Tuesday, July 15, 2025
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A View From the Ground
News and information about politics, government, civic participation and engagement from URL Media's network of Black and Brown publishers.
Good evening. A New York state bill that would have required standards for outdoor workers did not pass, but a farm industry lobby memo features what some call racist language. Also, immigration activists are afraid due process is disappearing.
Plus, we’re bringing you the latest updates at url-media.com as events unfold.
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Deep Dive: New York state legislators did not pass a bill that would have established workplace temperature standards and set rules for labor under extreme temperatures in the most recent legislative session. While the TEMP (Temperature Extreme Mitigation Program) Act would have provided relief for agricultural workers in the state toiling under summer heat, a memo from a farming industry lobbying group about the bill is being criticized as racist.
“It must be mentioned that many agricultural workers come from very weather countries [sic], via the federal H2A program, such as Mexico and Jamaica and working [sic] and would feel very comfortable working in New York in the summertime,” the memo from the New York Farm Bureau, provided to Documented, argues.
The NYFB wrote the memo in 2024 in opposition to the potential passage the TEMP Act saying it would set “impractical standards” for farm workplaces.
But farmworker union activists were taken aback by the language, which they feel perpetuates racial stereotypes about migrants who come to New York to work the fields.
“Workers from Jamaica and Mexico are human beings like everyone else, which means they need what has been proven to save lives: shade, water, and paid rest breaks, to be safe, while performing physically strenuous work during dangerously high temperatures,” Gabriella Szpunt, the New York Organizing Coordinator for the United Farm Workers, told Documented. “Any suggestion otherwise is racist.”
The NYFB, however, pushed back, saying its memo should not be seen as racist, despite the blunt language.“It is deeply disturbing to the New York Farm Bureau to hear untrue allegations of racism,” Amanda Powers, NYFB spokesperson, said in a statement to Documented. “We strongly denounce racism, as supported by our longtime record of support for immigrant farmworkers and farmworkers of color.”
But the available data does imply that immigrant laborers working in outdoor settings are disporportionately exposed to heat-strees related injury. A report released in 2024 by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander showed 580 people die of heat related causes each year. A third of the city’s workforce performed their jobs outside for multiple hours, most of them were migrants with no citizenship.
While it is unclear if legislators will try again to bring a new bill to protect farmworkers, the NYFB remains under criticism.
“An organization whose main argument against life-saving worker protections is based on scientifically inaccurate racial pseudoscience should have no credibility with the NYS Legislature,” Charlene Obernauer, executive director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) told Documented.
Weekly Roundup:
Due process constitutionally required for all people accused of crimes in the United States is being eroded by the Trump administration in its aggressive push to increase deportations, a group of immigration attorneys and advocates say. Vanessa Dojaquez-Torres, practice and policy counsel with the American Immigration Lawyers Association says the White House is sidestepping normal procedure to for the purpose of expedited removal. “It seems like the overarching goal of this administration is to sidestep those procedures to get increased numbers of removals and deportations,”she said. – Sahan Journal
A state law in California targeted at drug and theft crimes has resulted in an increase in arrests, but particularly of Black people, which has alarmed some legislators. Prop 36, or the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act was passed by voters in 2024. It heightens penalties for crimes linked to drugs and stealing, and makes some felonies. But lawmakers like Assemblymember Isaac Bryan say it is not solving the problem it was intended to. “Instead of a war on poverty, California’s legal system has initiated a war on poor people,” he told California Black Media. “We deserve better. We have to fight for the economic opportunities our community deserves.” – Black Voice News
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is not mincing words when it comes to her dismay at recent decisions made by the High Court. In her dissents to justices siding with the Trump administration efforts to end birthright citizenship, and hinder federal judges’ ability to impose injunctions against the White House, she has recently called the majority opinion an “existential threat” to rule of law. “ This Court’s complicity in the creation of a culture of disdain for lower courts, their rulings, and the law (as they interpret it) will surely hasten the downfall of our governing institutions, enabling our collective demise.” – Capital B
Political strategist Donna Brazile has become a part of the ‘Divine Nine.’ At their 57th Annual Convention, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority inducted Brazile as an honorary member with seven other women who have made significant contributions in the social, political, business, and entertainment fields. The best-selling author has become known for her leadership in American politics and served twice as interim chair of the Democratic National Committee. She joins actress Danielle Brooks, Olympic athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, executive Janice Bryant Howroyd, tech innovator Toni Townes-Whitley, actress and hip hop icon Queen Latifah, WNBA champion and Hall-of-Famer Swin Cash, and entrepreneur Fawn Weaver. – Watch the Yard
Quote of the Week:
“I believe marriage is a sacred covenant and I have earnestly pursued reconciliation. But in light of recent discoveries, I do not believe that it honors God or is loving to myself, my children, or Ken to remain in the marriage.” -- Texas GOP State Sen. Angela Paxton announcing she is filing for divorce from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on accusations of adultery.
Recommended Reading:
Did fiscal conservatism block plans for a new flood warning system in Kerr County? – Texas Tribune_________
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Trump-era order hinders California’s wildfire response amid peak season - Black Voice News
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