EMM has pulled together a wide range of statements, resources, and information on COVID-19 on a page that is updated regularly. Please visit COVID-19 Resources to learn more.

Articles

4/26/20, Spokesman-Review: After months in immigration detention, worlds of Central American, African refugees collide in Spokane during quarantine

4/26/20, New York Times: An Artist’s New Migration Song

4/25/20, AP: Pandemic complicates counting of refugees in census

4/24/20, New York Times: Trump’s Temporary Halt to Immigration Is Part of Broader Plan, Stephen Miller Says

4/23/20, Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations: Refugees and COVID-19

4/23/20, Reuters: U.S. to test some immigrants for coronavirus before deportation

4/23/20, Reuters: In win for Trump, U.S. Supreme Court makes deporting immigrants for crimes easier

4/23/20, Univision: What went wrong at the South Dakota meat packing plant where hundreds of immigrant workers were infected?

4/22/20, AP: Trump signs immigration order featuring numerous exemptions

4/22/20, Daily Yonder: An Immigration Ban Would Have Doubled Rural Population Loss

4/22/20, CBS: ICE declines to release asylum-seekers as coronavirus spreads through jails

4/22/20, Time: President Trump Has Blocked New Legal Immigrants. Here’s Where Else He’s Clamped Down on Immigration During the Coronavirus Outbreak

4/22/20, New Humanitarian: European cases to test the reach of prosecuting Syria war crimes

4/22/20, New York Times: For Indian Diaspora, Panic and Anger Over Trump’s Immigration Plans

4/22/20, New York Times: Imagine Online School in a Language You Don’t Understand

4/21/20, ProPublica: ICE Has Access to DACA Recipients’ Personal Information Despite Promises Suggesting Otherwise, Internal Emails Show

4/21/20, Politico: DeVos bars undocumented college students from emergency aid

4/20/20, BBC: The translators giving indigenous migrants a voice

4/20/20, Next 100: Our Undocumented Community Needs Support in Addressing COVID-19

4/20/20, AP: US appeals order to give detained migrants beds in Arizona

4/20/20, CBS: Judge orders ICE to consider releasing all immigrants at risk of dying if infected by coronavirus

4/19/20, Time: What Happens Next with Syrian Refugees, Europe and Coronavirus

Opinion

4/26/20, Guardian: Coronavirus offers an excuse to close borders. That would be a mistake

4/25/20, New York Times: Here’s How You Can Change Lives in the Pandemic

4/25/20, New York Times: Who Belongs In America?

4/22/20, Sojourners: Flattening the Curve of Xenophobia

4/22/20, New York Times: No, Mr. President, Your Immigration Powers Are Not Unlimited

Policy Resources

Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations: Statement on President Trump’s Recent Immigration Executive Order

ACLU: Flattening the Curve: Why Reducing Jail Populations is Key to Beating COVID-19

4/23/20, Congressional Research Service: COVID-19: Restrictions on Travelers at U.S. Land Borders

April 2020, Migration Policy Institute: The COVID-19 Pandemic Suggests the Lessons Learned by European Asylum Policymakers After the 2015 Migration Crisis Are Fading

Multimedia

4/23/20, Only in America (podcast): SPECIAL EPISODE: A Closer Look at Trump’s Immigration Proclamation

Opportunities

Connecting Neighbors, a new EMM initiative, offers important ways you can be a helper at this time. Connecting Neighbors allows individuals and congregations to fill the gaps and directly support refugee families resettled by EMM.

EMM’s network of 13 refugee resettlement affiliates continue to serve newly resettled refugee families and in very difficult circumstances. Several needs top the list right now:

  • Financial contributions for rent payments. Affiliates need financial support to keep refugee families housed and safe during the pandemic.
  • Material goods to support refugee families. Items are detailed on Amazon WishLists.
  • Digital devices. Most importantly, affiliates need donations of gently-used digital devices – tablets, smartphones, laptops – so they can continue providing services and support to refugee families.

Learn more about Connecting Neighbors and other ways to help refugees and immigrants during this pandemic.

Infopeople Webinar: May 13, 2020, 3pm Eastern

Answers & Updates to Pressing Questions & Concerns about Public Charge, COVID-19 & Census Outreach for our Immigrant Communities

This webinar will cover the latest updates to help our communities navigate questions around the intersection of immigration and current events. We will discuss immigrant access to services in light of COVID-19 and the new public charge rule, other impacts and options for immigrants given COVID-19 shelter-in-place policies, and Census updates and outreach strategies.