Trump blasted for denying coronavirus aid to Latinos, immigration groups turn to Congress for help
President Donald Trump has been accused of being biased against certain communities when it came to providing an economic relief package during the coronavirus pandemic. Almost a million people are hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in the US while the death toll has gone past 56,000. National Latino and immigration groups and other leaders on Monday, April 27, released a letter in which they blasted the president, saying that his response to the outbreak has disproportionately affected communities of color and immigrants. They appealed to the Congress to pass the latest relief package — CARES Act 2.
In the letter that is headlined "Our Government is Failing Latinos in Coronavirus Response", the groups also cited the recent polling data that more than two-thirds of Hispanics are either jobless or are facing economic difficulties because of the outbreak. They slammed Trump saying he tried to distract from the reality by coming up with a blanket ban on immigration.
The letter, which was put together by Sergio Gonzales of the Immigration Hub, also included among its signatories groups like FWD.us (founded by Mark Zuckerberg) and heads of other national Latino outfits like Voto Latinos, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and UnidosUS among others. Former Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro and former special assistant to ex-president Barack Obama, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, were also among the signatories.
Castro, a man of Mexican descent who served as the secretary of housing and urban development under Obama, told Newsweek that the said communities need support to ensure “systemic gaps in opportunity and achievement aren't made worse”.
“We are calling on Congress to immediately pass legislation to protect immigrants and frontline workers, collect important racial and ethnic data on the virus, and invest in communities of color and minority-owned businesses that need our support more than ever,” he said.
The groups are pushing for the House-led CARES Act 2, something that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the Democrats were working on. The government passed the CARES Act relief package worth over $2 trillion last month to support the crumbling economy. The Democrats now want a similar legislation to help people of color and working-class families who are struggling to access relief packages for survival.
In the letter, the health and economic plight of the Latinos were stressed upon.
“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'," the letter read.
'No stimulus package for those who were left out of previous ones'
Janet Murguia, president of UnidoUS, one of the US' longest-running organizations, was quoted as saying by Newsweek: "For us it's not just disappointing but outrageous that we have yet to see a stimulus bill passed with meaningful relief for those who have been left out of previous packages, but have been on the frontlines contributing in an essential way to combatting this pandemic and keeping America going."
On April 23, Murguia said in a statement released by UnidoUS that it was disappointing and enraging to see the Congress preparing to pass another stimulus bill without taking care of those who were left out of the previous relief packages. The statement said: "House members should reject the interim COVID-19 relief legislation (H.R. 266) and instead move swiftly to finalize a stimulus package that includes health care and economic support for Latinos, immigrants and communities of color who so far have been left out of relief efforts."
The letter also said the Trump administration should extend work authorizations to the immigrant workers and the ICE should stop the enforcement activities and release detainees in immigration detention centers that have been hit by the pandemic.
Meanwhile, in a conference call last week, Republicans said their interest is slowing down new spending till May 4 when lawmakers return to Washington and focus on ensuring that the approved spending is allocated properly, the Washington Post reported. It has also been reported that differences have emerged in the GOP over spending as some senior members think that it is time to scale back, unlike Trump, who is promoting more expensive ideas.