Ex-convicts have found an unlikely hero in reality star turned soon-to-be lawyer Kim Kardashian, who visited the White House to promote a deal with ride sharing app Lyft, who will now be giving gift cards for people with a record to go on job interviews or visit family members.
@khanzadyanarKardashian wrote on Twitter:
Since the passage of the First Step Act in December, I’ve been speaking with people coming home from prison and learning about the challenges they are facing. While I have been able to offer support to some of the individuals I have met, the obstacles to success are an everyday struggle for thousands and more needs to be done. Today, I’m honored to be a part of the announcement that the administration and the private sector are stepping up to create opportunities for these men and women to succeed once home. Proud to partner on this initiative with @Lyft, a company with a history of taking bold action to do what’s right for our community. Thank you for providing ride share credits to formally incarcerated people when they come home.
Kardashian West, mother of four, has visited the White House before to advance on causes she has taken particular interest in. She has mostly sought out to discuss criminal justice reform. She also lobbied for Trump to pardon Alice Maria Johnson, who was serving life without parole for drug offenses… and was successful at it. This event, however, happened practically without warning, almost as if he had somehow improvised a speech in a particularly difficult moment in the White House, considering Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s resignation and controversy surrounding Kellyanne Conway’s possible ousting.
@ivankatrumpOnce inside the White House, Kardashian gave a speech saying: “The ultimate goal is everyone wants the community to be safe. And the more opportunity that they have, and the support we help give them, the safer everyone will be.” The reality star is a fervent supporter of the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act, also known as the First Step Act, which is prison-reform legislation, that includes reducing sentences for crack convictions but also things like allowing prison employees to keep their guns on-site.
“I am heading to the White House to speak at the second chance hiring and reentry event,” she said, adding in another tweet that she was “honored to be a part of the announcement that the administration and the private sector are stepping up to create opportunities for these men and women to succeed once home”.
Thanks to this initiative, more than 1,000 federal inmates have seen their sentences reduced, as informed by the US Sentencing Commission. However, Kardashians new partnership with Lyft aims at helping ex-convicts reincorporate back to society once these sentences are over. Hats off to her for using her celebrity status for good!
@ivankatrump
Read more:
Why Were There Kids In Cages All Over New York City?
“Knock Down The House” Shows A Way Out Of Our Broken Democracy
There’s A New Royal Baby (In Calabasas), Kimye’s Fourth Child Is Here
