How Lack of Legal Status Worsens the Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Migration and the COVID-19 Crisis

Abstract

In this paper we document and trace how lacking legal status amplifies the negative consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic for undocumented individuals and their mixed-status families on several dimensions: health, children’s school performance, employment, savings, and depleted social network resources/ social resources. Undocumented immigrants and their families are among the most vulnerable people in the United States due to discrimination, fear of deportation, and their exclusion from the labor market and most formal institutions. Their vulnerability is, furthermore, transmitted to their partners and children, even when these are US-citizens, born in the country. A case in point was the CARES Act stimulus checks which were not given to any individual who paid taxes with an ITIN number nor to any individual or family where at least one member filed taxes under an ITIN. Another is the fear of accessing public services due to a family member’s legal status. The pandemic’s economic impact also the resources available through the dense social networks which immigrant communities rely on to compensate for their exclusion from institutions. These factors are compounded by the psychological problems mixed status families face due anxiety and depression...
We base our findings on a 50-question survey completed by 6,000 undocumented immigrants in New York City between June and August 2020. A follow-up survey of 1,000 individuals was conducted in December 2020. We also conducted multiple, purposefully stratified, in-depth interviews with undocumented immigrants in NYC about their experience with Covid-19 and the economic downturn. The surveys were carried out by an immigrant-serving non-profit in New York City, and co-designed by the authors of this paper and the non-profit. These are some of the most comprehensive surveys on undocumented immigrants’ experiences with Covid-19 to date.
Our findings will advance the understanding of exclusionary processes that undocumented immigrants face in the US. This work may also contribute to designing better outreach programs for these uniquely vulnerable families for future vaccine delivery and post-pandemic relief.

Authors

• Robert Courtney Smith, Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, Baruch College, and Sociology, Grad Center, CUNY

• Andres Besserer Rayas, The Graduate Center, City University of New York