Security Requests From U.S. Candidates Highlight ‘Potential for Violence’

At the CBC, Kevin Maimann writesthat Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s request for Secret Service protection highlights the threat of violence in the lead-up to the 2024 U.S. election. In recent months, Haley has been targeted in two swatting incidents and increasing numbers of protesters have been attending her campaign events. PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman, Ph.D., told Maimann that the threat of violence is “a palpable and real concern” leading up to November’s election, with PRRI’s 2023 American Values Survey finding that 23% of Americans agree that “true American patriots may have to resort to violence to save the country.”

For LGBT Asylum Seekers, Coming to the U.S. Is Hardly the End of a Harrowing Journey

Jasmine Garsd for NPR reports on the perilous journey many LGBTQ migrants face seeking asylum in the U.S. after fleeing violence in their country of origin. The co-founder of an LGBTQ-friendly migrant shelter in Tijuana, Mexico, stated that the LGBT community is a very specific target for organized crime and noted that most asylum seekers do not want to cross the border undocumented because they fear life-threatening consequences if deported to their home country. PRRI research finds that 48% of Americans oppose passing a law that would prevent asylum seekers from coming to the United States if they have not first sought protection in some other country.

Journal Retracts Studies Cited in Federal Court Ruling Against Abortion Pill

The New York Times’ Pam Belluck reports that an academic journal publisher has retracted two studiescited in Texas federal judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk’s ruling that the abortion pill mifepristone should be taken off the market. The studies were authored by doctors and researchers associated with the anti-abortion movement, including the research arm of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. The retracted reports refute the widespread evidence that abortion pills are safe. PRRI data show that, except for white evangelical Protestants (50%), less than half of all demographic groups favor making it illegal to use or receive through the mail FDA-approved drugs for a medical abortion.

What Is Lunar New Year and How Is It Celebrated?

For the Associated Press, Deepa Bharath describes how Asian countries and Asian diaspora communities celebrate the Lunar New Year around the world. Lunar New Year celebrations center around removing bad luck and welcoming good fortune for the new year. Across the U.S., Asian Americans organize parades and festivities; Asian American Christians, and some Catholic dioceses, celebrate the Lunar New Year as a cultural event. PRRI data finds that 34% of AAPI Americans are religiously unaffiliated, 24% are Protestant, 16% are Catholic, 12% are Hindu, 8% are Buddhist, 4% are Muslim, and 2% identify with another non-Christian religion.