27 April 2020

Our Government is Failing Latinos in Coronavirus Response

As the tragic cases of COVID-19 related deaths continue to climb and President Trump attempts to distract from his own failures by announcing a blanket ban on immigration, disconcerting data has emerged demonstrating how the pandemic is disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities. We are seeing disturbing infection and mortality statistics among these groups across the country, such as in New York, California, Colorado, Louisiana, Washington, and Michigan. Latino, Black, Indigenous and immigrant workers face health and economic catastrophe as a result of this unprecedented pandemic. We should be doing much more to protect all of these communities; we speak to the Latino and immigrant impacts here.

Latinos are suffering disproportionately from coronavirus and job losses

Before the coronavirus outbreak, health and economic disparities were already having a disastrous impact on Black people and people of color. 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. 

A review of recent public polling by Equis Research shows that on key economic questions, Latinos report higher levels of concern and hardship at this stage of the outbreak. Nearly two-thirds of Latinos have lost their jobs or have seen a significant drop in wages as a result of the coronavirus pandemic according to a recent poll by Latino Decisions. A whopping 68 percent of Latinos said the outbreak was a major threat to their family’s personal finances, compared to 42 percent of whites. 

A recent Reuters/Ipsos survey found that 16 percent of Latinos said they were infected, had been in contact with someone infected, or knew someone who was infected, compared with 9 percent of white adults. 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. 

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. Over 200,000 DACA recipients, young people who came into the country as children, are in professions deemed “essential critical infrastructure.” And moreover, documented and undocumented farm workers continue picking crops unprotected, sacrificing their lives to keep the nation fed during this crisis.

Yet despite the growing evidence of this reality, President Trump and the federal government are failing to marshal a plan to help our communities survive. 

To save lives, solutions for Latinos and immigrants can’t be ignored 

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. While people of color and working families are overrepresented among those most hurt by this crisis, a New America study shows the challenges these groups face in accessing the modest and inadequate support provided by the first CARES package. 

The recent $480 billion interim package passed by Congress fails to address these gaps. Despite Republican resistance, Democrats rightfully demanded at least that the latest interim aid package included more support for minority small businesses, hospitals, and testing. But they must go further.

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. 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. We also need better tracking of racial and ethnic health data to better understand how coronavirus is impacting underserved communities.

To secure America’s public and economic health, President Trump and the federal government must also extend work authorizations for immigrant workers, including Dreamers and TPS-holders. ICE should suspend enforcement activities that are scaring immigrants from seeking care and destabilizing communities, and also take immediate steps to release vulnerable detainees left exposed in unsafe and inhumane immigrant detention centers where coronavirus is already spreading. Finally, the Administration must stop leveraging this crisis to further bully Latino asylum seeking families trapped at the border.

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.

Signatories:

Julián Castro, Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

Hon. Ruben Gallego, U.S. Representative (AZ-7)

Hon. Chuy García, U.S. Representative (IL-04)

Sergio Gonzales, Deputy Director, the Immigration Hub

Stephanie Valencia, President, Equis Labs

Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Former Special Assistant to President Barack Obama 

Janet Murguía, President & CEO, UnidosUS

Arturo Rodriguez, President Emeritus, United Farm Workers

Cecilia Muñoz, Former Director, White House Domestic Policy Council 

Marco A. Davis, President & CEO, Congressional Hispanc Caucus Institute 

Lorella Praeli, President, Community Change Action

Greisa Martinez Rosas, Deputy Director, United We Dream

Sindy Benavides, CEO, League of United Latin American Citizens

María Teresa Kumar, President and CEO, Voto Latino

Alida Garcia, Vice President of Advocacy, FWD.us

Pili Tobar, Deputy Director, America’s Voice

Jessica Morales Rocketto, Co-Chair, Families Belong Together

Sarah Audelo, Executive Director, Alliance for Youth Action

Héctor Sánchez Barba, Executive Director and CEO, Mi Familia Vota

Katherine Archuleta, Former Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management 

