Daily Archives: September 3, 2023

ACT Policing has executed search warrants at a residence in OMalley and a business in Majura Park as part of an investigation into alleged human trafficking and slavery.

In June 2023 information was provided to police alleging a woman had been trafficked from Colombia to Canberra in early 2023. The woman alleged:

she was forced to work from before 7am through to late each evening, cleaning, cooking and caring for children in the home.

She worked seven days a week and was not permitted to leave the home without being escorted.

She was provided minimal food and was paid cash for her work at well below minimum wage provisions.

She forced to work at a Majura Park business

She was not permitted to return home to Colombia

The warrant activity took place about 8.40am on Thursday, 31 August 2023.

Investigations into these allegations are continuing.

Anyone with any information about this matter is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via http://www.crimestoppers.com.au referencing Operation Paxton.

Police are urging everyone to be on the lookout for cases of human trafficking and slavery. Signs that someone may be a victim of human trafficking include:

The person appears reluctant to travel, and/or their movements appear to be controlled by another person;

The person does not have a passport or another form of identity or the person can't access them;

The person is subject to poor living or working conditions;

The person never or rarely leaves their house for non-work reasons;

The person has little or no money or no access to their earnings;

The person has physical injuries which may have resulted from assault, harsh treatment or unsafe work practices; or

The person is always in the presence of their employer or another person, who does not want or allow them to socialise with others.

The maximum penalty for trafficking in persons in Australia is 12 years' imprisonment.

ACT Policing has specialist officers who are not only trained in the investigation of these sensitive matters, but who are compassionate and empathic and will make victims' safety and their wishes the priority.

Reporting human trafficking

Assist us in combating this global problem. Use our online form to report information regarding human trafficking for the purposes of sexual and/or labour exploitation, organ harvesting, forced marriage and slavery or call 131 AFP (131 237).

An Australian Government Department or Agency can make a report of an allegation of criminal conduct to the AFP National Operations State Service Centre (NOSSC).

In case of an emergency, call Triple Zero (000).

For journalists:Broadcast quality video related to this matter can be downloaded fromHightail.(This link will expire in seven days.)

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

POLICE MEDIA (02) 5126 9070, act-police-media@afp.gov.au

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Search warrants executed in alleged human trafficking and slavery ... - ACT Policing News

About this guidance

This guidance tells Home Office staff about how to identify suspected perpetrators of modern slavery related criminal offences.

It covers the main principles around the identification of perpetrators of modern slavery related offences as outlined in:

It is important for all Home Office staff to adhere to the modern slavery referral procedures for their area, to ensure the appropriate modern slavery identification and referral procedures are applied and are consistent with those agreed with the law enforcement partners, local police forces and other modern slavery (anti-trafficking) network partners and organisations.

The Home Office has a duty to safeguard vulnerable people and promote the welfare of children. For more information see: Vulnerable adults and children

Criminal Investigators in Immigration Enforcement must be aware of their obligations under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 see: Data Protection CFI Policy and Data protection

If you have any specific questions or queries about the content of this guidance you can email:

If you have any general questions about the guidance and your line manager cannot help you or you think that the guidance has factual errors, then you can email: CFI Operational Capability and Compliance Enquiries.

If you notice any formatting errors in this guidance (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the guidance then you can email the Guidance Rules and Forms Team (GRaFT).

Below is information on when this version of the guidance was published:

This is new guidance.

This section tells Home Office staff about the different definitions of modern slavery related offences, as outlined in the College of Policing guidance on Modern Slavery (Definitions).

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 consolidated existing criminal offences and increased sentences for these offences from 14 years to maximum sentences of life imprisonment. The act also introduced a statutory defence for slavery or trafficking victims who are compelled (in the case of an adult) or forced (in the case of a child) to commit certain criminal offences:

section 1 slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour

section 2 human trafficking

section 4 committing an offence with intent to commit offence under section 2 (human trafficking)

section 45 - Defence for slavery or trafficking victims who commit an offence

The section 1 and 2 offences have maximum sentences of life imprisonment, and the section 4 offence has a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment.

The 2015 act also introduced Slavery and Trafficking Prevention and Risk orders (STPO) (STRO)

For more information see: Modern Slavery, Human Trafficking and Smuggling

For relevant legislation and guidance in Scotland see section 1 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 and the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy (Scotland).

For relevant legislation and guidance in Northern Ireland see sections 1 and 2 of Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 and the Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Strategy 2022

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 came into force on 31 July 2015.

