From Moms Rising (https://www.momsrising.org/):
Immigrants are such a vital part of our essential workforce every day, and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are putting their lives on the line to keep our health care system and our economy going [1], and are essential to America’s recovery. Unfortunately, immigrants have been left out of COVID-19 relief despite tirelessly contributing to our communities.
You can make a critical difference by raising your voice for immigrant families in your community! Can you help make sure that immigrants are included in the next COVID-19 relief package by sending a quick letter to the editor?
We make it super easy for you by providing a sample letter, talking points, and even an automatic way to submit it. Go to https://action.momsrising.org/lte/lte-frontline-immigrants-COVID19 to get started.
The clock is ticking for us to make our voices heard because lawmakers are deciding on what to include in the next COVID-19 relief package. Letters to the editor are a powerful way to make sure leaders hear your voice. This tool is pretty magical—you can easily edit our pre-drafted letter and send it to your paper with just a few clicks.
What’s happening? Congress is still debating COVID-19 relief and may again leave immigrants who are risking their lives to fight the pandemic and put food on tables across America out of the plan. Right now, members of Congress are back at home and reading their local newspapers to see what their constituents are talking about. You can make a big impact now by writing a letter to the editor for your local newspaper.
The pre-drafted letter (which you can edit when you click through to the link) simply says:
Now more than ever, this virus has shown us that we are dependent on each other and whether we’re Black or white, Latino or Asian, native or newcomer, it’s time to pull together to make sure our community can get through this difficult time. Immigrants are critical to our community and our country. They make up 16% of health care workers, 26% of home health care workers for the elderly, and 73% of crop farmworkers in the United States. They are putting their lives on the line to keep food on our tables and care for the sick during a pandemic. Yet, Congress has largely left immigrants out of COVID-19 relief – again!
This pandemic has highlighted the vitally important role that immigrant health care and essential workers play alongside their native-born colleagues on the front lines of this fight and how much our community’s and nation’s health depends on the contributions of these workers. Moreover, effective public health responses require attention to all community members, as a pandemic response that excludes anyone is bound to fail.
None of us can be healthy if any one of us is denied access to testing, health care, and economic relief. Now is the time for us to unite across our differences and make policy choices that help every-day people. In the next COVID-19 relief bill, our members of Congress must make sure all of our community is supported, including all immigrant families.
COVID-19 does not discriminate and impacts everyone, regardless of immigration status, and its effects are being felt by all. Immigrants are filling essential roles as medical professionals in hospitals, home healthcare workers, farm workers in the fields, and many more essential roles. Immigrants form a critical part of our essential workforce—and many are fighting on the frontlines of COVID-19 with little to no protections or support from our federal government.
It’s urgent that we make our voices heard in our local newspapers so that lawmakers understand the critical role immigrants are playing in the COVID-19 response. We cannot leave them behind as they work long hours to fight the virus and support our communities.
Be sure to submit your letter to the editor now with just a few simple steps.
After you submit your own letter to the editor, please forward this email to friends. The more of us who send letters the bigger the impact will be.
References:
1. Vulnerable to COVID-19 and in Frontline Jobs, Immigrants Are Mostly Shut Out of U.S. Relief
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