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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, May 13, 2020
PRESS CONTACT
Susana Flores (915) 525 2434 susana@communicationsshop.us
Fernanda Durand (443) 396 3317 fernanda@communicationsshop.us
Alianza Americas urges Congress to protect those who keep us safe
CHICAGO – The proposed Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES) announced yesterday by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi aims to provide $3 trillion in aid to state and local governments to battle the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when the federal government is moving to exclude immigrants from any relief.
“The previous relief packages left out immigrants from vital health and aid resources, even though millions of immigrants are performing essential jobs and still feeling the negative economic repercussions of the pandemic,” said Oscar Chacón, Alianza Americas Executive Director. “They also failed to address the reality that hundreds of thousands of people with Temporary Protective Status (TPS) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) permits are performing essential tasks and keeping us all safe.”
The proposed legislation contains several additional elements that attempt to rectify past failures to protect all communities. These include:
“We need Congress to move from proposal to action and to do it quickly. Immigrants are working in critical sectors– as farmworkers, supermarket clerks, health workers, construction sector workers, janitors, and truckers. They keep our economy running, yet they are being left out, and, at any moment, court rulings could end temporary protections for TPS or DACA recipients. This is a time for Congress to take leadership and bring security to the workers who are essential to our economy, both during and after the pandemic,” said Yanira Arias, National Campaigns Manager for Alianza Americas.
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