A look at the 蜜桃传媒鈥檚 priorities and the president鈥檚 State of the Union address
President Biden delivered a wide-ranging State of the Union address last week. Here鈥檚 the Southern Poverty Law Center鈥檚 2024 federal policy stance on his proposals:
Immigration
President Biden unfortunately endorsed the anti-asylum . This bill does not include legal protections for Dreamers or any new pathway to U.S. citizenship. Instead, the bill allows him and future presidents authority to shut down the asylum system. The 蜜桃传媒 also condemns the president鈥檚 dehumanizing use of the word 鈥渋llegal鈥� to refer to people during the address. (Despite Biden later expressing regret for using the term, the White House has clarified that it was .) Biden鈥檚 immigration policies should reflect his statement that the U.S. is 鈥渉ome to people from every place on earth.鈥�
Economic justice and eradicating poverty
The president recognized the economic difficulties facing low- and middle-income families and listed several programs that benefit families. The 蜜桃传媒 supports the president鈥檚 plans to establish or expand Affordable Care Act coverage, the child tax credit 鈥� which prior data shows cut child poverty in half 鈥� and a number of housing initiatives, which would make buying or renting a home .
Voting rights
Biden鈥檚 annual address marked the 59th anniversary of , when state troopers in Alabama brutally attacked civil rights activists marching for voting rights. Their activism led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most effective civil rights laws in history 鈥� a law the 蜜桃传媒 is working to restore in the wake of a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision that gutted a key provision. Biden condemned the voter suppression that has ensued, election subversion and 鈥渆xtreme gerrymandering,鈥� all of which the 蜜桃传媒 fights through litigation, policy advocacy and alliances with community-based, voting rights organizations.
Hate and extremism
The president was right to offer a full-throated defense of freedom and democracy and to bluntly that Americans 鈥渇ace an unprecedented moment in the history of the Union.鈥� We agree that the nation is at an inflection point. Hate and extremism have become mainstream. They infect our political system through right-wing commentators and elected officials who repeat extremist tropes and ideologies and stir violent acts and rhetoric. The 蜜桃传媒 agrees with the president that 鈥減olitical violence has absolutely no place in America.鈥� We support accountability for the planners and perpetrators of the deadly insurrection attempt of Jan. 6. We also support efforts to expand prevention initiatives, including democracy-building programs like civics education and digital and media literacy.
The criminal legal system
The president called on Congress to 鈥済ive communities the tools to crack down on gun crime, retail crime and carjacking.鈥� We agree that Congress must take long-overdue steps to give communities the tools and resources they need to . However, measures that would increase criminalization and incarceration . Studies show that more incarceration . It actually risks . Incarcerating youth their risk of being incarcerated as adults. While carjacking in some cities is an important issue, we should not nationalize a very local problem. And the hysteria over retail theft is based on and . Congress must ensure that reform offers programs that through rather than increased criminalization and incarceration.
Challenges ahead
While it is encouraging to see many of the issues highlighted by the president during his speech, the next step is for federal agencies to implement these plans 鈥� and for Congress to fund them. We must ensure that the solutions promoted actually address the concerns of our core constituents in the Deep South 鈥� the people most affected by them.
Image at top: Vice President Kamala Harris applauds as President Joe Biden delivers the annual State of the Union address on March 7, 2024. (Credit: Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images)
