Episode 32: The Insidious Impact of COVID-19 on Immigration

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Immigrant detention centers are bleak places in the best of times, but during a pandemic they are absolutely dangerous. And yet U.S. immigration enforcement has carried on as COVID-19 continues to spread, exacerbating the stress and anxiety that people who are non-citizens and/or undocumented already feel when dealing with a system that is unforgiving in its measures. This week activist Alejandra Pablos joins us to share her experience in one of these centers, in conversation with DPA’s Director of National Affairs Maritza Perez and DPA’s California State Director Jeannette Zanipatin. They examine how the drug war drives much of what’s happening at the federal, state, and local levels with immigration court and ICE raids, and share the urgent need for decarceration and calls for advocacy.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">This episode’s guests have listed some resources below for listeners who’d like to take a deeper dive.</span></em></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">This</span> <a href= "https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-help-immigrant-communities-coronavirus"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Teen Vogue article</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">contains various actions readers can take to help immigrants rights now, including actions around the #FreeThemAll campaign. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The</span> <a href= "https://hipgive.org/project/farmworkers-covid-19-pandemic-relief-fund/?fbclid=IwAR18eYZ5syYvg3PKQP_S40_bjfjsqHPIoEsjUYwMheygsUMb6YBEsBPL_TQ"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Farmworkers COVID-19 Pandemic Relief Fund</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">contributes directly to farmworkers who have been left out of Congressional relief packages.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Immigrant leaders with the Cosecha Movement launched a national immigrant worker fund to distribute immediate emergency relie