ACTION ALERT: Ensure COVID-19 Relief for ALL

Contact your legislators today and urge them to make sure that all persons are eligible for COVID-19 relief, regardless of immigration status.

Excluding any groups from COVID-19 testing and economic relief hurts us all.

Under current law, there are multiple barriers preventing many immigrants from accessing Medicaid. Countless individuals who are undocumented (including around 60,000 AAPIs in Washington state), DACA recipients, people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS), trafficking survivors applying for U-visas, and others are excluded. Furthermore, because of the 1996 immigration welfare laws, almost all otherwise qualified immigrants cannot access Medicaid during their first 5 years in the country.

There is a narrow exception to this law for emergency Medicaid, but under our current law coronavirus testing does not meet the statutory definition of an emergency service. Testing under a new state option should be considered treatment for an emergency condition, which also avoids any public charge consideration.

Congress is also considering providing basic income to households across the U.S., but the current proposal limits eligibility to only U.S. citizens, excluding countless struggling immigrant families.

We are asking our communities to contact their members of congress and urge them to ensure that COVID-19 testing and economic relief will be available to all in the U.S., regardless of immigration status.

To call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard and be connected to your representative: (202) 224-3121
To find contact information for your representative: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

Thank you for helping to fight for the rights of our communities!