Former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro, UnidosUS president Janet Murguía, and United We Dream deputy director Greisa Martinez Rosas are among the Latina and Latino leaders signing onto an open letter urging the federal government to better protect Latinos and undocumented communities in the next round of novel coronavirus relief, many of whom are working in critical sectors during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“Congress needs to ensure that all families and individuals, regardless of immigration status, have access to testing and treatment, including access to care via Medicaid and financial support,” the leaders said in the letter. “We cannot just reap the benefits of immigrant labor and refuse to shield and defend immigrants against the very same monster they are fighting at the frontlines.”
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The leaders write that “health and economic disparities were already having a disastrous impact on Black people and people of color” even before the pandemic. “In the Latino community, in particular, almost 20 percent of us are uninsured and only 15 percent of us have three months of living expenses saved. Besieged by a relentless assault by the Trump administration, immigrant families have sought less health care due to fear of deportation or enforcement.”
These communities have been particularly hard-hit in recent weeks, the leaders continue. “In New York City alone, at the heart of the battle against the deadly pathogen, initial data shows that Latinos represent 34 percent of COVID-19 deaths as of April 8 and represent 45 percent of those infected—more than any other population in the city.” But, the letter continued, “This reality is even worse for immigrants.”
“While nearly 1.7 million immigrants are serving as healthcare workers, recent relief efforts have failed to safeguard them from the coronavirus and its economic impacts. The New American Economy found that immigrants often disproportionately work in jobs that put them most at risk of coronavirus,” like healthcare. Prism’s Tina Vasquez reported last week that Latinos and immigrants also “account for a significant portion of the workforce at meat processing plants nationwide,” which have also experienced significant outbreaks.
“Language barriers were recently cited as one of the reasons Smithfield Foods meat plant in South Dakota became a COVID-19 hotspot—40 languages are spoken at the plant, but workers were only given informational packets in English,” Vasquez wrote. “At the Mountaire Farms plant in Siler City, the most common languages spoken are Spanish, English, and French Creole, according to Dubester.” Critical workers are also trying to do their jobs as threats cloud over their heads.
Farmworkers have been deemed “essential workers” by the government, but those without legal status have been shut out of financial relief by that same government (in addition to ongoing threats of deportation). Similarly, thousands of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients who work on the medical front lines of the pandemic also face deportation if the Supreme Court rules against them in an upcoming case. This is cruelty, when the administration could protect these communities from deportation with the stroke of a pen right now.
“With an ever-growing number of coronavirus cases acutely affecting Latinos and immigrant communities, Congress and President Trump must move forward with a comprehensive fourth relief plan, CARES 2,” the leaders write. “Every day that passes without universal and adequate access to testing and care comes at the preventable cost of human lives. President Trump and Congress, Republicans and Democrats, must immediately get to work to ensure that no one and no community is left behind to the ravages of this virus.”
