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<h2>Sixty Five Million Left Out of July 4 Celebration</h2>
<h3>by Bill Quigley</h3>
<p>“<em><strong>Over 20 million people are living in deep poverty in
the U.S.”</strong></em></p>
<p>Over sixty five million people in the US, perhaps a fifth of our
sisters and brothers, are not enjoying the “unalienable rights” of
“life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” promised when the
Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. They
are about twenty percent of our US population. This July 4 can be
an opportunity to remember them and rededicate ourselves and our
country to making these promises real for all people in the US.</p>
<p>More than two million people are in our jails and prisons making
the US the world leader in incarceration, according to the
Sentencing Project, a 500% increase in the last 30 years.</p>
<p>Four million more people are on probation and parole, reports the
US Bureau of Justice Statistics.</p>
<p> On the night of July 4 and on any given night, over 600,000
people are homeless, according to the US Department of Housing and
Urban Development, a quarter of which, over 130,000, are children.</p>
<p>Over 4 million people live in homes where each person lives on
less than $2 per day (2.8 million are children) according to the
National Poverty Center of the University of Michigan. Over 20
million people are living in deep poverty with incomes of less
than 50 percent of the already low US poverty lines.</p>
<p>About 5.2 million people in the US are native peoples, either
American Indians or Alaska Natives. Nearly ten million people
were unemployed as of the latest report by the US Bureau of Labor
Statistics. Another 7.3 million are only working part-time but
would like to work full-time and another 2.1 million people have
been unemployed for more than 12 months and are not counted.</p>
<p>Finally, the Department of Homeland Security estimates there are
11.5 immigrants in the US who the government does not consider
legally here with us.</p>
<p>While some of these sixty five million people may eat hot dogs
and watch fireworks, they are left out of the July 4 promise of
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.</p>
<em>Bill Quigley teaches at Loyola University New Orleans College of
Law and can be reached at </em><a
href="mailto:quigley77@gmail.com" target="_blank"><em><u>quigley77@gmail.com</u></em></a>
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