Manny Diaz, the former mayor of Miami and a Cuban immigrant, is calling on Congress to ensure that immigrants can access COVID-19 medical care. He writes in the Tampa Bay Times, “As members of Congress negotiate the next COVID-relief package, they must include a line that ensures COVID-related services are available under emergency Medicaid, so that immigrant eligibility requirements do not apply. Until we have that clarity, there will continue to be barriers, confusion, and lack of care — and we will continue to be behind on slowing the spread of this virus and protecting Floridians and people all over the country.” He points out that about 2 million essential workers in hard-hit Florida are immigrants, according to Center for Migration Studies data.

Ensuring access to care is all the more important given that immigrants, especially noncitizen immigrants, face substantially higher health and economic risks amid the pandemic, according to Samantha Artiga and Matthew Rae in a new report for the Kaiser Family Foundation. Nearly one in four of the nation’s 13 million noncitizen workers hold jobs that cannot be done virtually, according to the report. Noncitizens are also more likely to take public transportation, live in large households and urban areas, and lack insurance.

Good morning and welcome to Wednesday’s edition of Noorani’s Notes. Have a story you’d like us to include? Email your guest host at [email protected].

RELIEF — It bears repeating that 2 million American citizens did not receive coronavirus stimulus checks because someone in the family lacks a Social Security number, as Tim Padgett of WLRN in Miami reports. The government is “effectively punishing a U.S. citizen for who they are married to,” said Clara Discua, a native-born American whose husband is not a U.S. citizen. Discua, a medical assistant whose work has been limited this year because she would be at high risk from COVID-19, added, “It represents to me that they don’t think that all citizens are equal.” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio introduced legislation, co-sponsored by fellow Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, that would provide relief for these families.

DISPLACED — Thousands remain homeless in Iowa, including up to 1,200 refugees in Cedar Rapids, after last week’s derecho brought hurricane-force winds. Lee Rood of the Des Moines Register writes that meeting housing needs “has been difficult because Cedar Rapids did not have a well-organized refugee-led group to communicate to city officials and other nonprofits the needs of community members.” This week community members formed the Emerging Communities Relief Coalition to consider the needs of their refugee neighbors and begin collecting donations for relocation.

HOUSING — The city of Dallas, where a quarter of the 1.3 million residents are foreign-born, must support immigrant integration by addressing affordable housing, Dianne Solis reports in the Dallas Morning News: “Housing affordability and rent burdens are high, segregation is persistent and upward mobility for low wage-earners lacks traction.” That’s one finding in a new study from the University of Texas at Austin, whose authors recommend that the city create “pathways to homeownership,” strengthen workforce development through language and skills training, and more. “Historically, strong immigrant communities have added value and culture to communities like Dallas’ own Oak Cliff. Investing in these communities can revitalize these neighborhoods without relying on tactics that encourage gentrification and displacement,” the study reads.  

STORYTELLER — Ephraim Bugumba is using TikTok to share his love of music and his story as a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo with at least 1.7 million views, writes Lauren Leazenby of the Chicago Tribune. Bugumba and his family traveled through refugee camps in Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique, then settled in South Africa before eventually moving to the suburbs of Chicago. Along the way, Bugumba turned to music for joy and to learn about the culture of each country: “I lost a lot of my childhood. I lost a lot of experience of being a free human being, but it definitely added a love of music, an understanding of how spiritual and magical music actually is.” 

BLACK IMMIGRANTS’ EXPERIENCES — The Black Lives Matter movement has highlighted the experiences of Black people in America, but Black immigrants’ experiences have received less attention. Enter D.C. restaurant Immigrant Food, which devotes the August edition of its monthly Think Table to Black voices in the immigrant conversation. The interview video and articles are well worth your time, and the “By the Numbers” infographics are easy to, ahem, digest.

Thanks for reading, 

Dan