Cleveland's historic Legal Aid Society surges with the pandemic

The ACLU has unrolled a new operation to counter human rights abuses under the current administration. They’ve hired more lawyers, taken 170 “Trump-related legal actions, and filed 83 lawsuits against the Trump administration. They’re also getting more engaged with electoral races, something they have never done before. “That’s the way we’re going to survive this. Pressure in the courts, pressure from the public.”

By coming together on the national stage, immigrant communities campaign against cancellation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The work encompasses over 40 different groups operating around the US to advocate for TPS holders. The Journey for Justice Caravan, led by TPS holders in partnership with the National TPS Alliance, mobilized support across 30 states. Other groups, including African Communities Together, coordinated to file a lawsuit to block the Trump administration’s measure to cancel TPS.

LGBTQ asylum seekers face a unique set of problems coming to the United States, often from places where gender expression and sexuality are strictly regulated. Four organizations across the US, Mexico, and Canada are filling this unique niche. For example, AsylumConnect created an app of resources on how to apply for asylum and a catalogue of LGBTQ-friendly services and organizations in the US for them to learn about. All four aim to validate LGBTQ asylum seekers and keep them safe.

At one Boston public school, teachers are updating curricula to provide students with history lessons that contextualize current national debates about immigration policy.

California coastal towns address homelessness by supporting individuals who live on their boats - and those who want to move back to land. While many counties destroy or condemn boats that have been anchored long-term, areas like Half Moon Bay and Marin county work with individuals who want to find stable housing.

As colleges and universities across the United States have shifted to online classes and shut down their campuses, not every student simply has the ability to move home. To help support these students, many of whom are low-income or international, the Stay Together Appalachian Youth Project began working with local communities to find housing for displaced students, as well as to provide other support like money or supplies.

Europe's generous social policies, such as allowing employees to retain their salaries while taking sick time to care for themselves or family members, may help to mitigate the coronavirus outbreak while also safeguarding the economy. Although the long-term impacts are yet unknown, in the short term, government-provided incentives are helping people and businesses stay afloat.

For 28 years, the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations, stripped more than 100 people of U.S. citizenship and deported them for their direct participation in Nazi war crimes. The most successful Nazi-hunting operation in the world, OSI’s painstaking investigations – historical research combined with criminal sleuthing and international diplomacy – pried needed records from other nations’ files in order to prove that post-war refugees who ended up in America had immigrated under false pretenses, hiding their true role in the Holocaust’s extermination camps.

Comal Heritage Food Incubator trains immigrant and refugee women to start their own businesses in the food industry. Comal offers coaching, financial support, and connections to social services. It also pays trainees, which has been vital to endure the food industry shutdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic. The group also ensures members have food, rent assistance, school supplies, or diapers for their children. They partner with the Denver Metro Emergency Food Network, delivering about 290,000 meals since the pandemic began. The model is working in other cities, including Seattle and San Francisco.

Old and neglected housing contributes to climate change because it runs on fossil fuels. In New York, outdated heating systems waste two-thirds of energy. The New York City Housing Authority is not only trying to create better, safer, livable affordable housing, but also cleaner and more sustainable housing. While the city is just beginning to explore how to do that, other cities, like Paris, have already begun the work of updating old buildings that are used for affordable housing and can offer a model for American cities.