For modern slavery related offences prior to this date, slavery, servitude and forced labour are primarily covered under the:

Offences of trafficking prior to this date were primarily covered by the:

Below are a number of offences that are commonly associated with slavery and trafficking and may be considered if there is insufficient evidence to support a charge under the Modern Slavery Act 2015:

Section 3 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 defines a person as a victim of exploitation if one or more of the following apply to them:

slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour

sexual exploitation

removal of organs

securing services and such like by force, threats or deception

securing services and such like from children and vulnerable persons

For more information on the above definitions see: Home office Modern slavery statutory guidance

If a person acts with the intention of committing one or more of the above offences, including by aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring, they are guilty of perpetrating modern slavery.

The consent of a person (whether an adult or a child) to exploitation is not relevant in determining whether or not a person has been exploited.

Slavery is described as the status or condition of a person over whom any, or all, of the powers attaching the right of ownership are exercised. In essence, characteristics of ownership and indoctrination need to be present for a state of slavery to exist.

Servitude is linked to slavery but is much broader than slavery. In Siliadin-v-France- 2006-43-EHRR-16. the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) reaffirmed that servitude is a particularly serious form of denial of freedom. It includes, in addition to the obligation to provide certain services to another, the obligation on the serf to live on the others property and the perceived impossibility of changing his or her status. Domestic servitude can be characterised as a form of forced labour within a residential setting.

Section 1 of the Forced Labour Convention 1930 (No.29) defined forced or compulsory labour as being all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily. Case law suggests that indicators of forced or compulsory labour include recruitment by deception, coercion and/or abuse, exploitation at work, and coercion at destination.

This is defined in Article 3 of the United Nations Palermo Protocol (applicable to 117 signatories of the Protocol) and in the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and, for the purposes of the provisions of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, section 2 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (applicable to England and Wales).

Section 2 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 states that a person commits an offence if they arrange or facilitate the travel of another person, with a view to that other person being exploited.

Human smuggling (also called people smuggling) is not human trafficking or a form of modern slavery.

Human smuggling occurs when an individual seeks the help of a facilitator to enter a country illegally, and the relationship between both parties ends once the transaction ends. Many of those who enter the UK illegally do so by this route. Human smuggling is not a form of modern slavery.

The purpose of human smuggling is to move a person across a border illegally, and it is regarded as a violation of state sovereignty.

The purpose of human trafficking is to exploit the victim for financial gain or other benefit and is regarded as a violation of that persons freedom and integrity.

Human smuggling occurs when a person seeks the help of a facilitator to enter the UK illegally, and the relationship between both parties ends when the transaction is complete. It is a consensual agreement.

A smuggled person is, however, a potential victim who may be vulnerable to being trafficked at any point in their journey, and the distinction can be blurred.

Perpetrators may smuggle people with the intention of exploiting them, or with the intention of facilitating exploitation. Alternatively, the smuggled can become vulnerable to traffickers upon arrival at their destination and subsequently be exploited and/or harmed.

Perpetrators of human smuggling can be charged under Section 25 of the Immigration Act 1971 for assisting unlawful immigration to the UK or under Section 25A for knowingly helping asylum seekers to enter or arrive in the UK depending on the circumstances of the attempted facilitation.

For more information on the above see:

This section tells Home Office staff about how to identify the suspected perpetrators of modern slavery related offences, as outlined in the College of Policing guidance for Modern Slavery (risk and identification).

For information regarding the identification of victims and exploitation indicators, see the College of Policing guidance for Modern Slavery (risk and identification - Victim profile and Exploitation indicators)

Perpetrators use the control methods shown below to engage or coerce vulnerable individuals, who often fit the victim profile, in exploitative work or into becoming perpetrators:

abducting or kidnapping victims

committing verbal, physical, sexual and/or psychological abuse against the victim, their family or someone they know, in private or in public

charging unreasonable fines (fees)

using threats and intimidation

withdrawing basic provisions, for example, food, accommodation, sanitation, mobility

increasing workload

plying vulnerable victims with free alcohol and/or drugs

being the only source for free food and accommodation

guarding victim identities and legal documentation so that their mobility and access to state services is controlled, for example, hospitals; they are unable to leave and seek work elsewhere; and they are at risk of trouble with the police in other countries if they report an offence without presenting legal identification

through a relationship

presenting a false scenario in which the potential victim is convinced that they can improve the quality of their life and that of their family

