Immigrant Essential Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In the United States, immigrants make up more than 18 percent of the essential workforce and played pivotal roles in getting all Americans through the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21. The Immigrant Learning Center's report Immigrant Essential Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic finds that despite their significant contribution, immigrants were put at unnecessarily high risk of contracting the virus, put in welfare blind spots and were prevented from making their full contribution. The authors find that local/state and federal policies aimed at providing relief and protection to workers during the pandemic did not include a large portion of the immigrant essential workers. Immigrant essential workers suffered from misinformation, language barriers, and fear of being unfairly targeted by the community and the government. The report argues for more adequate initiatives at the intersection of community-government partnerships to better accommodate immigrant essential workers’ needs.