Happy Friday y’all! It feels great to have made it through the week, but to be honest I’m a little nervous about this weekend. I’m going to one of those axe-throwing places for my friend’s birthday, so I’m just praying to walk out of there without losing a finger. Anyway, get your (surely much safer) weekend started by scrolling down for this week’s headlines, heroes, and ways to take action!
(P.S. Have you missed a recent email? Check out The Breakdown archive here.)
- Anthony
US Teen Held In Border Detention For 3 Weeks, Subjected To “Inhumane” Conditions Francisco Galicia, an 18-year-old US citizen, was recently released from a migrant detention facility after being held there for three weeks. While driving to a soccer event in Texas, Galicia, along with his brother and friends, was detained at a Border Patrol checkpoint despite providing a copy of his birth certificate and social security card. Once in the camp, he reportedly lost 20 pounds due to a lack of food. "While he was in border patrol custody, he was hungry all the time," said Galicia’s lawyer. "So he would sleep pretty much all day so he wouldn't feel hungry."
Additionally, the teen reported being subjected to conditions described by members of Congress earlier last month, including not being able to shower for 23 days and being crammed into a tiny cell with 60 other detainees. While this story is extremely unsettling, it’s also not the first time ICE has detained a US citizen: an investigation by the Los Angeles Times found that since 2012, ICE has released more than 1,400 people after reviewing citizenship claims.
Take Action: Learn more about what constitutes proof of US citizenship.
#VMAsRacist: MTV Receives Backlash For Adding K-Pop Award Category to VMAs MTV sparked backlash this week after announcing the creation of a “Best K-pop” category for this year’s Video Music Awards (VMAs). As #VMAsRacist trended on Twitter, fans of the K-Pop group BTS accused MTV of a racial double standard meant to keep the group out of the major award categories.
While the new category may seem to be a sign of respect on the surface, fans argue that it only works if K-Pop groups are also shown proper recognition in the other major categories. And BTS fans certainly have a strong case that the group was snubbed: the group had a historic 2018 when they sold the second-most albums in the US in addition to becoming the first South Korean band to have an album debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. Notably, this is not the first time that BTS has found itself on the receiving end of racial or xenophobic controversy.
Senate Passes Bill Ensuring Funds To Compensate 9/11 Victims Never Runs Out Of Money After a long and tumultuous battle, the Senate passed a bill this past Tuesday to ensure that a fund to compensate victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks will never go unfunded. The bill, which was approved 97-2, was passed after intense lobbying from 9/11 first responders in addition to comedian Jon Stewart. “These people laid the lumber. They tackled the Congress and then the Senate. And I can’t be more proud of them,” said victims' advocate John Feal at a news conference. As the bill is signed into law later this afternoon, it’s refreshing to see members on both sides of the aisle of Congress unite behind an issue and do the right thing.
The good news: Over 29% of you say you don’t see or experience cyberbullying on a given week. The bad news: That means 71% of you do. The other good news: We’re running a national youth-led anti-cyberbullying campaign right now, and you can get involved. LET’S DO THIS.
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