The Corona Pandemic Underscores the Plight of Undocumented Californians Recently, the president signed a $2 trillion relief fund that promises to mitigate the impact the Virus has on the workers, but where we cannot see the immigrants in the picture. It’s even worse, remember the stay at home orders? Well, immigrants are immune to these orders, but not by choice, they have been instructed to keep on working, despite the danger they face. They have given letters attesting to their critical role in maintaining a stable food chain in the country. The CARES Act, signed into law in March 2020, delivers direct payments to the taxpayers, vastly expanding the unemployment benefits. It also makes the testing for the COVID-19 free, among many other provisions. While the immigrants are not immune to the Virus and its effect economically, this stimulus bill conspicuously leaves them out. This potentially puts them at a higher risk economically and health-wise.
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These are the same people who have continuously done grueling working of picking fresh fruits from the farms that millions of American savors, all while still afraid that one day, she might lose her livelihood because she is in the country illegally. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic ironically, the government is applauding their efforts, deeming them as essential to the country. Most of the immigrants spent almost all their lives evading law enforcement. Still, in the wake of the COVID-19, most of them now walk with a letter from their employers declaring that the Department of Homeland Security considers them “critical to the food supply chain.” “It’s like suddenly they realized we are here contributing,” said Ms. Silva, a 43-year-old immigrant from Mexico who has been working in the clementine groves south of Bakersfield, Calif. It is no secret that most people working in American farms are undocumented immigrants from across the Mexican border. Most of these people are decades-long residents of the United States and often the parents of American-born children. They have lived all their lives in America worried that at any moment, they might be deported. Let’s get the thing straight here, while the stimulus bill failed to recognize them, only for them to get “essential work” letters, and these letters are not a free pass from the immigration authorities. They could still be deported at any time. The local law enforcement authorities said that the letters given to the immigrants give them a sense of security that they will not be arrested for violating the stay-athome orders. l
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