Biden administration urges people in the country illegally to get a COVID vaccine
President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday encouraged people living in the country illegally to get the coronavirus vaccine when it’s available to them and that it will not hold enforcement activities at vaccination sites.
“It is a moral and public health imperative to ensure that all individuals residing in the United States have access to the vaccine,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. “DHS encourages all individuals, regardless of immigration status, to receive the COVID-19 vaccine once eligible under local distribution guidelines.”
The statement marks the first time DHS has encouraged people who are in the country illegally to get the COVID-19 vaccine, CNN reports. It also comes as some advocates have warned that fear among undocumented immigrants may prevent many from getting the vaccine.
Adonia Simpson, director of the Family Defense Program at Americans for Immigrant Justice, told HuffPost in January that there’s likely to be “continued concern” among people who are in the country illegally about if — when they get the vaccine — their information will be shared or if it will impact their immigration cases.
“There’s been a lot of mistrust in the government surrounding immigration, so the messaging is just going to have to come from trusted entities on the ground that are working with immigrant communities,” Simpson told the outlet.
The DHS said Monday it’s committed to “ensuring that every individual who needs a vaccine can get one, regardless of their immigration status.”
The statement said the Federal Emergency Management Agency will work to establish and support fixed vaccination facilities, pop-up or temporary vaccination sites and mobile vaccination clinics, and that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will not conduct enforcement operations at or near those sites.
“Consistent with ICE’s long-standing sensitive locations policy, ICE does not and will not carry out enforcement operations at or near health care facilities, such as hospitals, doctors’ offices, accredited health clinics and emergent or urgent care facilities, except in the most extraordinary of circumstances,” the statement says.
Some conservative lawmakers have pushed back against vaccinating people in the country illegally, The Hill reports.
In January, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, a Republican, said he did “not expect that illegal immigrants will be part of the vaccine with that program” when asked whether workers who are undocumented at Nebraska’s meatpacking facilities would be getting the shots, The Washington Post reported.
His comments sparked criticism and his office later clarified that immigrants would qualify for the vaccine but those “without legal status would have to wait at the back of the line,” according to the Post.
Experts, however, have emphasized the importance of vaccinating people who are undocumented.
A Pew Research study published in August estimated that, as of 2017, there were 10.5 million “unauthorized immigrants” living in the United States, or about 23% of the country’s “foreign-born population.”
The Kaiser Family Foundation, an organization that focuses on national health issues, said in January that noncitizens living in the U.S. face increased risks related to the pandemic.
“Many noncitizen immigrants work in essential jobs that are likely to be included in initial priority groups for COVID-19 vaccination, but they face a variety of potential barriers to obtaining the vaccine,” the foundation wrote. “As such, targeted efforts to reach noncitizen immigrants as part of vaccination efforts will be central for preventing disparities in vaccination.”
The KFF also said it’s important to ensure equitable access to the vaccine in general.
“Ensuring all individuals have access to the vaccine and achieving a high vaccination rate across communities will be necessary to mitigate the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic for underserved populations, prevent widening disparities going forward, and achieve broad population immunity,” the group said.
Last week, Biden signed a number of executive actions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, one of which established a COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force in charge of providing specific recommendations on “allocating resources and funding in communities with inequities in COVID-19 outcomes by race, ethnicity, geography, disability and other considerations,” the White House said.
The order also expands data collection on equity measures and increases access to supplies, therapies and vaccines in “underserved communities and high-risk settings.”
This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 2:47 PM with the headline "Biden administration urges people in the country illegally to get a COVID vaccine."
