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Thread: Brief from me & @v_mraz_ detailing how immigrant families have been completely left behind by our government during the pandemic. Immigrants have been essential in our ability to address the pandemic—they are essential to its recovery. @CLASP_DC http://bit.ly/3tSyCaj
The issues addressed in this brief do not exist in silos—immigrant and mixed-status families are often facing multiple or all of these hardships in tandem. The United States has a long road to recovery, but to heal properly, immigrants must be fully included in recovery efforts.
There is no way to carve out immigrants from relief or access to care that ultimately will not impact U.S. citizens and all of our communities. 1 in 4 children in the U.S. has an immigrant parent. Immigrants are overrepresented across all of our essential industries.
Not only have immigrants been cut out of relief during the pandemic—they were targeted and attacked by the Trump Admin. In July 2020, as the United States was reporting over 3.5 million cases and 130,000 deaths, ICE announced it would resume and ramp up immigration enforcement.
In one instance, ICE apprehended and deported Ms. Flores, a mother of four U.S. children, after she had dropped off her daughter at child care and went to work. All within 24 hours. Story from @mirjordan here: https://nyti.ms/2NmAkjD
For Ms. Flores and her children, and thousands of families like hers, these deportations will continue to inflict lasting trauma. Over 5 million children in the U.S. have at least 1 undocumented parent, and family separation is one of the greatest risks to their wellbeing.
Immigrants also continue to be detained & transferred in ICE detention centers across the country despite public health officials pleading that they be released. ICE is not equipped to manage an outbreak of COVID-19, and yet they refuse to release immigrants from detention.
DHS itself acknowledged that the very nature of their facilities and the continued transfer between facilities were to blame for the ongoing outbreaks of immigrants in ICE custody. Story from @Haleaziz here: https://bit.ly/3qi0CSu
ICE made little effort to prevent the spread of the virus. As we were being told to wash our hands, ICE was charging immigrants for soap. Immigrants have staged hunger strikes to try to get basic hygienic needs met. Story from @jherrerx here: https://bit.ly/3jMunbU
And when immigrants did speak out on these conditions they were met with violence & solitary confinement, or the threat of it. In one instance immigrants were thrown out of wheelchairs for demanding medical attention. Story from @gabydvj & @jlosc9 here: https://bit.ly/3jNvCHB
Over 600 children from the 2017 “zero tolerance” policy remain separated from their parents 4 years later, and during a pandemic. The majority of these children’s parents have already been deported. Story from @jacobsoboroff & @JuliaEAinsley here: https://nbcnews.to/2OoM6dA
And that number doesn’t capture the countless children that have been separated from family members other than parents at the border, such as grandparents & siblings.
Thousands of children have been turned away from the U.S. while trying to seek asylum, and in the interior ICE continues to detain children and their parents. Even a short amount of time in detention hinders a child’s development and compromises the parent-child relationship.
Since March, almost a dozen women have been sent to Mexico w/ their newborn U.S. citizen children. In one instance a 23-year-old Haitian woman seeking asylum was expelled from the country w/ her child 3 days after giving birth. Story from @Tanvim here: https://bit.ly/3qk6ACC
It’s important to note that Black immigrants have faced disproportionate levels of immigration enforcement and its harm. They make up under 10% of the immigrant population but nearly 50% of the individuals currently detained by immigration enforcement.
Black immigrants are apprehended and deported at higher rates than other immigrants and spend significantly longer periods of time in detention. @RAICESTEXAS https://bit.ly/3aceCaX
DACA and TPS recipients also continued to face uncertainty around their respective programs throughout the pandemic thanks to attacks from the Trump Administration.
Over half a million U.S. citizen children have parents with DACA or TPS.
Over half a million U.S. citizen children have parents with DACA or TPS.
About a third of TPS and DACA recipients, or over 333,000 individuals, are essential workers. @CAPimmigration https://ampr.gs/3b41G64 https://ampr.gs/2LQKjNK
Immigrants are also way more likely to be uninsured. Systemic barriers block access to critical health services, and many immigrants who rely on their jobs for insurance have been left unemployed due to the pandemic.
Immigrants who are noncitizens represent about 7% of the total population in the United States but are 1/4 of the uninsured population. Children with one immigrant parent are twice as likely to lack health coverage than children with citizen parents. @KFF https://bit.ly/2ZaTs6H
The Trump Admin’s attacks on immigrant communities also exacerbated other barriers. Neglecting to consistently enforce the sensitive locations policy and pursuing the public charge rule weakened trust in the government and created additional fears about accessing public programs.
A survey from @urbaninstitute found that, throughout the pandemic, over 1 in 6 adults in immigrant families avoided using government services due to fear of immigration enforcement or anxiety that accessing services would impact their immigration status. https://urbn.is/3qgrVwE
A survey from @MIRACoalition found that over 17% of households with undocumented family members were not getting tested for COVID-19 for fear of public charge. https://bit.ly/3po9qFr
Many people who survive the virus have developed longer-term chronic health conditions, which require care to keep them from becoming more fatal conditions. Undocumented immigrants, in particular, do not have that access to care. More from @FelipeDLH here: https://bit.ly/3qt24ln
Immigrants have faced the burden of being overrepresented among essential workers on the frontlines in addition to be disparately impacted by unemployment amid the pandemic.They continue to be excluded from economic relief, nearly one year into a global health crisis.
According to research from @NewAmericanEcon nearly half of all employed immigrant workers hold jobs that place them at high risk for exposure to COVID-19. https://bit.ly/3ahihEx
The @MigrationPolicy found that while tens of millions of workers lost their jobs in this pandemic, Latina immigrants had the highest unemployment rate of all racial and ethnic groups, at 22 percent. https://bit.ly/3p92eg8
Mixed-status families also continue to be excluded from receiving stimulus payments. Although Congress provided a partial fix in Dec, it still excluded nearly 2.2 million children where the entire household filed with an ITIN.
Students in immigrant families faced increased barriers to education. In 2018, 3 in 10 immigrant households lacked home internet access. As schools shifted to online learning, this gap made it harder for students in immigrant families to succeed.
Congress and the Biden-Harris Administration must ensure that immigrants are included in future efforts to provide COVID-19 relief, and they must take bold steps to undo the harm done to immigrant families and communities.
