For the undocumented community COVID-19 has complicated an already stressful situation. It’s easy to see why one would worry about what personal information might be needed to get a test. David Strange, an immigration attorney at Wittenberg Law Firm, says that while he understands that fear hospitals and doctors office are safe spaces.
“Well, so of course, people in the United States without any status, they sort of live in this shadow of fear. But the government through ICE has said that hospitals and health clinics, things related to healthcare are quote unquote off limits. So, they're considered sensitive sites. And so a person going in for testing for example, are hospitalized. I don't think that there's much need for concern. And ICE is not going to be going in and looking for people at healthcare facilities.”
A student at Texas Tech University and DACA recipient, who due to her family’s citizenship status has asked to remain anonymous, so we’ll refer to her as M had this to say.
“I've heard a lot of stories of families being very scared about just going to be tested, what information they might need from them. Yeah, there's still a lot of fear within the immigrant community.”
Of course exposure isn’t the only reason someone who is undocumented might avoid health care facilities.
“I think the first thing that came to mind was whoa, if anybody in my family gets sick, we don't have healthcare insurance at the time. So I was really worried about them. They live in a big city, where there were a lot of more cases of COVID-19 there. Also with people not being able to work, I was really scared that my dad wouldn't be able to work anymore because he wouldn't be able to get a stimulus checks. Neither were we able to get a stimulus check because we are dependents. And so that was scary thinking, "Oh my God, well, what happens if none of us can work?"
Some of M’s fears subsided when it was revealed that everyone, including those who are undocumented, were eligible to be tested for the virus.
Strange adds that authorities want everyone who needs a test to get tested.
“I would say that the government would want people to, if they were feeling sick, thought they had the coronavirus, they would want people to go in and be treated. So the government is not going to take a position that would lead to a chill effect on people going in and seeking treatment. Because, that could lead to more coronavirus cases. And so that in part is why these are considered sensitive locations is because the government wants to contain this virus.”
COVID 19 has also further complicated the immigration process itself. According to the Justice Department’s website “all hearings in non-detained cases are postponed through, and including, Friday June 12.” This has created confusion around when hearings might be rescheduled. Strange says it isn’t clear what that process will look like moving forward.
“And then of course the Remain in Mexico policy for asylum seekers is just sort of turning out to be very chaotic and confusing. So people seeking asylum forced to remain in Mexico because of the immigration court postponements. They had previously been issued a notice appear. But now those notices to appear aren't good anymore, because the courts are closed. And so people are confused as to, when can we present our case? And that's very chaotic right now. And I don't know how that's going to play out. The government is giving. What to me is very confusing saying, "Well, if your date was such and such date well then show up at the border 30 days later. And we'll count that as your date." Which that is just going to lead to massive confusion, mass chaos.”
As the country and the rest of the world start to reopen Strange says there is another concern that might be on the government’s radar due to the global economic impact of COVID 19.
“Is there going to be a refugee rush because of this? I don't know. But there's some chatter expressing concern that there's going to be a huge influx of refugees coming up. That of course remains to be seen.”
He adds that there is also a fear of the reverse happening.
“Or, is there going to be a large number of people returning to their countries now, because of this economic impact? Meaning that influx of people going back? I don't know.”
For more of Texas Tech Public Media’s COVID-19 coverage visit: https://tv.kttz.org/news/local/covid19/
