Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

California to Assist Illegal Immigrants Affected by Coronavirus

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Categories: ASCF News Economic Security Immigration

Comments: 0

California will create a $125 million assistance fund for illegal immigrants who have lost work due to the coronavirus pandemic but can’t access traditional unemployment insurance, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.

The program, the first of its kind since the recent economic slowdown began, will consist of $75 million from the state and another $50 million that Mr. Newsom said philanthropic partners have committed to raise.

It will benefit an estimated 150,000 people living in California without legal authorization. Beginning next month, the workers will be eligible for a one-time payment of $500 per adult, with a household cap of $1,000, the Democratic governor said. Undocumented people aren’t eligible for the stimulus payments the federal government recently began issuing.

The announcement comes as immigration advocates have said the downturn is most severely affecting workers in service and other industries that employ a disproportionate number of undocumented immigrants.

“Regardless of your status, documented or undocumented, there are people in need, and this is a state that steps up always to support those in need, regardless of status,” Mr. Newsom said.

The money will be dispersed through nonprofit organizations that work with immigrant communities throughout the state.

Among those who might be eligible is Dora Perez, an undocumented worker from Mexico, who lost her job washing dishes at a Santa Barbara café that closed last month due to the state’s shelter-in-place order. Since losing her work, Ms. Perez said she hasn’t been able to afford the $1,000-a-month rent on the studio apartment she shares with her 85-year-old aunt.

To get by, she said she is getting food from a food bank and has been doing housecleaning work But the money she has earned so far is only enough for a few basic items, such as her phone bill.

“We are a community who contributes to the economy of this country,” Ms. Perez said. “And we work hard at jobs that are some of the lowest paid.”

Mr. Newsom’s announcement adds to a variety of measures California has taken in recent years to help undocumented immigrants.

It currently is the only state to let adults under age 26 qualify for its Medicaid program, along with children.

Following President Trump’s election, California passed a sanctuary-state measure that limited local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities, enacted measures aimed at blocking the expansion of detention facilities and approved funding for deportation-defense attorneys.

Republicans and conservative advocates have opposed such measures in the past, but didn’t immediately respond to Mr. Newsom’s announcement Wednesday.

Immigrant advocates and some Democratic lawmakers have pushed for more asssistance, including allowing undocumented people to access the state’s earned income tax credit.

About 2 million immigrants live in California without legal authorization, of whom an estimated 1.5 million are workers, according to the Pew Research Center.

Photo: The fund announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom will benefit an estimated 150,000 people living in California without legal authorization - RICH PEDRONCELLI/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo: https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-to-assist-illegal-immigrants-affected-by-coronavirus-11586985899?mod=hp_listb_pos3

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