Why the choice of issues

We are passionate about issues that positively impact the daily lives of our population. We are currently advocating for, or against laws and resolutions that involve the following issues:

1. Education/Economy/Living Wage
2. Gun Violence
3. Health Care
4. Housing
5. Immigration Path to Citizenship
6. Judicial Reform
7. Voting Rights

Education/Economy/Living Wage

There is a direct correlation between education and the economy. The more education, the higher the earning power. Many factors perpetuate the economic inequities in the immigrant/black/brown population: inadequate resources in the schools, redlining of neighborhoods, discrimination in employment, and systemic racism in all facets of government. Women Alliance of Miami Dade and Broward, Inc. advocates for Strengthening laws within governmental and private entities that prohibit discrimination, creating advisory boards to overview contracts and programs that eliminate gaps in the Black and Brown communities, prohibiting discrimination in the allocation of school resources, and supporting laws that promote the history of black people and their contribution to society.

Gun Violence

Gun violence proliferation is caused by laws that make guns and weapon of mass destruction
very easy to access. WAMDB advocates for the following:

1. A ban on the purchase of assault weapons, especially at statewide gun shows;
2. Ban open carry of all firearms;
3. Require licenses to own a gun;
4. Require firearm training and permits to carry concealed weapons;
5. Repeal Florida’s “Stand your Ground Law,” which allows people to take the law into their own hands without contacting law enforcement;

Healthcare

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed how serious and inexcusable the gap in access to healthcare
is for Black and Brown people, and most immigrants. Blacks are generally at higher risk for
many diseases. The causes are poverty, food insecurity, inadequate access to health care, limited
personal support systems (physician’s inconvenient office hours, lack of transportation), and
housing. The environment is also important in good health, including clean drinking water,
sanitation (garbage pickup), and deadbeat landlords.
WAMDB advocates for:

1. Increase Access to Health Care by expanding clinic hours.
2. Promote prevention and routine checkups.
3. Medicaid Expansion and
4. Access to clean drinking water.

Housing

Affordable housing is at its highest crisis point. Florida should take aggressive steps to increase the supply of affordable housing and address long-standing economic and racial inequities in the housing market. The Housing Trust Fund, a national program that provides state grants to produce housing for very low-income households, should be supercharged with enough investment to expand significantly the number of affordable, accessible housing units on the market. The government, state and local, should regulate housing construction so that an equal percentage of affordable and luxurious units are built.

Immigration

According to the US Census Bureau, the US birth rate declined by 4% in 2020 and continues to drop in 2023. With a declining birth rate (3.2 in 1964 to 1.7 in 2020) and an aging population, the concerns are the long-term impact on society. In 2022, the US welcomed more than 100,000 Ukrainians and granted humanitarian parole status to more than 75,000 Afghans.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the expansion of the H-2B visa
program for temporary nonagricultural workers in 2024. An additional 65,000 H-2B visas are
intended to support labor needs in several industries, including tourism, hospitality, and
landscaping.
WAMDB advocates for the following:

1. Supports a Pathway to citizenship for the 11.2 million undocumented immigrants who currently live in the US. According to the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) report, this reform would increase the GDP by $1.7 trillion over ten years and create 438,800 new jobs.
2. Repeal SB1718 Immigration Law that criminalizes helping undocumented migrants.
3. Support the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created to protect eligible young adults who were brought to the US as children.
4. Support the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act that would have provided relief to young people impacted by DACA and the DREAM Act referred to as “Dreamers.
5. Support for Family Reunification for all.

A Recent Gallup poll determined that 38% of respondents say the number of immigrants entering the country should decrease, 31% want it to stay the way it is, and 27% say the number should increase.
A Survey of 2,600 adults in 2021 by the Cato Institute revealed that almost 75% of Americans say it’s “unacceptable” for people to immigrate illegally to the US. 56% support making legal immigration easier, and 55% support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already here.

Judicial Reform

Equal Treatment Under the Law:
Although they make up only 13% of the national population, 37% of Blacks are incarcerated, and the percentage of Blacks serving life sentences without parole is 48%. Blacks are incarcerated at a rate four (4) times more than Whites. Black and Brown defendants are detained about 25% more than white; young black men 50%. Generally, Black and Brown people lack access to legal representation and can’t afford bail.

WAMDB advocates for the following:

1. Initiating reforms in law enforcement that end excessive use of force and reinforce training
   that equally saves lives. Enforce Diversity in recruiting police officers.
2. Promoting Diversity in the appointment of judges.
3. Increasing resources for public defenders.
4. Enforcing Prosecutorial Integrity.
5. Initiating Reform in the bail system.

Voting Rights

The right to vote is a privilege many immigrants have yet to be granted in their homeland. This is a right that women and black people regard as sacred for having shed their blood in the fight for the right to vote. WAMDB considers the right to vote equal to the rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness guaranteed by the Constitution. In that regard, WAMDB advocates for the following:

1. Ending gerrymandering and honor the Fair Districts Amendment that Florida voters approved in 2010.Enact a law that makes every citizen a registered voter at age 16.
2. Allowing naturalized citizens same-day voter registration, and existing voters process same day errors and changes.
3. Adopting laws providing for same-day voter registration to encourage new voters to enter the process, allow existing voters to correct registration errors, and significantly increase voter participation;
4. Promoting full voting rights restoration to reinstated citizens via the Rights Restoration
   Amendment, approved in 2018