Congressman Steven Horsford Demands Protections for Immigrants in Next Coronavirus Relief Package
Washington, D.C. -- Today, Congressman Horsford (NV-04) sent a letter to Congressional Leadership asking to guarantee protections for immigrants in the next Coronavirus package. The provisions included in the letter are based on the Coronavirus Immigrant Families Protection Act, which Congressman Horsford cosponsors.
"Nearly one in five Nevada residents is an immigrant, and those Nevadans make up over a fourth of our state's entire workforce. It is vital that Congress ensures that immigrant workers--including those who are frontline workers risking their lives daily to care for others--are able to maintain their work authorization and access key coronavirus relief measures," Congressman Horsford said. "As my colleagues in Congress and I continue to take bold steps to provide coverage of COVID-19 testing, treatment, and vaccines, we must also ensure that everyone has unencumbered access to these health care services, regardless of immigration status. No one should be intimidated or scared out of seeking the care they need."
Nearly 1.7 million immigrants work in the healthcare industry. In Nevada, nearly 30,000 healthcare workers are immigrants or DACA recipients.
Nationwide, there are 29,000 DACA recipients who are healthcare workers, while another 12,700 DACA recipients support the healthcare industry in crucial roles such as custodians and administrators. In addition, there are 9,300 Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders who are home health aides and at least 1,600 TPS holders who work in hospitals.
The letter also reinforces a provision in the Coronavirus Immigrant Families Protection Act, that would ensure direct payment assistance be extended to include those with Individual Tax Identification Numbers, rather than limiting those payments to only those with Social Security Numbers.
If passed, The Coronavirus Immigrant Families Protection Act would ensure that everyone has access to COVID-19 testing and treatment by:
Providing coverage of COVID-19 testing and vaccines under Medicaid to everyone, regardless of immigration status, by defining it as treatment for an emergency medical condition;
Making clear that accessing coronavirus-related services will not be counted against an individual with respect to immigration status or in consideration for other federal programs.
Prohibiting discrimination in any program funded by a coronavirus relief bill based on actual or perceived immigration status.
Provide $100 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide language access and public outreach on coronavirus preparedness, response, and recovery to hard-to-reach populations—including minorities, those with limited English proficiency, and those with disabilities.
It would also ensure access to coronavirus relief measures to vulnerable communities by:
Extending nutrition assistance through a Disaster-SNAP (D-SNAP) program to allow individuals and families impacted by a pandemic to receive direct food assistance from FEMA.
Allowing immigrant taxpayers to access IRS benefits with an ITIN.
Automatically extending expiring work authorization and status for immigrants during the coronavirus emergency for the same time period as was previously authorized.
Modify immigration policies that deter immigrants from seeking health services for the duration of the coronavirus emergency and for 60 days after the emergency ends.
Temporarily suspending the public charge rules, in-person ICE checks, and the detention and removal of domestic violence and sexual assault survivors who have pending immigration applications.
Suspending immigration enforcement actions at or in transit to/from sensitive locations, such as hospitals, courthouses, domestic violence shelters, food banks, and other sensitive locations.
Requiring fully telephonic bond hearings for detained individuals.