Impacts of COVID-19 on refugees and immigrants in the United States: A call for action

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis has increasingly exerted a disproportionate impact on the lives of migrant populations. A group of interdisciplinary migration experts convened a round table in June 2020, to discuss the numerous challenges faced by immigrants, refugees, and migrants in the United States. The discussion revealed many social inequities, including insufficient financial and social resources, non-existent or minimal health supports, lack of or inadequate access to community supports, and social and racial discrimination, among other difficulties. To promote social justice and encourage research, the ensuing essay is a call for action to stimulate and build knowledge about social work and public health issues as they relate to the needs of immigrants, refugees, and migrant populations in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Experience of discrimination during COVID-19 pandemic: the impact of public health measures and psychological distress among refugees and other migrants in Europe

“…These may be summarized within three groups: (1) cultural barriers, including mental health stigma and knowledge of dominant models of health; (2) structural barriers, including scarce culturally and linguistically accessible information, unstable accommodation, and financial strain; and (3) barriers specific to the migrant experience, including the consequences of postponement of decisions on their legal status, resettlements, or border closures. In spite of worldwide calls to action for inclusion of refugees and other migrants in the pandemic response [ 5 , 6 ], there have been reports of increased stigmatization and xenophobia across the world since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic [ 7 , 8 ]. Skovdal et al [ 9 ] argue that this may be explained by how risk communication about COVID-19 constructs new social norms about how to act and behave in public, which may inadvertently contribute to a blaming and shaming of those who are unable to comply.…”

Essential but Excluded: Using Critical Race Theory to Examine COVID-19 Economic Relief Policies for Undocumented US Workers

“…Given that undocumented workers may be fearful of seeking the limited forms of economic support for which they may be eligible due to possible retribution by immigration enforcement authorities, policymakers on the local, state, and federal level should explicitly denounce public charge rhetoric and expunge dehumanizing language from legislation in order to regain the lost trust of the undocumented population (Rafieifar et al, 2021). When local, state, and federal policies and political leaders do engage in unjust, dehumanizing language and storytelling, social workers at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels should engage in critical policy analysis (Romich & Rodriguez, 2021).…”

“…Social workers must engage in policy discourse and provide an argument for policies that are affirmative of human rights (Hermansson et al, 2020). At the time of writing this article, there was active discussion in the fields of law (Golden Gate University School of Law, 2021; Lahoud, 2021) and policy (Rojo & Guzman, 2021;Gomez & Meraz, 2021) about the injustice of current economic relief policies, but very little in the field of social work (Cross & Gonzalez Benson, 2021;Rafieifar, 2021). Yet, the field of social work aspires to provide a critical and social justice-minded perspective that considers systems of oppression, power dynamics, and human rights, and this perspective can contribute to interdisciplinary synergy for socially just economic policy development (Romich & Rodriguez, 2021).…”

Patient Navigation Based Care-delivery to Reduce Inequities in Cancer Care Among Immigrants and Refugees: A Commentary on the Successes and the Unmet Needs.

“…19 The above SDOH specific to IPRs were further exacerbated during the pandemic with loss of job/economic insecurity, high population density, public transport dependency, high contact risk jobs, comorbidities, poor digital health access, fear/xenophobia, and loss of insurance. 20,21 More specifically cancer patients have been significantly affected by the pandemic as evidenced by the World Health Organization reporting significant disruptions in cancer care early in the pandemic, delaying diagnosis, therapy, and clinical trials. 22,23 A retrospective cross-sectional study conducted by Hsueh et al demonstrated that limited English proficiency was associated with lower video visit usage.…”