Philip Alston, UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty, said the Trump administration appears determined to pull the social safety net out from under millions of poor people while rewarding the wealthy with tax cuts. [...]
In a country of about 325 million people, nearly 41 million live in poverty — including 18.5 million in extreme poverty. Alston said children accounted for 33 percent of the poor. No other industrialized country had so many children mired in poverty, he said. [...]
Women, Hispanics, immigrants and American Indians also suffer disproportionately high rates of poverty and unemployment.
He criticized the criminal justice system, noting that it sets large bail bonds for a defendant seeking to go free pending trial. This means wealthy suspects can afford bail while the poor remain in custody and often lose their jobs as a result, even if they are ultimately acquitted.
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