Undocumented workers have been particularly hard-hit by COVID-19’s economic fallout, writes Eric Martin for Bloomberg, and as service industry opportunities disappear, those workers face a “double hit of unemployment and lack of access to safety social net programs.” Combined with the Trump administration’s hardline policies, this could mean a sharp decrease in the country’s undocumented population — a workforce that contributes about 3% of the U.S. GDP annually.

Two undocumented workers who were laid off from jobs in the restaurant industry spoke to Patricia Escárcega at the Los Angeles Times about their struggles without unemployment benefits: “It feels like I’m fighting for my life with my hands tied behind my back,” said Tony Ruiz, a 31-year-old former line cook from Mexico whose parents brought him to the U.S. when he was an infant. The Pew Research Center estimates that about 10% of the restaurant industry workforce — more than a million workers — are undocumented.

Welcome to Monday’s edition of Noorani’s Notes. Have a story you’d like us to include? Email me at [email protected].

RUNNING OUT OF MONEY – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) says it could run out of money by this summer without a lifeline from Congress, reports Hamed Aleaziz of BuzzFeed News via Twitter. The agency depends on fees to stay afloat and has seen a drastic drop in revenue as applications for green cards, citizenship, and other programs have plummeted. Now, it may have to consider cutting staffers who provide those benefits, as well as naturalizations, asylum, and more. “Critics blamed the Trump administration’s stringent policies, which have caused backlogs, red tape and application denials to skyrocket, for dissuading an untold number of people from applying for visas and other immigration benefits,” writes Miriam Jordan in The New York Times.

“I DON’T CARE IF YOU DIE” – Before Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejía died of COVID-19 in federal custody earlier this month, he and other ICE detainees were reminded of a constant message from the U.S government, writes Elket Rodríguez in a blog piece for Fellowship Southwest: “I don’t care if you die.” Rodríguez, the immigrant and refugee advocacy and missions specialist for the Cooperative Bapsitst Fellowship and Fellowship Southwest, continues: “Instead of providing sick immigrants with medical attention they desperately need, ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] has shipped them back to their countries with the COVID-19 symptoms — not only denying them care, but also exporting their disease.”

“MY SON IS IN DANGER” – Meanwhile, a man in U.S. Marshal custody died while battling COVID-19 inside the Joe Corley Processing Center in Conroe, Texas, where fellow detainees reported cramped, inhumane conditions, Elizabeth Trovall reports for Houston Public Media. The two fellow detainees pointed to “poor medical care, minimal protective equipment, and unsanitary and crowded dorms.” And Noe Perez, a Salvadoran immigrant in ICE custody, is among at least 149 ICE detainees who have contracted the coronavirus at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in the San Diego area, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez at CBS News. “I’m very worried about my son. My son is in danger,” Noe’s mother Laura told CBS. “We are all human beings. They are not animals. But they treat them like animals. They don’t care about these boys.” At least 986 immigrants have tested positive for COVID-19 while in ICE custody, according to the agency's latest tally.

GOLDEN STATE RELIEF – California’s more than two million undocumented immigrants can begin applying for financial relief under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants Project, Jacqueline Garcia reports for CalMatters. As we’ve previously mentioned in the Notes, the $75 million program is for “undocumented adults who are not eligible for other forms of government assistance, such as unemployment benefits and federal stimulus checks.” Eligible recipients can receive up to $1,000 per household.

“OUR SECRET WEAPON” – Hui Li, whose family immigrated from rural China when she was 12, is now on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic as a Public Health Emergency incident commander with the U.S. Air Force, reports Anna Bolton for Ohio’s Fairborn Daily Herald.  “Having such diversity in the Air Force is what makes us unique and strong,” said Li. “It’s our secret weapon that gives us a leg up with the competition. … As an immigrant girl from China, to have the opportunity in the Air Force to learn and grow and help fight a pandemic, that’s pretty interesting … and that’s what diversity gets you.”

Thanks for reading,

Ali