150+ Groups Urge Senate to Take Action

Dear Allies,

As we continue to see the nation’s COVID case rate rise, it is more urgent than ever for individuals to have access to the health care and benefits they need and deserve. This week, we are sharing a reminder about resources to help eligible individuals claim their stimulus payments before the new November 21 deadline and an update on our COVID relief sign-on letter to the Senate.

Since drafting our sign-on letter to the Senate just a few weeks ago, the nation has tragically lost another 20,000 individuals to COVID-19. As the nation’s official COVID-19 death toll now passes 220,000 and more than 13 million Americans remain unemployed, the PIF campaign continues to demand that the Senate prioritize a COVID relief package over continuing the SCOTUS confirmation process. We received over 150 sign-ons to our letter, many of them members of the PIF network like you. Thank you to all of our partners who joined us in sending this letter to Capitol Hill -- you can read our press release here. For those groups who signed on, you’re welcome to use PIF’s press release as a template for your own media outreach.

We are quickly approaching the November 2 deadline for public comments on DHS’s Affidavit of Support NPRM published earlier this month. You can submit your comment here. As a reminder, the proposed rule would make it harder to become a sponsor and, therefore, harder for immigrants to get green cards, and ultimately citizenship. Check out this PIF fact sheet for more information about access to public benefits for immigrants with sponsors. 

Eligible individuals now have until November 21 to file for their Economic Impact Payment (“stimulus payments”). Although the CARES Act excluded millions of immigrants and their U.S. citizen family members from stimulus payments, there are still many immigrant families who are eligible for the payments but have not claimed them. Below is a list of resources to help you spread the word and make sure that families don’t miss the upcoming deadline on November 21.

• Use the Get It Back Campaign’s suite of outreach resources to create a strategy and conduct outreach efforts that you can achieve in these final weeks, including customizable social media graphics and posts, an email template, and information flyer, which is available in multiple languages. 

• Our partners at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP)  have a toolkit in English and Spanish with resources to support state outreach to non-filers eligible for stimulus payments. 

• Virtual sources of support are available for anyone who has more questions or needs other support through the process. United Way’s 211 EIP Helpline (1-844-322-3639) provides live assistance to help people complete the form and answer questions about eligibility.

If you have questions about public charge implications, please see the PIF campaign’s quick reference guide on immigrant eligibility for public programs during COVID-19 (also available in Spanish).

We recently shared resources on our website geared towards community engagement. Here are our specialized community engagement and education resources:

• Navigating Public Charge: Best practices in community based organizations to mitigate harm for the immigrant community (see also, Executive Summary).

• PIF Education Toolkit: A collection of tools for community and partner education about public charge. This education packet includes template versions of PIF material that you can adapt to your audience and brand with your organization’s logo. Material addresses both public charge and COVID-19.

• Train-the-Trainer Toolkit Request Form: Receive resources to build a public charge program to train others to educate their communities about public charge.

• Washington Post – Columnist Catherine Rampell says public charge is one reason 1M+ kids have become uninsured under Trump.

• Washington Post – Hon. Barrett dodges Sen. Hirono’s questions about the real-world consequences of public charge.

In Solidarity,

Eddie Carmona & Renato Rocha, on behalf of the PIF Team

Visit us at https://protectingimmigrantfamilies.org/