OUR PICKSHalf a Million Immigrants Could Get U.S. Citizenship Under New Plan | Crypto Scammers Are Targeting Trump’s MAGA Supporters | Miami Is Entering a State of Unreality, and more

Published 18 June 2024

·  University of Michigan Didn’t Assess If Israel-Hamas War Protests Made Environment Hostile, Feds Say
The DOE investigation found that the university’s responses did not meet DOE’s Title VI requirements to remedy the hostile environment

·  Half a Million Immigrants Could Get U.S. Citizenship Under New Plan from Biden
To qualify, an immigrant must have lived in the United States for 10 years as of Monday and be married to a U.S. citizen

·  Biden to Announce Deportation Protection, Work Permits for Spouses of US Citizens
The policy will allow roughly 490,000 spouses of U.S. citizens an opportunity to apply for a “parole in place” program

·  Miami Is Entering a State of Unreality
No amount of adaptation to climate change can fix Miami’s water problems

·  Crypto Scammers Are Targeting Trump’s MAGA Supporters
After Donald Trump’s campaign announced it would accept cryptocurrency, the operators of a host of fraudulent websites have sought to hustle his supporters

·  Banks Are Finally Realizing What Climate Change Will Do to Housing
Extreme weather threatens the investment value of many properties, but financing for climate mitigation efforts are only just getting going

University of Michigan Didn’t Assess If Israel-Hamas War Protests Made Environment Hostile, Feds Say  (AP / VOA News)
The University of Michigan failed to assess whether protests and other incidents on campus in response to the Israel-Hamas war created a hostile environment for students, staff and faculty, according to the results of an investigation by the U.S. Education Department announced Monday.
The department’s Office of Civil Rights investigated 75 instances of alleged discrimination and harassment based on shared Jewish ancestry and shared Palestinian or Muslim ancestry. The investigation found that the university’s responses did not meet its Title VI requirements to remedy the hostile environment.
In one instance, when a Jewish student reported being called out for viewing a graduate student instructor’s social media post about pro-Palestinian topics, the university told the student that “formal conflict resolution is not a path forward at this time,” because the incident occurred on social media.
In another instance, when a student who participated in a pro-Palestinian protest was called a “terrorist,” the university said it held “restorative circles” to address the incident but did not take further action.
In its resolution agreement, the University of Michigan agreed to administer a climate assessment, implement additional training and revise its policies as necessary. It also agreed to monitoring by the Office of Civil Rights through the end of the 2026 school year, reporting its responses to future incidents of discrimination to the department.
It’s the first investigation to reach a conclusion among dozens launched by the Education Department since Oct. 7, the day Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel.

Half a Million Immigrants Could Get U.S. Citizenship Under New Plan from Biden  (AP / VOA News)
President Joe Biden is taking an expansive, election-year step to offer relief to potentially hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status in the U.S.— aiming to balance his own aggressive crackdown on the border earlier this month that enraged advocates and many Democratic lawmakers. (Cont.)