Your 5 Minute Activist Links for April 23, 2008

** United Farm Workers **
Multiculturalism is a basic American concept. We value the beliefs, traditions, customs, arts, history and folklore of the diverse cultures reflected throughout our nation. All this is being put at risk in Arizona, where last week the Appropriations Committee passed an amendment to a routine homeland security bill, SB 1108 that would prohibit students at the state’s public universities and community colleges from organizing groups based on race (ie: groups such as MEChA, the Black Business Students Association, Native Americans United, etc.)

According to newspaper reports, Rep. John Kavanagh, (R-Scottsdale), a supporter of the measure called these campus organizations, "'self-defeating' and 'self-destructive' for students."

If you live in Arizona, e-mail your representatives immediately as well as the Speaker of the House. If you live outside Arizona, please e-mail the Arizona Speaker of the House today and let him know the eyes of the nation are on Arizona.

Please take action today. This bill could reach the Arizona House floor as early as this week.

** Food and Water Watch **
Already in 2008 we've seen the largest recall in U.S. history from the Hallmark/Westland meat plant, and this isn't an isolated incident. Whether it was spinach, ground beef, peanut butter, or frozen pot pies, last year was the year of recalls. Throughout all of these recalls consumers had no way of finding out where these recalled products were sold or distributed. Thankfully, we have an opportunity to change that.

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro has introduced a bill which would require the USDA to tell us which stores and schools received recalled meat.

We've got a good chance of getting this passed, but we need to gain as much support for the bill as possible. Can you ask your member of Congress to become a co-sponsor of this important bill?

** Center for Biological Diversity **
By June 30th, the federal government will make one of the most important decisions in conservation history. If it declares the polar bear to be an "endangered" species, the decision will set off an unprecedented worldwide discussion on global warming.

If the government refuses, desperately needed global action will again be delayed by U.S. stubbornness. Short-term corporate profits will continue to control political agendas and threaten life on earth. All of life on earth.

It will all happen -- or not -- by June 30th. Make it happen. Sign our petition today and pass it on.

** Change to Win **
The incompetent boobs in the Department of Homeland Security is proposing using Social Security "no-match" letters for immigration enforcement. Every year, employers report their employees' Social Security numbers to the government as part of the process of paying their payroll taxes. The Social Security Administration (SSA) checks those numbers against their database; if they don't match, a so-called "no-match" letter is sent by SSA to the employer.
That works well enough when the issue is just checking the accuracy of Social Security's records. But now DHS is proposing to use this system for something far more critical -- identifying whether a worker is in this country legally. And the Social Security database just isn't accurate enough to be used reliably for that purpose.

Why isn't it? The Inspector General of the Social Security Administration estimates that there are more than 17 million errors in the database -- each of which would trigger a "no-match" letter. And more than 70% of those errors are in the records of legal, native-born American workers.

If you're one of those workers, when the "no-match" letter arrives, it's up to you and your employer -- not DHS or Social Security -- to resolve the "discrepancy". And if you can't get it resolved in time, your employer is required to fire you or risk significant penalties.
If DHS goes forward with this plan, it would cause thousands of people to be fired on an unverified hunch that an error in a database in Washington means that you're not a legal, authorized worker.

The Department of Homeland Security needs to hear from you that this is unacceptable. Tell DHS to Say No to No-Match