For Many Immigrants, COVID-19 is a Crisis Within a Crisis
By Esther Turcios and Louise Vazquez
A Crisis Within A Crisis
Everyone in Colorado, in the United States, and across most parts of the world is feeling the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Whether we’re dealing with illness, losing our jobs or income, or even an increase in everyday stress from staying at home to curb the spread of the virus, this pandemic has affected every Colorado family and community. That includes immigrants.
Those of us who have lost our livelihoods and worry for our health and well-being are now seeing our elected officials start to step in with aid. Congress and the president recently came to an agreement on a $2 trillion stimulus plan to get cash out to families, businesses, and state and local governments to mitigate the toll of the COVID-19 outbreak. Whether that aid comes from cash payments or unemployment insurance (UI), leniency on utility bills or evictions, or any other form, it all helps.
But imagine if you were excluded from receiving this aid, and had to deal with losing your home, struggling to feed yourself and your family, and trying to find a way to earn income to pay the bills without the help others are receiving. This is the reality for many undocumented immigrants. The reason: recent federal relief efforts left out those who use an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN).
In the midst of this pandemic, we’ve seen a common refrain: we are all in this together. But that’s not the reality for so many of our friends and neighbors. So how do we live up to the goals and aspirations of truly being all in it together? First, we must agree and recognize that our immigration status doesn’t determine our humanity. Everyone should be able to meet our own needs and the needs of our families and weather the storm created by COVID-19. Being able to do so shouldn’t be a privilege afforded to most, it should be a basic right for all of us. Second, we need to recognize that with the fear of being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), being subjected to discrimination and racism, and many other day-to-day worries continuing despite the outbreak, immigrants are in many ways dealing with a crisis within the COVID-19 crisis.
How Colorado Can Help
Immigrants are a part of our communities. They’re our family members, our neighbors, our colleagues and friends. Like everyone else in Colorado, immigrant should be able to receive aid without additional barriers. Colorado immigrants contribute greatly to our economy, they pay nearly $4.2 billion in local, state, and federal taxes and do many important jobs — many of which are currently deemed essential under stay-at-home orders in Colorado and across the country. And while the fiscal and economic contributions made by immigrants of all statuses are important, we should include them in relief efforts, not only because they work and pay taxes, but because it’s the right thing to do. By leaving immigrants out of federal and state responses (like Congress did when they passed the CARES Act), families are going without the relief they need to pay their bills, put food on the table, afford doctor visits and other costs associated with staying healthy, and make it through this crisis. Not only is this immoral, but as this public health crisis has made plainly clear, when we forget and neglect the well-being of some us it affects us all.
People of all races, citizenship statuses, and income levels must advocate for federal and state responses to include immigrants in relief efforts by:
- Distributing cash funds to all residents regardless of status.
- Providing health care and UI benefits to individuals regardless of status.
- Prohibiting ICE from detaining people during the pandemic.
- Releasing people imprisoned in detainment centers.
- Asking community and philanthropic partners to prioritize immigrant communities by issuing statements to their grantees to provide spaces where they are not at risk of being detained.
Colorado has already taken some of the action necessary to provide support to our immigrant communities, including banning ICE arrests in courthouses. The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) has also provided unemployment, medical, and legal resources for immigrants and refugees in the state of Colorado. CIRC is also petitioning Governor Jared Polis to take action on providing needed assistance and protection for immigrants during the COVID-19 outbreak. You can sign and share the petition here.
If you or someone you know requires help during the crisis, the Center For Health Progress has provided resource guides in English and Spanish with information on options for food, housing, health care, mental health, domestic violence, utilities, unemployment, and more, as well as general information about social distancing, the stay-at-home order, and COVID-19 itself. The Colorado Center on Law and Policy has also put together a list of resources for immigrant families.
A crisis like the COVID-19 epidemic brings to light how connected we are and how much we need each other. Let’s include everyone in conversations and policy regarding prosperity, economic well-being, and safety because immigration status should not determine whether any Coloradan is treated with humanity.
