Nearly 800 organizations urge Congress to ensure next COVID-19 bill addresses exclusion of immigrants and their citizen family members from relief

Center for Disability Rights (CDR) joins nearly 800 organizations urging Congress to include immigrants and their citizen family members in any upcoming COVID19 stimulus package. CDR is dedicated to the civil and human rights of all people. We are also well aware that many immigrants and their family members are persons with disabilities. As a provider of services for the disabled we do not discriminate against whom we assist and we will continue to uplift our immigrant community. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is a civil rights law that includes immigrant people with disabilities in this country and we will uphold that in all we do.

From the Letter sent to Congress:

Include Immigrants and Their Citizen Family Members in Stimulus

We are writing to urge you to address the example inclusion of immigrant families, workers, taxpayers, and their U.S. children and spouses, from the CARES Act and other COVID-19 recovery packages passed by Congress in the next pandemic relief legislation. Immigrants have been left out of every relief package so far, even though they are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and are risking their health and safety as essential workers during the pandemic. We cannot let immigrants be excluded from relief again. If our nation wants to recover from this economic and public health crisis, we must ensure that everyone is included.

It is crucial that the next coronavirus relief package passed out of Congress includes provisions to include immigrant families who have been left out of previous bills. We cannot protect the nation from the virus and its economic impacts if we deny health care and financial relief to a large segment of our communities. Immigrants are essential workers responding to the pandemic in the arenas of public health, agriculture, food preparation and delivery, and cleaning and maintenance. Effective public health responses require attention to all community members, as a pandemic response that excludes any members of our communities will weaken its effectiveness. None of us can be healthy if any one of us is denied access to testing, care, and economic relief. 

In these times as we try each day to survive during the COVID19 pandemic it is our duty to uphold these truths that all people are created equal and deserve the best of all we have to offer. The next stimulus package must include immigrants and their citizen family members. CDR will continue to work with civil and human rights groups to urge Congress to do just this.

To read the full letter go here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vxNwD-OLeOGOysJAswRBS_StjgHNyaQtnt5Fj4nF1pk/edit

For more information on this work contact Dara Baldwin, Director of National Policy at dara.baldwin@ncdr.us