Sonia Rodriguez, Board Member, Association of Latino Superintendents and Administrators 

Michael Frias, CEO, Catalist

Liz Rebecca Alarcón, Executive Director, Pulso

Denise Collazo, Senior Advisor, Faith in Action

Dusti Gurule, Executive Director,Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights

Marissa Padilla, Senior Vice President, Global Strategy Group

Lucy Flores , CEO & Co-Founder, Luz Collective

Yadira Solis, Outreach and Organizing Manager, COLOR

Irene Godinez, Founder, Poder NC Action

Michael Ramirez, Field Director, Bernie 2020, Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity Reproductive Rights Action Fund Board, Colorado People’s Alliance Board

Leo Cruz, National Security Action

José Rico, Director, Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Chicago

Rosy De Sanctis, Chief Consultant, Self-employed

Lizette Olmos Godfrey, Communications Consultant, Olmos Strategy Group

Gabriela D. Lemus, Ph.D., CEO, Revolution Strategy

Kate Villarreal

John G. Amaya, Of Counsel, Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis LLP

Carmen Lomellin, Ambassador (ret)

Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, Former Obama Administration LGBT Liaison

Ana Z. Licona

Sam Jammal, Attorney

Mayra E Alvarez, President, The Children’s Partnership

Lucy Flores, Co-Founder, Luz Collective

Luis Avila, Founder, Instituto

Emillio Alvarez, Educator

Monica Ramirez, President, Justice for Migrant Women

Colby Karzen

Chuck Rocha, President/Founder, Solidarity Strategies

Joan M. Godoy

Stephanie Parra, Executive Director, ALL In Education

Sylvia DeLavalle

Juan Rodriguez, Partner, SCRB Strategies

Javier Saade, Former Associate Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration, Impact Master Holdings

Vivian Graubard, Senior Advisor for Public Interest Technology, New America

Lisa Pino, Deputy Administrator, SNAP and Civil Rights Deputy Assistant Secretary, Former U.S. Department of Agriculture

Shantel Meek, Professor of Practice, The Children’s Equity Project, Arizona State University

Amanda Renteria, Senior Advisor

Marcos Vilar, Executive Director, Alianza for Progress

Dusti Gurule, Executive Director, Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights

Ginny Barahona, Advisor, Create Labs Ventures

Raul Alvillar, Verde Solutions and Former Democratic National Political Director

Mercedes Marquez, Former Obama Ass’t Sec, Community Planning & Development, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Adrian Saenz, President, Mosaic Media Strategy Group

Ramona E. Romero, Former President, Hispanic National Bar Association and Former General Counsel, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Jessica Reeves, Board Member, Support Latino Biz

Bernadette Hobson, Former Deputy White House Liaison

Nate Snyder, Former Obama DHS Counterterrorism Official

Elvis Cordova, President, Statecraft Strategies

Laura Isabel Rodriguez, Former Chief of Staff, Representative Debbie Mucarsel-Powel

Crisanta Duran, New York State Director, Democrats for Education Reform

Andrea Marta, Executive Director, Faith in Action Fund

Lizet Ocampo, Political Director, People For the American Way

Abigail Golden-Vazquez, Executive Director, The Aspen Institute Latinos and Society Program

Lisa Mensah, President & CEO, Opportunity Finance Network

Beatriz Acevedo, President, Acevedo Foundation

Vanessa Cardenas, Senior Advisor, LULAC

Estuardo Rodriguez, President & CEO, Friends of the American Latino Museum

Andrea Ambriz

Elmy Bermejo, Board Member, The Women’s Foundation of California

Joaquin H. Guerra, Founder, Más Power Group

Enrique Lopezlira, Ph.D., Economist

Adria Márquez, Chair, Obama Latinos Alumni Association

Melissa Morales, Executive Director, Somos Votantes

Rafael López, Former Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families & Former Senior Policy Advisor, The White House

Amber Seira, Board Member, Obama Latinos Alumni Association

Esther Morales