recruiting for non-existent jobs and education placements

misrepresenting the job and work conditions, for example, women going abroad and believing they will be employed as domestic workers but ending up in prostitution

offering refuge with the intent to exploit

threatening to harm or intimidate the victim, the victims family or someone they know in the UK or in the victims home country unless they comply with the perpetrators demands

making victims believe they are colluding in illegal activities with perpetrators and are complicit in the offence

reinforcing to victims that they will not be believed if they approach the UK authorities to make a report, engendering fear and suspicion - victims may have been deceived previously by corrupt authorities in their home country - those who have no experience of the UK police may have been convinced that a similar or worse culture prevails in the UK

instilling in victims a fear of possible deportation or imprisonment in the UK

developing a romantic or intimate relationship with a victim in order to exert more control over them and, in some cases the victim can become pregnant, creating a greater emotional hold between the victim and the offender - this is known as the loverboy model and is often found in cases of sexual exploitation

making victims feel attached to the family of perpetrators and adopting them as a member of the family, so that they feel unable to make a complaint against the family (victims may call the mother and father figures Ma and Pa to reinforce familial attachment)

indoctrination

false claims over victim earnings

removal of basic human rights including sanitation, food, freedom to choose

faced with debt claims from perpetrators, victims feel morally bound to work until debts are paid off

perpetrators may marry brides from their home countries and transport them to the UK - on arrival, husbands and their families may threaten the brides with divorce and deportation if they do not comply with demands, making them victims of exploitation

perpetrators may perform spiritual practices, for example, witchcraft, to coerce victims into exploitation

perpetrators may threaten to disclose information about the victim engaging in pre-marital sexual activity unless they comply with the perpetrators demands, leading to sexual exploitation and/or prostitution - the victim may have been raped

managing victims into debt by charging them excessive fines (fees) for visas and other travel documents, food, accommodation, tools and transport

giving victims a loan that is hard to pay back because the amount of the loan and the interest on it are inflated

controlling access to victims bank accounts

managing wages so that victims are not sure what they are being paid and what fees are being deducted

claiming hereditary debt bondage

developing inappropriate friendships or intimate relationships with victims

offering gifts

praising victims by affirming what a good worker they are and that they are working longer hours than any other person

reassuring victims that they will be paid a lump sum wage in the future

locking victims into rooms

forcing victims to work and live in the same accommodation

allowing very limited or no contact at all with victims families, other victims, the local community or those in the locality from the same nationality

frequently changing the victims location

removing privacy

denying victims access to a telephone, mobile phone or the internet

This section tells Home Office staff about some of the possible scenarios where suspected perpetrators of modern slavery related offences could be present.

There will be a number of scenarios and potential indicators which could identify a suspected perpetrator, either in action or close to their potential victim or victims.

Whether at the border, in a residential or commercial address, in a vehicle or on a vessel, often perpetrators will go unnoticed and undetected whilst victims can often be unaware of their exploitation and being under duress and control.

A perpetrator will try to submerge themselves amongst the natural environment and do their best to be hidden, discreet and inconspicuous.

One trait which can often be detected and linked to a suspected perpetrator is their determination to control and coach their victim, either by speaking on their behalf, providing their victim with a rehearsed script or using digital or other concealed methods to direct and control their victim to act and say what is instructed of them.

Conversely, potential victims will often appear subdued, silent, withdrawn and disengaged.

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Modern slavery and human trafficking: identifying and reporting ... - GOV.UK

The racial wealth and equity gaps show no signs of subsiding in America, according to a new Economic Policy Institute report. We spoke to its author.

A new report shows 60 years after theMarch on Washingtonfor Jobs and Freedom, economic disparities continue to plague Black America due to a lack of legislation in the post-civil rights era.

The Economic Policy Institute, in its report, notes that gaps in home ownership, wealth and wages continue to keep one of the marchs goals economic justice out of reach for many Black people.

The barriers to economic equity include occupational segregation, discrimination, hiring and pay inequity, equitable pathways to promotion, a stagnant minimum wage and falling union coverage, Adewale A. Maye, policy analyst in the institutes program on race, ethnicity and the economy, told theGrio.

Some of the things that were advocated for in 1963, were still asking for in 2023, Maye maintained.

Maye authoredthe reporttitled Chasing the Dream of Equity: How policy has shaped racial, economic disparities. His report found:

Black unemployment remains persistently high.Over the last 50 years, the jobless rate of Black workers often exceeded 10%, while the white unemployment rate has never reached those heights.

