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
5/10/20, AZ Central: Mentorship program aims to help Tucson refugees integrate
5/8/20, CBS News: Immigrant in ICE custody dies from coronavirus complications in California
5/8/20, Guardian: ‘There is no future’: the refugees who became pawns in Erdoğan’s game
5/7/20, Washington Post: Illegal border crossings fell dramatically in April, as U.S. expels thousands using Trump’s coronavirus emergency authority
5/7/20, Washington Post: At a New York relief kitchen, urgency meets empathy as immigrants create thousands of meals a day
5/7/20, Politico: Supreme Court punts on immigration-law case
5/7/20, Politico: Azar faulted workers’ ‘home and social’ conditions for meatpacking outbreaks
5/7/20, AP: Official: Strict US Border Policy May Remain as Virus Eases
5/7/20, WDRB (KY): Louisville health center expands COVID-19 testing for immigrant, refugee groups
5/6/20, San Francisco Chronicle: State court allows Newsom’s $75 million coronavirus aid for undocumented immigrants
5/5/20, Houston Chronicle: Meet ‘coronavirus lag,’ the other pandemic striking immigrant students hardest
5/4/20, New York Times: As World Comes to Halt Amid Pandemic, So Do Migrants
5/4/20, Roll Call: DOJ hiring changes may help Trump’s plan to curb immigration
5/4/20, Philadelphia Inquirer: With DACA down to the wire, immigrant health-care workers fight the pandemic as possible deportation looms
5/4/20, CNN: More than 370 workers at a pork plant in Missouri tested positive for coronavirus. All were asymptomatic
5/3/20, New York Times: Before Covid-19, Trump Aide Sought to Use Disease to Close Borders
5/3/20, MassLive: Interfaith effort collecting, donating diapers and personal hygiene products
5/2/20, ProPublica: Los New Yorkers: Essential and Underprotected in the Pandemic’s Epicenter
Opinion
5/9/20, New York Times: Angelina Jolie: A Mother’s Strength
5/6/20, New York Times: A Former Farmworker on American Hypocrisy
5/6/20, CNN: What we owe undocumented workers during Covid-19
5/5/20, San Antonio Express-News: Commentary: Immigration suspension hurts America
5/5/20, USA Today: Reagan gave my father path to citizenship. Immigrants fighting pandemic deserve the same.
5/4/20, Deseret News: Why Trump’s latest immigration freeze defies the ‘Utah way’
Policy Resources
Migration Policy Institute Fact Sheet: Barriers to COVID-19 Testing and Treatment: Immigrants without Health Coverage in the United States
Multimedia
This American Life (podcast): The Out Crowd
Reports from the frontlines of the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” asylum policy. We hear from asylum seekers waiting across the border in Mexico, in a makeshift refugee camp, and from the officers who sent them there to wait in the first place. This episode won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for audio reporting, the first ever given for audio journalism.
Only in America (podcast): Keeping Us Healthy: Dr. Amit Vashist
Even before COVID-19, our nation was facing a shortage of health care workers, one that is projected to grow. This week, we see how immigrants in rural areas are stepping up to meet this critical need. Ali talks to Dr. Amit Vashist, Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at Ballad Health. Dr. Vashist talks about the challenges of ensuring health care access in rural areas – and why removing immigration barriers is a critical part of the solution.
MSNBC (video): How coronavirus created an opening for Stephen Miller
New York Times’ The Daily (podcast): One Meat Plant. One Thousand Infections.
Opportunities & Resources
Virtual Book Discussion Kits from Episcopal Migration Ministries
EMM has put together four virtual book discussion kits for groups and individuals to use as a way to learn and stay engaged with the refugee and immigrant experience during this time of isolation. More kits will be added to the page in the coming months. Explore the kits and let us know what you think!
CLINIC Webinar: Asylum at the Border: A Continuing Crisis
May 12, 2020. 2-3pm ET. The administration has continued its attack on asylum seekers, and stranded asylum seekers in Mexico face an even more dangerous situation amidst a global pandemic that has altered everyone’s lives. Learn about the updates to asylum law and procedures, such as the Migrant Protection Protocols, the asylum bans and the return of asylum seekers based on bilateral agreements with Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Register by May 11.
Center for Migration Studies New York Webinar: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Immigrants and Refugees in Louisiana and Mississippi
May 13, 2020. 2-3:15pm ET. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the extreme vulnerabilities of poor and marginalized people, including immigrants and refugees. The webinar will feature immigrant community leaders and service providers who will discuss the economic, educational, health, and safety consequences of the pandemic for vulnerable immigrants and newly resettled refugees in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Central Mississippi. Registration is required.
NIJC Webinar: False Friction: Reconciling COVID-19 And Immigrants’ Rights
May 14 from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. CST. The Trump administration has used COVID-19 as an excuse to shut down immigration and harm immigrants, a goal it’s been working towards since the beginning of its administration. Join NIJC experts as they discuss the effects this false friction has on due process rights and for asylum seekers at the border, unaccompanied children, and individuals detained in immigration jails. Bring your questions for a brief Q&A. Register.
May 19, 4pm ET. Join the Office of Government Relations and Episcopal Migration Ministries for Immigrant Detention during COVID-19: Prophetic Action & Compassionate Response. This seventy-five-minute webinar will include clergy and lay leaders from the Dioceses of Georgia, Ohio, and Western Louisiana with professional and ministry background in different models of detention visitation ministry. Registration is required and available here. Participants are invited to email questions for the panelists in advance to [email protected].