USCIS Coronavirus Announcement

Dear Allies,

We know that this is a time of deep uncertainty and anxiety for individuals, organizations and communities across the country. At CLASP and NILC, we remain committed to working together with our partners to advocate for policies that prioritize access to health and nutrition programs for immigrants and their families. In today’s newsletter, we are sharing several resources to support your communication efforts with media, immigrant families and policy makers.

PUBLIC CHARGE NEWS FROM USCIS

On Friday evening, USCIS announced that the agency will NOT consider “testing, treatment, nor preventative care (including vaccines, if a vaccine becomes available) related to COVID-19” in a public charge determination “even if such treatment is provided or paid for by one or more public benefits.” This announcement falls short of a much-needed public education campaign to ensure that individuals are not afraid to access life saving care because of potential immigration consequences. See below for our recommended messaging to immigrant families.

CORONAVIRUS MESSAGING

The PIF Campaign recommends against proactively connecting coronavirus and public charge. In light of efforts by anti-immigrant activists to link immigration with infectious disease, we prefer to focus communication elsewhere. Here are our recommendations for messaging to different audiences.

• FOR MEDIA. PIF’s Coronavirus talking points (also shared last week) are available here.

• FOR TWITTER. Our communications team has drafted some sample social media posts for partners to share. 

• FOR IMMIGRANT FAMILIES. Talking points for immigrant families are available here. We encourage you to lift these up through social media, ethnic media and in your additional community outreach/education efforts. The PIF “Know Your Rights, Protect Your Health” fact sheet also remains applicable and will soon be available in additional languages. 

• FOR THE HILL. Congressional negotiators are hard at work on legislation that will provide resources to expand access to screening and diagnosis for COVID-19, as well as nutrition supports to replace school meals when schools are closed and a new paid leave program. It's too soon to know what the final bill will say -- but PIF partners and allies are strongly advocating for the populations we care about. We ask that, in all efforts and negotiations, the health and well-being of all people are addressed. As soon as the bill is signed into law and we have final text, we will quickly share what resources there are for immigrants and their families.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES 

• CLASP: Policy Recommendations

• FRAC: Preparing for Impacts on Food Security

• Letter: 260 Civil Rights Organizations Call on Congress to Denounce Anti-Asian Racism around COVID-19 

• NHeLP: Blog on ACA attacks and Coronavirus

UPCOMING WEBINARS

Public Charge 101
March 17 at 1pm ET, 10am PT

Do you or your colleagues need a refresher or a first time overview of how the public charge test works today in the U.S. and abroad? If so, please join us for our live Public Charge 101 webinar. Experts from NILC and CLASP will describe the new public charge regulations in the U.S. and abroad and explain what you need to know if you work with immigrant families. We will also cover how you can take action and get more involved with the work of the PIF Campaign.

2020 Tax Issues for Immigrant Filers
March 24 at 2pm ET, 11am PT

With the 4/15 deadline for filing federal tax returns around the corner, the National Immigration Law Center and the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities invite tax practitioners, community-based organizations, constituent services staff, and low-income taxpayer clinics to join us on a webinar that will provide an overview of the current tax environment for immigrant tax filers. The webinar will address concerns about confidentiality of personal tax information, ITIN filing and renewals, and other issues facing immigrant tax filers.

Thank you for your continued partnership!

Madison Allen, Center for Law and Social Policy, &
Connie Choi, National Immigration Law Center

Visit us at https://protectingimmigrantfamilies.org/