered in Mississippi by two white men, President Joe Biden signed into law on Tuesday a bill to make lynching a federal hate crime. “Lynching was pure terror to enforce the lie that not everyone belongs in America,” Biden said at the Rose […]
Biden lays out a ‘fund the police’ budget plan
By: Ariana Figueroa - March 28, 2022
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is requesting billions in its fiscal 2023 budget from Congress to fund police departments, despite progressive Democrats’ calls for some of that spending to be reallocated to social services. President Joe Biden’s budget request to Congress unveiled Monday asks for $30 billion for state and local governments to add more […]
New process for asylum cases at the border unveiled by Biden administration
By: Ariana Figueroa - March 25, 2022
The Biden administration announced Thursday steps to expedite asylum cases at the U.S.-Mexico border in an attempt to resolve a years-long backlog, but policy advocates worry the streamlined process could prevent asylum seekers from obtaining legal representation if their cases are denied.
Most HBCU bomb threats may be coming from one juvenile, FBI official tells Congress
By: Ariana Figueroa - March 18, 2022
Ryan Young, of the Intelligence Branch at the FBI, said that the bomb threats made to HBCUs are the agency’s top priority.
Pressure ramps up to halt Trump-era policy that expels migrants at the border
By: Ariana Figueroa - March 14, 2022
'Expelling children is not who we are as a nation,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairperson Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said.
Congress hates changing the clocks just like everyone else
By: Ariana Figueroa - March 10, 2022
Lawmakers assembled a panel of experts to discuss the health, energy, and economic impacts of springing forward and falling back.
U.S. House condemns bomb threats made against HBCUs
By: Ariana Figueroa - March 9, 2022
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House has spoken out to condemn the weeks-long chain of bomb threats made to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The majority-Democrat chamber voted Tuesday to approve the resolution, sponsored by North Carolina Democratic Rep. Alma Adams. It came in response to the more than 30 bomb threats made at dozens of […]
‘A crisis that is hiding in plain sight’: Missing and murdered women of color | Analysis
By: Ariana Figueroa - March 6, 2022
'The epidemic of missing persons of color is not a new topic, but one that has been dismissed because society does not care about us,' Shawn Wilkinson of Baltimore said.
White House allows Ukrainian nationals to stay in Pa., other states without fear of deportation
By: Ariana Figueroa - March 4, 2022
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is granting Temporary Protected Status that will shield Ukrainian nationals living in the United States from deportation, following pressure from members of Congress. “Russia’s premeditated and unprovoked attack on Ukraine has resulted in an ongoing war, senseless violence, and Ukrainians forced to seek refuge in other countries,” […]