As Greater Proportion of Latino and Black Lives Are Unduly Lost in Pandemic, Hispanic Federation Urges Congress to Include in Next Relief Bill Million of Latinos/Puerto Ricans Left out in Earlier Packages

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As news reports detail the disproportionate loss of Latino and black lives in cities from New York to New Orleans and beyond because of the COVID-19 epidemic, Hispanic Federation advises Congress to provide substantive public economic and health support in the next legislative relief package now being negotiated.

In a letter to congressional leaders, Hispanic Federation President, Frankie Miranda, urged enactment of a relief bill that secures health and safety for all people, regardless of immigration status or geographic location, that makes assistance available for the duration of the economic downturn, and prioritizes support for nonprofits on the frontlines of this crisis.

The letter lauded Congress for taking a significant step in providing support under the last legislative package, the CARES ACT, totaling over $2 trillion. However, Miranda noted that “millions of Latinos in the U.S. and Puerto Rico were left out of key provisions of legislation passed to address the impacts of the coronavirus.” Low-income individuals and families, and communities of color, including immigrant and tribal communities, “face serious health risks and far greater economic vulnerability than those who went into the crisis with more resources,” the letter stated.

Hispanic Federation, a leading social service and advocacy organization with a network of hundreds of community-based health and human service agencies serving Latino communities, also called on Congress to provide at least $60 billion dedicated to the nonprofit sector for targeted formula grants and programs to ensure continuity of services. Currently, many nonprofits must “wait in line” behind for-profit businesses with existing financial relationships in order to apply for diminishing SBA loans to sustain the communities they serve.

Another area requiring greater attention is Puerto Rico, Hispanic Federation stated in its letter to congressional leaders. “Hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017, earthquakes this year, the federal government’s limited response to both, plus decades of exclusion from the full benefits of federal programs have dangerously undermined its health and mental health infrastructure” in the U.S. territory, home to over 3.2 million Americans, according to the letter, where 43% lived below the poverty line - even before extreme shelter in place orders resulted in even higher job loss and food insecurity.

The broader aid “is especially critical as data is beginning to emerge about racial disparities and the higher impact of the coronavirus infection rate and deaths in minority communities,” Miranda stated.

In addition to support for Puerto Rico, nonprofits and minority-owned small businesses, Hispanic Federation calls on Congress to include in subsequent relief bills more than four dozen provisions in the areas of: worker health and safety; expansion of safety net programs such as Medicaid and nutritional assistance programs (SNAP and NAP); additional funds to ensure children of farmworkers and English language learners have equal access to educational tools including broadband services; providing immigrants equal access to health and economic aid and releasing immigrants in jails and detention centers where the spread of the virus is high; emergency housing assistance; and fully funding states to prepare for a possible surge in voting by mail in the November General Election to ensure voters have access to safe and secure voting.

To read the Hispanic Federation letter to congressional leaders, click here.