Anthony Advincula. Ethnic Media Services [EMS].
New York, U.S.A. - Maribel Lapuz woke up at 4:30 a.m. on a Monday morning. The 46-year-old immigrant from the Philippines braved the sub-zero weather and took the train from Jersey City, N.J., to a nursing home in Brooklyn, N.Y., where she has worked six days a week as a caregiver since last February.
Thousands of miles away, Mario Ramirez has been driving from one house to another since 5 a.m., doing construction and plumbing work in Marietta, Georgia. Ramirez, a 52-year-old Mexican immigrant, has never missed a day of work since the pandemic began.
"When the Trump administration sent the $1,200 stimulus checks to workers, I didn't get them; I was ignored," Lapuz said,
"Someone like me in this country is not eligible for unemployment," Ramirez said. "That means I can't stop working to support my family, despite the risk of COVID-19."
Your situation may soon change.
Considered "essential workers" by the federal government, Lapuz and Ramirez are among the 5 million undocumented immigrants who could be rewarded with citizenship, and it could happen during the first days of the Biden-Harris administration.
Indispensable to American life and the American economy, essential undocumented workers are now at the center of an immigration plan being drafted by congressional Democrats and immigrant rights advocates, and being strenuously promoted by the incoming administration.
The new immigration legislation - found in the $1.9 billion COVID support bill Biden unveiled last week - will include granting citizenship to undocumented essential workers and decreasing the waiting time for U.S. citizenship.
"Essential workers, many of whom are undocumented immigrants, are unsung American heroes, risking their lives during this deadly pandemic to care for our communities and ensure food is on the table," said Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) in a recent virtual press conference. "I am working on legislation to immediately protect essential workers and their families from deportation and provide them with a fast-track path to citizenship."
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris spoke out publicly on the issue. She spoke last week with the Spanish-language television network Univision, and said that the incoming administration will automatically grant green cards not only to undocumented essential workers, but also to DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients, as well as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, and will shorten the time it takes to obtain U.S. citizenship by 5 years.
"The incoming administration has a golden opportunity to set things right and offer essential immigrant workers and their families relief from this pandemic, relief from persecution because of their immigration status, and relief from invisibility," said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights, on a press call hosted by America's Voice.
The pushback from Republicans has already begun. Lora Ries, former acting chief of staff for the Department of Homeland Security, told The Los Angeles Times that the legislation will create more problems.
"Such advantages will entice more people to enter the U.S. illegally to await eventual residency, undermining border security," Ries said.
This week, more than 6,000 Honduran migrants and asylum seekers have made their way north through Guatemala and Mexico. This caravan could represent a resurgence of such efforts, as Biden has vowed to reform President Trump's harsh immigration policies.
Some immigration advocates and scholars also question whether the next immigration plan has the right focus. If the Biden-Harris administration proposes to extend legalization opportunities to 5 million essential undocumented workers, what about the other 8 million undocumented immigrants?
"Millions of immigrant workers are on the front lines, risking their lives to keep our country functioning. The depth of this crisis requires urgent action," Mary Kay Henry, SEIU president, told America's Voice. "We can't beat the virus when millions of essential undocumented workers are locked out; providing [a fast track to citizenship] is the only way we will be able to address the pandemic."
Alex Padilla, the California Secretary of State who will replace Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in the U.S. Senate, defended the immigration plan for essential undocumented workers.
"It's not that we're not going to deal with other undocumented immigrants," Padilla said on the call with reporters. "Because of the urgency of help by COVID, it's better to act sooner rather than later."
Padilla referred to the immigration experience of his own parents, who came to California from Mexico in the 1960s. They never had a formal education, he said, and never had a day off; his father worked as a cook and his mother cleaned houses.
"But we were told that if we work hard and do well in school, we can do what we want to be. That's the American dream," he added. "After four years of [Trump's] constant attack on immigrant communities, the Biden-Harris administration will help us turn things around. I hope Congress and our nation will recognize that these [essential undocumented] immigrants stepped up when America needed them most and put themselves in harm's way during this deadly pandemic."
"I was thrilled when I heard this great news," Lapuz said in Jersey City, New Jersey. "But I can't help but worry that they're again sending out another false hope. I've been through this before."
"My family has been waiting for this moment. We risked our lives and helped this country survive the pandemic," Ramirez said. "We must no longer stay in the shadows. All my children were born here, this is our home."
