Rashida Tlaib is the mother of two boys, and the oldest among 14 children born to immigrant parents. Tlaib was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She attended and graduated from Southwestern High School. She went to Wayne University in Detroit and earned her bachelor’s degree there. She then earned her law degree from Western Michigan University. After that, she married Fayez Tlaib whom she later had two sons with.

In 2008 Tlaib won her race to be a State Representative. She became the first Muslim woman to serve in the Michigan Legislation. While being a state representative, Tlaib helped secure millions of dollars, for education, for people as well as seniors. She wrote laws to protect homeowners and stop thieves. After serving three terms in the legislature she couldn’t run for her seat again, because she had reached the term limit.

On January 3, 2019 Rashida Tlaib was sworn into Congress. She is the first Muslim American woman to serve in the House of Representatives. Tlaib chooses not to wear a headscarf, but she doesn’t let that stop her from committing to her religion.

Democrat Rashida said in her campaign biography that: “She is focused on getting more money for better education, free health clinics, after school programs for students and, programs for seniors.” Tlaib is trying to solve how the world views Muslims, and she tries to help her community. While in office, she opposed tax breaks for billionaires, and wealthy corporations, and forced the the state to fund causes such as helping students pay for college instead.

Tlaib has worked against campaigns such as, anti-Arab and anti- Muslim bigotry. She showed people that she isn’t scared to say what the issues in world are. Tlaib has earned respect from many people because she wants to help people and fight for them to get things that they need.

By: Daniela Fernandez

On February 5, 2019, President Trump gave his State of the Union Address. The State of the Union Address was originally supposed to be given on January 22, but was canceled because of the government shutdown.

This year’s speech was overshadowed by a series of exchanges between the President and the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. Their series of exchanges consisted about when he was to give his speech. The President wanted to give his speech on January 29, but Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, made it clear that in order for him to give his speech, he must first be invited by Congress, and then only the Speaker of the House can call for a joint session between the chambers. Finally, they came to an agreement to have his speech after the government reopened according to CNN.

At this year’s State of the Union Address, President Trump discussed immigration, the economy, infrastructure, drug prices, national security, and governance according to CNN.

On the topic of immigration, the President claimed that his petition for the wall is justified because El Paso, Texas used to be a dangerous city with high crime rates, and that now with a wall in place, it has become one of the country’s safest city. According to CNN, who analyzed and reviewed data from the FBI and city law enforcement, while there was high violent crime in El Paso in 1993 it fell long before a wall was built in 2008-2009.

Next, the President discussed the economy. He claimed that there are more people working in the United States than ever before. He also claimed that 157 million are working. Again, according to CNN, who analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics this month, 156,694,000 are working. They also stated that compared to the population percentage, the number of people working is still lower than before the recession.

The President also discussed drug prices. He claimed that drug prices are too high for Americans to pay, and wants to work towards lowering them. He also claimed that because of his administration, drug prices where lower than they had been in 46 years in 2018. CNN analyzed the consumer price index for prescription drugs, and they found that while prices did drop 0.6%, which is that largest drop since 1973, the prices rose 3.2% later that year.

Last, the President discussed National Security. He made many claims on international relations such as reducing support for NATO. He also claimed that ISIS was defeated. While most of their territory was recaptured, they still have control over around 20 square miles according to US Central Command, General Joseph Votel. The President also made a call for international support.

This year’s speech brought a lot of scrutiny by the media, and political analysts, and a lot of controversy.

A government shutdown happens when nonessential government offices can no longer remain open due to lack of funding. The lack of funding usually happens when there is a delay in the approval of the federal budget. The shutdown continues until parties can reach a compromise and a budget bill passes.

The last government shutdown, that began on December 22, 2018, is due to a disagreement, in the budget, for the President’s wall. Congress had offered President Trump $1.7 billion towards building his border wall, but he had a different amount in mind. He asked for $5.7 billion and when he was denied the money, he declared he’d be “proud to shutdown the government for border security.”

This will be the 21st government shut down since first one, after the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act was passed in 1976.

Even though some people probably didn’t even notice the inconvenience of the partial shut down, around 800,000 people lived without income.

When the shut down was announced, I expected to feel effects directly. Since I still saw police and got my mail everyday, I didn’t really think anything had actually changed because of it. But even though our mail still came, this didn’t mean that everything was just fine. Many things stopped running as usual, such as Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency, and NASA.

Other things that had been affected by the government shut down were:

Airport security

During the shutdown, the airport workers who are responsible for screening passengers and their luggage, were out of work. The number of sick calls continuously rose, and more and more people quit their jobs all together given their lack of an income.

National parks

Some parks were shutdown, and others were still open. Some of the parks that remained open decided on a partial closure due to the fact that they were under staffed.

Public health and science

Inspections of chemical factories, power plants, water treatment plants and other industrial places stopped because the Environmental Protection Agency had to send home most of its employees in charge of inspecting pollution and making sure laws were followed.

Some government research labs had also been shut down, and its researchers were sent home. Funding for the research had been affected by the shut down as well.

Other services have been shut down, such as the Fish and Wildlife Service, National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Food inspection and financial aid

The Food and Drug Administration stopped its normal inspections of foods with a high risk of contamination.

Food assistance programs for women, children and Native Americans were still operating on the state level until the funding provided by the federal government runs out. After funds run out it will shut down too until the shutdown is officially over.

The Internal Revenue Service

Most IRS operations stopped. Only 12% of the employees were still working. In an effort to not interfere with annual tax returns, the White House said it would bring back the other IRS employees, but it was unclear if they had the authority to make that happen.

Law enforcement and immigration courts

Many workers from the F.B.I., Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Prisons, Customs and Border Protection, Coast Guard, the Secret Service and others, were out of work because of the shut down.

Even though immigration court was backlogged before, after the government announced the shutdown, the courts also shut down. No cases were being moved forward and people will have to continue to wait for their hearing.

With all these services and citizens being affected by the shutdown, it’s sad to think our government let it go on as long as it did. It lasted over a month and people were ready for it to be over.