Nation

ASHLAND, Ky. (BP) -- In the Appalachians, unemployment, poverty and drug abuse remain rampant. But Southern Baptists are stepping up their efforts to help residents impacted by the stark conditions.

Many U.S. nursing home residents with a form of dementia are being medicated without informed consent, according to a report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Feb. 5.

The White House recently announced the end of protections for non-citizens from multiple countries, which could lead to one million immigrants either leaving the U.S. or facing deportation.

A "Unity Declaration on Racism and Poverty," signed by more than 80 U.S. faith leaders, was sent to members of Congress on Jan. 29.

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Reaction to President Trump's first State of the Union was fast and furious from opponents and supporters of his definition of immigration reform and his approach to religious liberty.

(RNS) — In the days after Donald Trump’s surprise election in 2016, conservative evangelical Christians made clear their high expectations for the president they had helped put into office.

Has Trump met those expectations?

A majority (74 percent) of U.S. Protestants and Catholics support "Dreamers" receiving permanent legal status, according to a Pew Research Center report released on Jan. 19. Views about "substantially expanding the wall along the U.S. border with Mexico" were more varied.

No safe, affordable housing was available in 2016 for people in the U.S. whose sole income was Supplemental Security Income (SSI), according to a report released in mid-December 2017.

More than 63,000 people died in the U.S. from drug overdose in 2016, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released on Dec. 21, 2017.

Feelings of "American exceptionalism" remain strong in the U.S., but the nation has become exceptional in "problematic ways," according to Philip Alston, United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.