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Afghanistan Immigration: The 3 Secure, Systematic Processes
We are expecting an influx of immigrants from Afghanistan in the coming months and years. The State Department will be processing those Afghans desirous to enter the U.S. in a secure, systematic process. While the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan has seemed chaotic and alarming, immigration protocols and safeguards will not be abandoned despite the immediacy needed. The three types of legal entry are Special Immigrant Visas, humanitarian parole, and I-9 refugee status. All three processes include rigorous vetting, but they vary in both process and limitations. As we begin welcoming our Afghan friends into our neighborhoods, we can do so with the assurance that we are welcoming people…
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The Violence Against Women (VAWA) Act
What is the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)? VAWA is bipartisan legislation, originally passed in 1994, that provides protections for women and children suffering from violence and abuse. It supports comprehensive, trauma-informed, and cost-effective responses to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. This includes prevention, education, prosecution, and survivor services programs at the federal, tribal, state, and local levels. Some of these services and programs include: Efforts, including funding, to address rape kit backlogs Housing assistance, counseling, and legal clinics for survivors Data collection on stalking and domestic violence Increased protection for immigrants, trafficking victims, and LGBTQ+ victims Authority for Native tribes to enforce tribal laws pertaining to…
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Principles of Ethical Government: Minority Rights
Mormon Women for Ethical Government’s Principles of Ethical Government (2)(b) states: (b) Special care should be taken to protect the rights of the minority from undue infringement by the majority (see Exodus 23:2 and Proverbs 31:8-9). Every human is a child of Heavenly Parents and must be treated with respect and love. There are religious and ethical foundations for ensuring that minority rights are safeguarded and that theagency, growth, and potential of all of God’s children are consequently protected. Resisting oppression lifts all members of society. Because living in and perpetuating structures that oppress minorities harms souls, safeguarding the rights of minorities enables the growth and potential of all of…
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Filibuster Reform
Joe Manchin’s leaked call and apparent softening on the question of filibuster reform has given new energy to the questions of whether and how to reform this Senate rule in keeping with historic tradition and the goal of encouraging compromise. The historic tradition is complicated. The Constitution does not mandate this rule, and both James Madison and Alexander Hamilton wrote about how dangerous it would be to require supermajorities for decision making in Congress. In 1805, Aaron Burr suggested dropping the rule about how to end debate on the Senate floor, as he was trying to simplify the Senate rules as a matter of bureaucratic housekeeping. At the time, it…
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Principles of Ethical Government: Maximize Participation and Equitable Access
Mormon Women for Ethical Government’s Principles of Ethical Government (2)(a) states: (a) Political structures and electoral systems should be designed to maximize participation of and provide equitable access to all citizens in a society (see Mosiah 29:32). The Book of Mormon instructs us to “do your business by the voice of the people” (Mosiah 29:26). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also works this principle into its governance, stating that “all things shall be done by common consent in the church” (D&C 26:2). America, the world’s oldest democratic republic, was likewise founded on this very principle. As citizens of such a democratic republic, we hold fast to our…
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What Is the Filibuster?
Prior to a bill being passed into law by the Senate, it is brought up for debate. During the debate, the U.S. Senate rules allow a senator (or a series of senators) to speak for as long as they wish, and on whatever they wish, and the bill cannot be voted on until debate has ended. A senator or senators can, then, speak for an extended period of time with the sole purpose of preventing a vote on the bill and/or refuse to vote to end the debate. This obstructive tactic, known as the filibuster, isn’t part of the Constitution but an inadvertent result of an 1806 rule change. The…
