On April 16, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) amended existing rules to better protect miners from health hazards associated with toxic rock dust. Silica dust or quartz dust, formally called respirable crystalline silica, is a carcinogen that causes serious diseases when inhaled, including black lung disease (also called silicosis), lung cancer, progressive massive fibrosis, chronic bronchitis and kidney disease. On June 27, House Republicans passed a budget provision prohibiting DOL from using funding to enforce the revised rule, drawing a rebuke from Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America. He called the provision “a direct attack…

On June 18, the Biden administration announced an executive action to allow certain noncitizen spouses and children of U.S. citizens to remain in the country while they apply for full citizenship. Before the administration took this action, noncitizens married to U.S. citizens could apply for citizenship,  but most were first required to leave the country and wait  to be processed abroad. Typically, this waiting period lasts  three to 10 years, unless undocumented immigrants obtain a “hardship waiver” that proves their families would  suffer extreme hardship without them, beyond typical  financial and emotional distress. This policy resulted in  a “prolonged, potentially…