Coronavirus Immigrant Families Protection Act Targets Crucial Gaps in COVID-19 Relief Legislation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 3, 2020

CONTACT
Email: [email protected]
Juan Gastelum, 213-375-3149
Hayley Burgess, 202-805-0375

Coronavirus Immigrant Families Protection Act Targets Crucial Gaps in COVID-19 Relief Legislation

WASHINGTON, DC — Members of Congress today introduced legislation, the Coronavirus Immigrant Families Protection Act, that would address urgent needs in immigrant communities not addressed in previous relief packages enacted in response to the COVID-19 public health crisis.

The bill, sponsored by Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) in the U.S. Senate and Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), and Lou Correa (D-CA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, would suspend implementation of the Trump administration’s “public charge” policy; ensure that COVID-19–related services are available to uninsured individuals, regardless of their immigration status; extend economic support to millions of immigrant families excluded from relief in the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act; and prohibit enforcement agencies from carrying out immigration enforcement in locations, such as hospitals and health care centers, where people seek care.

Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, issued the following statement:

“Immigrants are on the frontlines confronting this public health crisis as workers in the health care sector and as the indispensable people who harvest and prepare our food, deliver our groceries, and care for our loved ones. If we truly want to win this fight against a pandemic that doesn’t discriminate based on a person’s wealth, race, or place of birth, we need Congress to pass policies that ensure immigrants are part of the solution and also receive the health care and economic support everyone needs to get through this crisis.

“The bill  introduced today addresses crucial gaps left in the relief legislation enacted thus far and provides that we all will have access to crucial testing, health care, and economic lifelines. I commend these leaders and other members of Congress who are advancing a more inclusive and equitable vision for America that acknowledges the role of immigrants as protagonists in our recovery from this global catastrophe.”

###