The racial wealth gap remains stubbornly disproportionate, as white families have, on average, eight times more wealth than Black families.

Federal legislation hasnt addressed areas that could help improve the financial standing of Black Americans, including raising the federal minimum wage, protecting unions and collective bargaining, and job training assistance.

Racial economic inequalities will persist without legislation explicitly targeting and remedying the injustices left unresolved by race-neutral policies, which disregard the challenges that specific racial or ethnic groups face, Maye wrote in his report.

Other reports have also found that Black Americans have made little financial progress. For example, a MarchPew Research reportshows the racial wealth gap isnt closing anytime soon since Black households have a median income of $46,400, which amounts to 42% less than the overall populations $70,784.

The March on Washington, which was held on Aug. 28, 1963, became synonymous with Martin Luther King Jr.sI Have a Dreamspeech, but the march was much more than that. Itsorganizing manuallisted 10 demands, including adopting Fair Labor Standards and Fair Employment Practices Acts and a jobs training program for all unemployed workers.

As the EPI report notes, the promises after the march did little to close the equity gap.

Maye points to a minimum wage policy that exempts certain classes of workers, likeseasonal workersand babysitters. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour has remained unchangedsince 2009.

If we have wages that are stagnant at $7.25, but things are going to be more expensive, even the workers who are most likely to be paid the minimum wage, which happens to be Black workers, might be underemployed, Maye said.

Theyre getting paid, they have a job, but theyre not getting the amount of money thats able to sustain their economic security or provide for themselves and their families, he continued. Because of these contributing factors, the Black-white wage gap has persisted and sustained over time.

But efforts to help Black people achieve equity have lately hit several legal roadblocks.One law firmhas been sued over its fellowship program that promotes diversity. A venture capital fundhas been suedfor its Black women entrepreneurs program. Five employees filed a reverse discrimination lawsuit against alarge newspaper chain.

Maye believes society shouldnt pretend inequities dont exist, and theres no need for programs to help close the financial gap.

When looking at numbers, we can see that disparities are quite wide, he said. Were noticing these disparities, so we cant act as if everything is equal. We cannot act as if these structural barriers dont exist. We have to redress and recognize the long shadow of Jim Crow, slavery and, for sure, of discriminatory policies, such as housing discrimination and redlining.

His report draws a straight line between structural racism and the economic and social disparities that plague Black America. From reconstruction to Jim Crow laws and the failed attempts at passing legislation to help create a level playing field, America has yet to address the promise of the March on Washington.

Maye believes America needs to come together as it did during the pandemic. Then, the government staved off financial disaster and kept people from dying. It will take that same sort of effort to make a dent in inequity, Maye believes.

Sixty years later, its important that we face a similar moment, where we recognize that this list of demands can be used as a playbook for where we want to go from here, he said. How do we achieve genuine racial equity? How do we measure racial equity, and how can we make scalable strides to achieve that? Thats the most salient takeaway for me.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also,please download theGrio mobile appstoday!

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Report: Government needs better policies to help narrow economic equity gap - Yahoo News

A New Zealand criminal investigation and government inquiry have been forced after dozens of migrant workers were discovered crowded inside a squalid three-bedroom home in south Auckland earlier this month.

Newshub reported on August 14 that the workers paid thousands of dollars for employment agreements with local recruitment contractors, but since arriving three months ago they had received no work or pay. The men called police after their food ran out and they had to resort to begging.

Forty men were crammed into the filthy, overcrowded three-bedroom home in Auckland for months on end, sharing a single shower and cooking over one stove, the report stated. Three days, we dont have nothing to eat, only just drinking water. No food, nothing, Indian migrant Prasad Babu said.

The men paid tens of thousands of dollars each for job offers and signed contracts with New Zealand recruitment contractors. [They] took $20,000 from us to get a job. Why did [they] promise us you can give a better life here? There is no better life here, Babu said. Like beggars, we are going to the temple and eating the food there, he explained.

Following the initial report, several similarly horrific stories emerged. Immigration officials began investigating four more Auckland properties housing dozens more victims. In Papakura, Newshub reported, at least 20 more migrants were shoved into a grotty, run-down three-bedroom property. There was an overflowing rubbish bin, one toilet, and one shower.

A total of 115 migrants from India and Bangladesh have so far been found living in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions in six houses across Auckland. In one case, a business couple have been usingtheirformer home to house up to 30 migrant workers. The tenants, who rent beds at $160 each per week, said there were no smoke alarmsand sometimes no electricity. The wealthy owners of the $2.97 million property are reportedly major donors to the conservative opposition National Party.

