COVID-19
Holding on to Collective Solidarity After the Coronavirus
We are facing an existential challenge unlike any we have experienced in our lifetimes. We’ve spent the past few weeks adjusting to a new normal. We’re acquiring a new vocabulary and adapting to new norms. We’re learning about epidemiology, hand hygiene, personal protective gear, and ventilators. We’ve also gained a… Read More
Shortage of Farmworkers Threatens Americans’ Food Supply During the Coronavirus
The U.S. agricultural industry depends on seasonal guest workers to produce the food Americans eat. Since 1986, the H-2A visa program has allowed employers to fill labor shortages with temporary and seasonal workers from other countries. The Trump administration recently classified agricultural… Read More
What You Need to Know About Public Charge and the Coronavirus
Immigrants living in the United States are eligible for unemployment benefits. But as the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus spread across the country, many are reportedly afraid to file for unemployment and other government benefits. Much of this fear stems from the Trump administration’s… Read More
What Social Justice Movements Can Learn from the Medical Response to the Coronavirus
Across the country, communities are responding to the coronavirus pandemic by working to protect our poor, elderly, and compromised. Critical to the response are the efforts of the medical and scientific community. Thousands of doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals from diverse backgrounds–including reenlisting retirees–are serving on the frontline… Read More
Two Years After Zero Tolerance, More Revelations About the Failures of Family Separation
Nearly two years after the “zero tolerance” policy was announced, evidence condemning the practice and implementation of family separation continues to mount. A recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) further criticizes the way officials handled the separations. The height of family separations occurred in the spring and… Read More
It’s Time to Close the Immigration Courts
As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads and entire states go into quarantine, immigrants and their attorneys are still being forced to gather in cramped immigration courtrooms inside detention centers around the country. These hearings pose an obvious public health risk and run contrary to the government’s own recommendations regarding social… Read More
ICE Must Release People From Detention to Slow the Spread of the Coronavirus
Social distancing has been mandated in many places throughout the United States to slow the spread of COVID-19, the new coronavirus. Meanwhile, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues to detain approximately 38,000 people in close quarters. This conflicts with medical experts’ repeated advice to decrease the detention population. Read More
How Storytelling During the COVID-19 Crisis Can Help Defeat Nativism
We are in the midst of a crisis unlike any we’ve experienced in our lifetimes. We are scared and scrambling to protect ourselves and the ones that we love. This is normal and understandable. However, if we’re not mindful, the spread of the coronavirus and the accompanying fear could create… Read More
Coronavirus Relief Package Fails to Provide Aid to Millions of Immigrants, Including Many on the Front Lines
President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) on Friday, March 27. The $2 trillion stimulus package goes a long way to improve our response to the COVID-19 outbreak. But it fails to deliver for millions of immigrants across the country, including… Read More
How the Coronavirus Is Disrupting USCIS Processing of Immigration Applications
The coronavirus outbreak has significantly disrupted the operations of government agencies around the country, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). USCIS is the agency that processes applications for various types of immigration benefits. USCIS Changes Office Operations During Coronavirus Outbreak The USCIS Seattle office was the first to… Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
