JEFF LE: Immigrants’ efforts make us safer, bolster economy

“We’re so scared,” — words that I’ve never heard my folks say until last week. These are the same parents that fled Vietnam on a 32-foot raft across waters and into refugee camps before arriving to America with nearly nothing.

As chicken farmers in southern Georgia, that’s how they feel in COVID-19 Georgia as the state’s cases have ballooned past 226,000, 4,500+ deaths, and hitting its highest single-day fatalities this month. The pandemic has stretched Georgia’s schools, small businesses, family-run farms and restaurants, and hospitals to the brink.

My parents aren’t just scared of the virus, but they’re also worried about growing anger directed at them and other immigrants — even when working immigrants risk their lives so that we can grab dinner or have loved ones supported in assisted living.

We’re in war and immigrants are on the frontlines. Along with leading our small businesses, staffing our supermarkets, they’re taking care of our family in hospitals and serve as the backbone for research and development for medical breakthroughs – which will include the future COVID-19 vaccine.

To ensure our economy stays open and that America wins the global vaccine race, we must do more to protect our immigrants through inclusive policies rather than harmful ones. Instead of recognizing immigrant contributions to our country, President Trump restricted entry of many foreign workers and immigrants seeking green cards for permanent residency in June, claiming these moves would protect workers amid the downturn. This is simply untrue.

During the pandemic, many essential businesses and restaurants boost our economy and provide key services for you and your family. In fact, nearly half of all immigrant-owned startups nationwide are in food, retail, accommodation and services.

According to the American Immigration Council, immigrants make up 10% of Georgia’s population, they sparked “$1.8 billion in business revenue and over 88,290 immigrant businesses accounted for 17% of all self-employed Georgia residents in 2018.” This means immigrants generate jobs. Targeting immigrants during this pandemic, which has seen the largest drop in business owners on record by 3.3 million in March and April, reduces jobs and doesn’t grow opportunities. There is such concern that this will damage our communities that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is suing the administration for fear that these restrictions will outsource jobs and halt growth.

And what about our hospitals? Even before COVID-19, 17% of Georgia’s doctors were foreign-born, helping to fill the growing physician shortage that is expected to skyrocket above 120,000 by 2030. This gap is even more obvious in rural Georgia, where nine counties have zero doctors and 60 counties are without a single pediatrician. According to the Association of Rural Hospitals, rural Georgia has a higher percentage of immigrant doctors than cities, but we need more of the world’s doctors in rural Georgia — not less — to protect our most vulnerable. And this is before COVID-19.

Immigrant contributions are also felt in the vaccine race. While the Food and Drug Administration has attempted to accelerate development of new COVID-19 treatments, it’s the 132,000 immigrant researchers — 25% of America’s biomedical workers — who are developing these vaccines and medicines. The Trump administration’s June restrictions on researchers has meant that we’re falling behind our global competitors. Do you want another country to discover the vaccine before we can?

To reverse these actions, here’s what you can do. Write or call your member of Congress and ask for five policies to acknowledge how immigrants’ efforts make us safer and bolster our economy:

Fast Track Essential Workers: Fast track the immigration process for essential to the pandemic response and recovery efforts, including health care workers, medical researchers, military service members, and farm workers.

Expanding Health Care Eligibility: Expand health coverage to DREAMers, 800,000 young undocumented immigrants who arrived at a young age beyond their control, following the Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold the program. We should also lift the five-year waiting period for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program eligibility for low-income legal immigrants.

End the Green Card Freeze: Award visas for permanent, employment-based immigration.

Labor Standards: Set clear standards to protect all workers during an infectious disease outbreak.

Vaccines for All: Make COVID-19 testing, treatment, and any future vaccines free to everyone, regardless of standing and status.

To overcome this crisis, we must generate jobs, save lives, and find the cure we need desperately. To be sure, immigrants are doing their part for our national security, and we need policies to support families, like my parents, to rebuild a stronger Georgia and America without fear.