Elsewhere, Karen Gibney, president of the Latin American Community in Tauranga, told the New Zealand Herald on August 22 that about 200 people from Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia had paid between $4,000 and $10,000 for visas and employment agreements to work with construction company Buildhub. Many have received hardly any work or pay since arriving and some said they are living like strays and begging for food.

Two Chinese building workers interviewed by TVNZ last week said they had paid $16,000 to an agent to be employed on the redevelopment of Waikeria Prison near Hamilton, with promises they could eventually qualify for residency and bring their families. The pair were paid just $25 an hour and after eight weeks were suddenly sacked by the subcontractor via text message while still owed pay.

The migrants all entered the country through the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) scheme, introduced under pressure from big business last May, following the abandonment of COVID public health measures, to boost the labour supply. The Labour government boasted that its immigration reset would help build a high wage, high skill economy.

AEWV was, officially, meant to streamline the work visa system by inviting employers to apply for accreditation to hire overseas workers. Immigration NZ (INZ) then issues visas for workers who are linked with an approved employer. INZ has approved nearly 81,000 visas among about 27,900 accredited employers.

Under the scheme, migrants are tied to particular employers, creating the conditions for mistreatment and even slave-labour conditions. Unable to quit for fear of invalidating their visas and often with no avenue of complaint, they are frequently forced to work and live in illegal and subhuman conditions.

Immigration lawyer Alastair McClymont told Radio NZ that employers only had to self-declare they were financially sustainable and operating proper wage and time records. So you can make one dollars profit, and then bring in $600,000 worth of migrants, who are then dumped on the street with no jobs and no income, he said.

According to a Stuff article on August 23, concerned INZ staff said employers were being allowed to bring in migrants without any paperwork or financial checks, even when immigration officers feared jobs may be fake, paid for with illegal premiums, or the migrants were at risk of exploitation.

Stuff was told only two employers have been declined accreditation. One INZ worker said: Now what we have is thousands of migrants exploited and potentially thousands of businesses that shouldnt have got accreditation.

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INZ currently has 164 active investigations underway. After initially denying any links between the Auckland cases and increased migrant exploitation, following serious concerns raised by an INZ whistleblower, Immigration Minister Andrew Little ordered a review of the scheme. Public Service Commissioner Peter Hughes promptly declared the assurance review would only check the policy was working as intended, rather than assessing the policy itself.

Migrant exploitation is an entrenched feature of New Zealand capitalism. Economics commentator Bernard Hickey has called the proliferation of scams a sign of the countrys churn and burn economy, describing it as the Dubai of the South Pacific for allowing fraudulent agents and fly-by-night firms to bring in desperate and poor workers with suggestions of high-paid jobs and residency, only to pull the rug out from under their feet and leaving them indebted and even more desperate.

Workers in the Recognised Seasonal Employer program, introduced by the then Labour government in 2007, which brings Pacific Islanders in on temporary visas to work in the horticulture industry, were subjected to conditions akin to modern slavery, according to a Human Rights Commission report last December. The report cites numerous instances of basic human rights breaches, including in workers dire accommodation and authoritarian employer supervision.

At the same time, politicians continually scapegoat migrants for social problems including the housing crisis, inequality and pressure on public services. Labour assumed office in 2017, in coalition with the anti-Asian NZ First, promising to halve immigration numbers, then around 70,000 a year.

Labour has continued a cruel policy of deportations, including for people who overstay the term of their visa or who commit trivial breaches of their visa conditions. In early 2021, thousands of migrants and their supporters held a series of protests, including in India, over the governments inhumane policies.

The systemic exploitation of immigrant workers is a vast global enterprise under capitalism, carried out by ruthless employers and unscrupulous agents, imposed by accommodating governments of all stripes. In the interests of profits, low pay, temporary work, summary sackings, ditching of basic rights and miserable living conditions are all on the agenda of every ruling elite as the economic crisis intensifies.

The international working class needs to come to the defence of immigrant workers. Workers must take a warning that these conditions are being imposed everywhere to set a precedent to be used as a battering ram against all workers in the coming period. The unification of struggles of workers globally, whatever their national origins or ethnicity, across all borders is an urgent necessity.

