Civics 3/19

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

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News and information about politics, government, civic participation and engagement from the URL Media network.

At a Minneapolis school board meeting on March 12, 2024, Muna Garad said she transferred her daughter from a charter school to Lyndale Elementary when she heard about the district's Somali heritage language program. Credit: Aaron Nesheim for Sahan Journal

Outcry from parents leads Minn. schools to reverse proposed cuts to Somali, Hmong heritage language programs: Minnesota has the largest population of first and second-generation Somali immigrants in the country, and many Somali parents who are raising children in the U.S. worry that their children are disconnected from their community and heritage. Similarly, Hmong people make up the largest Asian group in the state. So, when the Superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools proposed extensive cuts to Somali and Hmong heritage language programs earlier this month, and told several staff members that their jobs would be eliminated, parents and university professors did everything they could to push back. 

Within a week, Sahan Journal reports Minneapolis Public Schools reversed their proposal. 

“In less than a week, our parents were able to advocate for their kids’ heritage language learning,” said Deqa Muhidin, who coordinates Somali heritage language programs for Minneapolis Public Schools and almost lost her job. “Our parents were able to advocate for multilingual leaders. And the district was surprisingly able to receive the message and respond appropriately.” Read what happened here.

Would you consider joining or supporting advocacy efforts for heritage language programs in your community?

College-educated immigrants find many barriers to high-skilled jobs in the US: When it comes to college-educated immigrants, the barriers to working in a high-skilled job such as a software engineer or a pharmacist are even greater; these include challenges with English proficiency, licensing and credentialing requirements and lacking advanced degrees from their country of origin. This issue, sometimes called "brain waste," is costing the U.S. economy $40 billion a year, including $10 billion in taxes to federal, state and local governments. Plus, it's affecting the healthcare workforce, which is currently experiencing a shortage of doctors and nurses. But Sahan Journal reports a new bill currently before the Minnesota Legislature addresses barriers to high-skilled work for immigrant physicians. Read more here.Plus: Yes, Chef! A New York program trains asylum seekers in culinary arts (Documented)

Tribal nations defend critical redistricting win from N.D. appeal attempt: Native News Online reports that voters in North Dakota, along with two Native American tribes in the state recently took action in response to a legal dispute regarding the state's legislative map. The map, created in 2021, was found by the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota to have unfairly diluted Native American communities' voting power. The court ordered the state to adopt a legal legislative map by last December — instead, the state legislature filed multiple appeals. Read more here.

Biden’s use of “illegal” isn’t just offensive. It’s untrue: "The coverage of Biden’s gaffe [during his State of the Union address] has been largely rooted in the dehumanizing, offensive nature of the word “illegal,” writes Mitra Kalita for Epicenter-NYC. But the publisher also calls attention to the inaccuracy of the term, and reiterates that it is perfectly legal to enter the United States to seek asylum. Read more here.

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