For the past three and a half years, the Trump administration has attempted to make life impossible for immigrants living in the United States, while at the same time making it difficult for people to seek refuge in the United States. Banning Muslims (open in new tab), placing children in cages (open in new tab), increasing funding for immigration enforcement and ICE raids (open in new tab), and ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) programs (open in new tab), enforcement of public prosecution rules (open in new tab), and other truly extreme anti-immigration policies.

On June 18, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled against President Trump's racist decision to end DACA (open in new tab). After massive backlash, the White House was also forced to halt efforts to deport aliens with student visas (opens in new tab) if the university only offers online classes. Since the Supreme Court ruling, despite Trump's attacks on DACA (opens in new tab), immigrant youth are here to stay.

But the fight continues. Immigrants and people of color are not only under attack by this administration, they are also among those hardest hit by COVID-19 (open in new tab). According to a report in The New York Times (opens in new tab), Latinos and blacks are three times as likely as whites to be infected with COVID-19 and nearly twice as likely to die from the virus: in April 2020, 20% of Latinas and 16% of black women were unemployed, compared and 14.7% of the general population (opens in new tab) were unemployed.COVID-19 is widening the longstanding health and economic disparities (opens in new tab) that put us all at risk.

In the midst of all this, immigrant women and our families continue to work on the front lines of this crisis, risking their lives to make ends meet and keep us all safe. Immigrants make up approximately 16.5% (open in new tab) of all health care workers in the United States, and one in eight registered nurses (open in new tab) are immigrant women. One in five food sector workers (open in new tab) are also immigrants, dying without proper protective clothing while providing us with food (open in new tab). And there are over 2 million domestic workers, the majority of whom are women of color and immigrants (open in new tab), who face severe economic and health insecurity with little protection.

One of the domestic workers facing this crisis is Magdalena, an undocumented mother of three. Magdalena has lived in the U.S. for over 20 years and currently lives in Northern California with her husband and three U.S. citizen children. She and her husband make a living by working in the garden and cleaning houses. Like many undocumented families, their income has been cut in half since the pandemic began.

Magdalena's family is trying to limit their spending to reduce their bills because they do not know when they will have regular income again. Magdalena has expressed concern that immigrants are being left out of coronavirus relief plans like the CARES Act (open in new tab) that President Trump signed into law in late March.

"Families like mine don't get any help from the federal government," she says. 'My U.S. citizen children don't even qualify for assistance because I am an illegal immigrant. That is wrong."

Like Magdalena, Karen R. and her mother also face financial disaster. Karen works as a special education kindergarten teacher for deaf children in Austin, Texas. She is one of approximately 15,000 teachers (opens in new tab) and more than 200,000 key workers (opens in new tab) who are DACA recipients.

Even as schools grapple with how to continue educating their children this fall, Karen has not stopped fighting for her students. She advocates for students to have access to laptops and tablets for their education. She cares deeply about her students and is committed to helping all children communicate with their families and receive a quality education.

Karen is currently financially supporting an undocumented mother who is unable to make ends meet due to the pandemic; with President Trump's latest memo attacking DACA (open in new tab), Karen's future is once again in limbo.

In addition to the pandemic, immigrants, both undocumented and undocumented, face government attacks, barriers to receiving the stimulus package, and the burden of an unequal healthcare system. With no relief in sight, the House of Representatives passed the HEROES Act (open in new tab) more than 10 weeks ago. If signed into law, the act will provide direct assistance and relief from the hardships of the pandemic to all immigrants, regardless of their immigration status.

The Republican-led Senate has not brought the HEROES Act to a vote. Instead, they announced their own plan (open in new tab) last week: the HEALS Act (open in new tab) would double down on the exclusion of immigrants (open in new tab), including children of undocumented US citizens, rather than prioritize relief for hardworking families. At the same time, it cuts unemployment insurance, does not extend eviction protection, does not enforce worker safety provisions, does not fund secure elections, and does not adequately fund health care. Senate Republicans have made it a priority to terrorize immigrants and protesters by contributing $1.6 billion to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). They also ensure that corporations are not held accountable when their negligence costs workers their lives.

The HEROES Act is a good first step for immigrants like Karen and her mother, Madgalena, but as we enter the sixth month of the pandemic, we need more (open in new tab) legislation. The American people must reject the Senate's cruel proposals and demand that Congress put people before profits, without exception. The bill includes health care, unemployment insurance, housing protection, direct assistance, and workplace protections.

If we work together and support one another, we can overcome this crisis. Immigrants are putting their lives on the line to provide for their families and move our communities forward. Now is the time for the federal government to have our backs.