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Millions of Undocumented Workers Left Out of Coronavirus Stimulus Plan; Dozens of Immigrants on Hunger Strike at Northwest Detention Center

HeadlineMar 30, 2020

Millions of undocumented workers have been left out of the government stimulus plan as they face some of the highest rates of job loss. Immigrant rights groups are also warning Trump’s so-called public charge rule, which allows officials to deny green cards and visas to immigrants who use public benefits, has left some too scared to seek medical help.

Dozens of immigrants at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, have been on hunger strike since Friday to protest their continued imprisonment at the for-profit facility, owned by GEO Group. This is a striking immigrant prisoner.

Striking immigrant prisoner: “We’re just asking for deportations to be postponed while the pandemic passes. We are not asking for anything more. I think we are human. We are not animals to be treated as the worst thing in this country. We are asking for a humanitarian visa.”

In other immigration news, a federal judge in Los Angeles has urged the government to work to release imprisoned immigrant children amid the worsening coronavirus outbreak.

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