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FILE - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the "Don't say gay," bill, at Classical Preparatory School, on March 28, 2022, in Shady Hills, Fla. DeSantis' divisive education policies have faced wide criticism from civil rights leaders and professional educators, among others, but they also have paid off politically. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP, File) (Douglas R. Clifford/AP)

After Hurricane Ian hit the west coast of Florida in Sept. 2022, it damaged five schools and destroyed three, displacing 2.5 million children from their normal routines. More than 168,000 kids were kept out of the classroom for weeks in the aftermath following the category 4 storm, with some kids missing as many as 100 school days.

For the Reckon Report in September, were focusing on education. Public education has long been a flashpoint for debate in America. But in the last few years, school board meetings, school libraries and curricula at all levels of education have faced attacks, especially at the state and local levels. Most recently, that challenged curricula have included climate change denial and numerous other controversial issues related to race, gender and evolution.

As Hurricane Idalia rapidly strengthens on its path toward Northwest Florida and school kids settle into the beginning of their academic year, theres no better time to transition from climate change to education and take a hard look at PragerU the conservative education and media group that was recently permitted to show climate denial and other controversial videos to K-5 kids in the Sunshine State.

The group has controversial takes on a wide range of topics, including claiming the gender wage gap doesnt exist, fascism is an idea of the left, and numerous videos criticizing African-American history and the detrimental effects of slavery.

While some counties in Florida have already said they will not show the videos, many will allow them in class. The move, which received the blessing of Gov. Ron DeSantis, is the culmination of decades of lobbying from right-wing education groups and parents who have traditionally targeted evolution and called for a greater emphasis on creationism.

Those battles are usually fought behind closed doors by the elected board of education members in any given state. In recent years, however, the topics up for debate have extended from African-American history to basic interpretations of the Constitution.

Now, climate change is firmly part of the alternative education debate and is spreading nationwide.

FILE - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference to sign several bills related to public education and increases in teacher pay, in Miami, on May 9, 2023. DeSantis' divisive education policies have faced wide criticism from civil rights leaders and professional educators, among others, but they also have paid off politically. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File) (Rebecca Blackwell/AP)

PragerUs ascent from a fringe media group to the conservative mainstream has partially taken these debates out of school board meeting rooms and dropped them directly into the public domain.

Just last week, a Republican member of the State Board of Education in Texas announced that all of PragerUs resources would be rolled out to public school children in the state. Julie Pickren made the announcement with PragerUs CEO, Marissa Streit. In the joint video, Pickren, present at the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol building, said, We are definitely ready to welcome PragerU into the great state of Texas.

A blurb beside the video said the group was now an approved education vendor in the state.

A protester holds up a "thumbs down" sign as Houston Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles presented a slideshow to the board during the HISD board meeting at Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center on Thursday, June 22, 2023, in Houston. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP) (Karen Warren/AP)

Well, turns out it was a lie. The states Board of Education said PragerU hadnt presented its plans to the board and was not an approved vendor. Education advocates believe Pickren is attempting to politicize this weeks school board meetings, where textbook adoption on climate change and evolution issues will be discussed.

It is pretty unique and new for a member to blatantly lie and then have an organization also lie on their behalf, Emily Witt, a spokesperson for the Texas Freedom Network, an Austin-based nonpartisan, grassroots organization that supports religious freedom, individual liberties, and public education, told Reckon.

The organization claims its supplemental curriculum will be announced in other states soon. But advocates in Texas are fighting back.

On Tuesday morning, several members of the Texas State Board of Education and education advocacy groups will attend a press conference at the state Capitol building in Austin to express concern over attempts to bring PragerU into classrooms.

PragerUs endeavor to introduce their misguided and contentious curriculum into Texas public schools raises significant concerns for students, families, and educators in the state, said Aicha Davis, a Member of the State Board of Education, in a press release. The recent well-documented endeavors of the Florida Governor, seeking to impose his political objectives through PragerU in Floridas schools, will be met with apprehension across Texas. We are committed to working with students and families throughout Texas to prevent the infiltration of radical political ideologies into our public education system.

While a range of opinions is undoubtedly a sign of a robust education system, PragerUs videos introduce themes, ideas, and facts that have been widely discredited and, in the opinion of some, are only designed to create cultural divisiveness.

I think that this move in this narrative is quite frankly hyperpolarizing and is being done on purpose, said Ameshia Cross, the assistant director of Higher Education Communication at The Education Trust. The problem here is Texas has become a battleground for equity for minority students. Were watching the Houston Independent School District, one of the largest minority school districts in the country, be taken over by a state that doesnt care about facts or the students.

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What back to school means in the era of PragerU - Reckon