Immigrant doctors practicing medicine in the U.S. are bracing for the deportations their families face if the doctors themselves die of COVID-19, reports Marty Johnson in The Hill. As one doctor put it: “It’s kind of weird that we are considered essential when it comes to saving lives, but we are considered nonessential when it comes to immigration purposes, and your family faces the risk of deportation if you die."

There are about 127,000 immigrant physicians in the U.S., making up almost 25% of all licensed physicians. Their visas “are tied to their employment, so if something happens and they become disabled or unable to work, their families, who are in the country on H-4 dependent visas, become subject to deportation.”

A couple of weeks ago, Dr. Amit Vashist of Ballad Health in Appalachia told me how this issue was playing out for foreign-born health care providers for an episode of “Only in America.”
Meanwhile, on a press call we hosted yesterday, faith and law enforcement leaders urged the Trump administration to immediately end its reported “binary choice” policy and release non-violent immigrant detainees amid the public health crisis.

Welcome to Friday’s edition of Noorani’s Notes. Have a story you’d like us to include? Email me at [email protected].
SUIT – A new class-action lawsuit argues that the Trump administration’s ban on legal immigration in response to COVID-19 unfairly separates parents from children who are almost 21 years old, Julia Ainsley reports in NBC News. “President Donald Trump's proclamation April 22 significantly curtailed legal immigration into the U.S., including limiting entry for immigrants' children who are 21 and older. The nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute estimates that the proclamation will affect more than 50,000 over 60 days.” That means those who are almost 21 are put into a new, non-prioritized category where visa wait times “can take up to 76 years, the lawsuit alleges.”
PRAYING FOR HECTOR – On the same day a federal judge put the deportation of Hector García Mendoza on hold to permit his lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), he was deported to Nuevo Laredo, a dangerous Mexican border town — and is now missing, reports Adolfo Flores in BuzzFeed News. His lawyers and family members are worried: “Nuevo Laredo has earned a reputation for being a city where immigrants are easily kidnapped, extorted, and assaulted by cartels. Deportees could also be targets if they're perceived as having access to family or friends with money in the U.S. …” In a statement, ICE said that Mendoza was ordered deported on May 4 and had waived his right to appeal the decision. However, an attorney for Mendoza said he “was not represented by an attorney and didn't realize what he was agreeing to during his last hearing.”

GOP LETTER TO TRUMP – Nine Republican senators are urging the Trump administration not to restrict temporary work visas, arguing that these visas will help with the nation’s economic recovery, reports J. Edward Moreno in The Hill. “‘Some of these struggling small businesses rely on labor that many Americans may not be qualified or able to perform, even in the aftermath of the pandemic, and some of these businesses operate in industry sectors that are not experiencing high unemployment — in contrast with the overall national unemployment figures — or in particular geographical locations where qualified labor is scarce,’ the senators wrote in a letter addressed to President Trump.” GOP senators Lindsey Graham (South Carolina.), John Cornyn (Texas), James Lankford (Oklahoma) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) are among those advocating for the visas.

VISA RESTRICTIONS AND OUR ECONOMY – The Trump administration’s plan to limit “high-skilled” immigration like H-1B visas and Optional Practical Training (OPT) is misguided, writes Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean at the Yale School of Management, in an op-ed on behalf of the Ellis Island Honors Society published in Fortune. “Such a policy shift would not only be deleterious to our nation, but an ill-founded solution to spiraling unemployment. … COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on all of us, but this crisis should not be used as an excuse to allow xenophobia to stifle our future growth.”

SOLE PROVIDER – As the Supreme Court prepares to decide next month whether the Trump administration has the authority to terminate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the coronavirus pandemic has made many DACA recipients their families’ sole providers, Jazmine Ulloa reports for The Boston Globe. College junior and political organizer Luz Chavez became the sole provider for her family after her siblings and both parents lost their jobs. “Overnight, it seemed, Chavez became one of likely hundreds of DACA recipients who are now the sole breadwinners in their households, with parents denied federal stimulus checks and other coronavirus relief because they are not legal residents.”

UTAH – In Utah, Hispanics and Latinos make up 14.2% of the population but 38% of the state’s current COVID-19 cases, report Sofia Jeremias and Kim Bojórquez for Deseret News. The story profiles Veva, whose husband has been hospitalized with COVID-19, and whose 21-year-old daughter is currently serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The family is undocumented and does not have health insurance. “Veva said the hospital where her husband is staying has begun to ask her how she plans to pay for his treatment.”
INTERFAITH BONUS – Interfaith Radio, the nation’s leading religion news magazine on public radio, is taking a look at the faith approach of the #AllofUS campaign. I chatted with Amber Khan of Interfaith Voices about the role of the immigrant community in the response and recovery to COVID-19, and the importance of faith communities in advocating for them.
Stay safe, stay healthy,
Ali