SENATE'S HEALS ACT LEAVES BEHIND IMMIGRANTS, STUDENTS, AND HATE CRIME VICTIMS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
28 July 2020
Contact: Matthew Nguyen-Ngo | Civil Rights Fellow
202.223.5500 | matthew.nguyen.ngo@ocanational.org
Washington, DC - OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates has insisted that the Senate adopt the HEROES Act stimulus that the House passed over two months ago. Instead, we are disappointed to see the Senate introduce comparatively anemic legislation that continues to exclude immigrants. In times of extraordinary strife, our leaders have a duty to ensure the health and safety of all Americans in need.
With over three months passed since receiving the CARES Act stimulus checks and with 1.4 million new jobless claims just in the last week, the Senate’s “HEALS Act” falls short of providing the necessary level of aid.
Whereas the HEROES Act provides Economic Impact Payments to immigrants with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) and adult dependents, the Senate’s proposal leaves behind 21 million ITIN-holding immigrants. These include 1.7 million undocumented Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and countless other AAPI ITIN holders.
The Senate’s proposal also fails to adequately protect public health. With a 215% increase in daily COVID case counts since early June, this is a completely unacceptable response. We know that Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are experiencing case rates several times higher than the general population, Asian Americans are suffering higher COVID fatality rates than the general population, and growing data shows that Black and Latinx communities are comprising a disproportionate amount of COVID-19 cases and deaths. But the Senate’s proposal leaves behind communities of color in many ways:
Immigrant Health Coverage: The HEROES Act includes 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, $75 billion for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing, and coverage for immigrants under Emergency Medicaid. On the other hand, the Senate’s proposal only provides $16 billion for testing and $26 billion for vaccine research. There is no mention of paid family and medical leave, and no mention of coverage for immigrants.
Workplace Discrimination Protection: The Senate’s version proposes liability protections for businesses, schools, healthcare providers, and nonprofits that violate COVID health standards, putting employees and customers at risk. Giving businesses immunity during a spike in hate incidents would also make it extremely difficult to hold negligent businesses accountable for safety violations and workplace discrimination.
Health and Safety in Schools: The Senate’s proposal endangers students, teachers, and parents by conditioning $105 Billion in relief aid on K-12 schools reopening for in-person classes. Three in four Americans believe it is unsafe to reopen schools at all, and four in ten say they would keep their children home if in-person classes resume in the fall.
Food Assistance and Hazard Pay: The HEROES Act increases maximum benefits levels for food assistance programs by 15% and sets aside $200 billion for hazard pay for essential workers. On the contrary, the Senate’s proposal fails to provide any funding towards food assistance programs for hungry families and hazard pay for essential workers.
Housing: The Senate’s proposal includes neither a moratorium on evictions, nor rental assistance. The HEROES Act provides a one-year moratorium on evictions and $100 billion in rental assistance.
The more comprehensive HEROES Act also includes the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act for hate crimes response and prevention and emergency protections for the upcoming elections, including universal access to absentee ballots. The continuing hate crimes and incidents against Asian Americans and multiple instances of voter suppression demonstrate how critical these measures are for Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
“We have already seen how the current health crisis and economic recession disproportionately harm AAPIs and other marginalized groups around the country,” says Executive Director Rita Pin Ahrens. “We cannot meet this critical moment with austerity and inaction. Both chambers of congress must come together around the HEROES Act, as we and many civil rights organizations have advocated for months.”
OCA–Asian Pacific American Advocates is a national civil rights organization dedicated to improving the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).
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