Updated Resources & Upcoming Webinar for Health Care Providers 

Dear Allies,

In today’s newsletter we are sharing updated resources in response to last week’s litigation news. We also want to highlight some great new resources and opportunities from our partners. 

Last week, a federal appellate judge narrowed the nationwide preliminary injunction issued by the federal district court for the Southern District of New York to the Second Circuit. For now, the DHS public charge regulations cannot be applied in New York, Connecticut and Vermont but can be applied elsewhere. The judge’s decision will be reviewed by a three judge panel. For more details on the current state of play, please review our “What Advocates Need to Know” fact sheet. We have also updated our public and community-facing messages in light of the latest news. 

The cases challenging the merits of the DHS rule are continuing. And a nationwide injunction preventing implementation of the State Department’s public charge rules and the President’s Health Insurance Proclamation are still in effect. We will continue to keep you updated as litigation moves forward. 

Last week, the ACLU of Texas Border Rights Center, the National Immigration Law Center, and Physicians for Human Rights published a guide for hospitals and healthcare providers, “Health Care Providers: Preserve Access to Care and Protect Your Patients from Border Patrol and ICE Interference.” The guide provides information to hospitals, medical centers, community health centers, health care professionals, medical associations, and advocates related to sensitive locations, rights of health care providers and their patients, and recommended policies providers can put in place to protect their patients’ ability to access care. The groups are also hosting a webinar on August 20 for healthcare workers and administrators to learn more about how to protect patients and ensure access to care without fear or discrimination. Please register here.

In the United States, deep inequities, rooted in a history of exploitation and maltreatment of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), are making the COVID crisis worse. Intersecting communities of people, including people with disabilities, LGBTQ individuals, and women, have been systematically “otherized” to the detriment of their health. Our friends at The National Health Law Program have published a very thoughtful health equity blog series that focuses on the grave health inequities in the U.S. There’s a lot of excellent content, including several blogs focused on health inequities in specific immigrant communities. 

Last week, 82 Members of Congress sent a letter, led by Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), to leaders of both the House and Senate urging them to include support and protections for immigrants in the next COVID-19 relief legislation.  However, both the House and Senate have left Washington for their August recess without a deal on an additional COVID relief package. 

Here’s a reminder on where things stand in the negotiations:

• The House has passed the expansive Heroes Act which includes many of PIF’s priorities for an immigrant-inclusive package;

• The Senate Republicans introduced the HEALS Act which falls well short of what is needed to support individuals during the pandemic and includes none of the provisions that immigrants need for their health and economic security; and

• The President signed a series of four executive orders. These actions did not provide any funding for a second round of stimulus checks and did nothing to help immigrant families survive the health and economic crisis.

Congress must act in order to ensure that health and economic supports are available to everyone. But at the moment, the path forward is unclear. Advocates and champions continue to push Senate and House leadership to move quickly and vote on a bill to protect the U.S. Postal Service against changes that advocates worry will hinder vote-by-mail efforts this election season. But there is no indication Senator McConnell will bring the Senate back to vote on the USPS provisions -- or on any COVID relief bill. Continuing to keep up the drumbeat on the need for an inclusive COVID relief bill is critical to ensure that immigrants are included whenever Congress turns back to this work.

Thank you for your continued partnership!

Madison Allen (CLASP) & Eddie Carmona (NILC)

Visit us at https://protectingimmigrantfamilies.org/