Immigrants are standing with native-born Americans, many as frontline workers, as we continue to fight a pandemic that now tops 5 million cases in the U.S. But in the wake of congressional deadlock and the president’s executive actions on COVID-19 relief over the weekend, immigrants and citizens alike are getting lost in the shuffle.

Effective relief from Congress and the president would encourage testing and treatment for all — regardless of immigration status — and address health care worker shortages by allowing more immigrant doctors and nurses to help with the COVID-19 response. And it would support the nearly 2 million U.S. citizens married to immigrants without Social Security numbers, not to mention their children, as Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) have proposed. The original CARES Act bars these families from relief, and Rubio and Tillis’s bill would amend it to make them eligible. (More on this in the first item below.)

Good morning and welcome to Monday’s edition of Noorani’s Notes. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s Interim VP of Strategic Communications, and I’ll be taking over the Notes while Ali is on vacation. Have a story you’d like us to include? Email me at [email protected].

‘ECONOMICALLY DEVASTATING’ – William Kunkler III, a major Republican donor and co-chair of the American Business Immigration Coalition, has penned an op-ed for The Hill calling on GOP senators to eliminate what he calls the “marriage penalty” — the omission of mixed-status families from COVID-19 relief. “The marriage penalty is economically devastating, especially for the states hit the hardest by COVID-19,” Kunkler writes. “In Arizona alone, correcting this injustice would immediately inject more than $51 million into the local economy.” He also points to the political risk of excluding these families: “Not only is the GOP making the affirmative decision to deny an important relief to large numbers of U.S. citizens — and voters — in politically impactful states, this policy offends the basic sense of fairness to all Americans.”

NOT WANTED – Despite parades and other vibrant efforts aimed at encouraging Latinos to complete the 2020 census, many in low-income communities told Miriam Jordan of The New York Times that only one message has broken through: “Your participation is not wanted.” Last week, the Census Bureau announced it will halt counting responses on September 30, four weeks earlier than planned, “cutting short door-knocking, which begins nationwide on August 11, and the time that people have to submit responses online, over the phone or and by mail.” And as advocates rush to reach poorer communities and those home to high numbers of undocumented immigrants, Latinos say they are still worried their participation will only land them in the “crosshairs” of immigration enforcement. “We were told that we should be counted,” said Maria Garcia, who has lived in the country with her husband for two decades. “But then, just recently, we heard that the president doesn’t want us to be counted, and we’re worried that we could be deported if we participate.”

‘NO BLANKS’ – Among the most arbitrary of the Trump administration’s countless changes to the U.S. immigration system is the “no blanks” policy, which allows U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to reject citizenship applications unless every field is filled in, Catherine Rampell opines in The Washington Post: “No address given for your parents because they’re dead? No work history dates because you’re an 8-year-old kid? All real cases, all rejected.” As of late June, USCIS is apparently extending the policy to U visas, which are for crime victims who are assisting with an investigation or prosecution. Law enforcement officials, in addition to visa seekers themselves, will be required to complete and sign a form in compliance with the “no blanks” policy in order to secure a U visa. “Immigration attorneys say that even when they have good relationships with law enforcement, completing these certifications can require months of nudging, cajoling, and begging,” Rampell writes. The rule is a “huge waste of resources,” especially at a moment when USCIS is already “going broke.”

OUT OF MANY, ONE – Former president George W. Bush announced last week that he is working on a book of paintings of 43 immigrants, “Out of Many, One,” to honor “new Americans who have contributed to the cultural richness, economic vitality, entrepreneurial spirit, and renewed patriotism of our country.” The book, coming out in March 2021, is available for preorder and will be accompanied by an exhibit of the portraits at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in the spring.

Thanks for reading,

Dan