OKPOLICY.ORG
On March 6, 2020, Oklahoma reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19 and declared a statewide emergency 10 days later. As the pandemic now enters its third year, Oklahomans continue grappling with the impact of lives lost and the immense disruptions it has created. OK Policy will be reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts and challenges. Our hope is that this will highlight opportunities for collaborative decision-making, future improvements, and prosperity for all Oklahomans.
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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has hit immigrants disproportionally hard. While many U.S. citizens had access to a social safety net that could cushion the impact of unemployment and hospitalizations caused by the virus, immigrants often did not have these same resources available to them. Immigrants have had to bear the pandemic without much federal aid due to complicated rules around eligibility for public benefit programs, limited access to health care, economic limitations, and a variety of other factors. At the state level, Oklahoma did comparatively little to support immigrants as well. However, many immigrant-led and immigrant-serving organizations and individual municipalities in Oklahoma stepped up to fill the gaps in services to our communities and make sure immigrants and their families did not have to bear the pandemic alone.
Local organizations take the lead
Reflective of the diversity of Oklahoma’s immigrant communities, the responses to the pandemic from immigrant-serving organizations were multifaceted and targeted for the communities they serve. There are dozens of organizations around the state centered around immigrants’ needs, providing invaluable and often culturally specific assistance to their communities. This is only a snapshot of their work and response during the pandemic.
Asian Task Force of Oklahoma
During the pandemic, the Asian Task Force of Oklahoma identified translation services as the most significant need for the community. At the outset of the pandemic, important COVID-19 related information was translated into a limited number of languages. In response, the Asian Task Force worked to make sure information on vaccines and testing sites was available to the Asian community in Vietnamese, Korean, and Mandarin.
An organization that primarily assists Asian survivors of domestic and sexual violence, the Asian Task Force also expanded its focus during the pandemic to assist individuals who were being attacked or no longer felt safe as a result of a spike in anti-Asian hate crimes. They hosted virtual bystander intervention training to empower Oklahomans to take action if they see anti-Asian harassment taking place in public spaces. They have also recently transitioned to creating a translator network for the Asian-American Pacific Islander community and providing educational opportunities while uplifting Black and brown communities.
Council on American-Islamic Relations, Oklahoma
Studies have shown cultural awareness in public health messaging is vital to preventing the spread of the virus, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Oklahoma helps fill that role. Organizations like CAIR-OK provide culturally informed guidance through events such as “Having a Successful Ramadan During the Pandemic” to ensure that Muslims have COVID-19 safety suggestions that fit their own lived experiences.
A non-profit grassroots civil rights and advocacy group, CAIR-OK typically assists Oklahoma Muslims — including Muslim immigrants — by educating their community on legislation, how to be civically engaged, and other community-focused programs. Continuing these people-centered programs in the pandemic proved to be a challenge, but CAIR-OK worked to continue hosting these events safely through online platforms like Zoom, Facebook Live, and YouTube.
Latino Community Development Agency
A cornerstone in southside Oklahoma City since 1991, the Latino Community Development Agency (LCDA) provides a variety of services that fall into four categories: prevention, treatment, health and wellness, and youth and child development. Usually, the LCDA would offer these programs at their center or make visits to the families’ homes; however, the pandemic forced them to switch to virtual visits for these services. As a result, some families had to hold off on services until they were available in-person because they lacked access to a computer or reliable Wi-Fi. Since the LCDA offers these services with financial considerations, it is difficult for members of the immigrant community to find similar culturally aware and language-accessible services elsewhere.
In response to the pandemic, the LCDA used several COVID-19 related grants to help provide families with assistance for utilities, rent, and access to a family pantry. Many families in their service community lost their jobs or had reduced work hours, so LCDA’s aid helped families directly. This was particularly important since some of the families the LCDA serves are mixed-status families or people who are undocumented and so did not qualify for government assistance like the initial Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. With no access to federal aid and limited state aid, the LCDA was one of the few organizations that could provide continued support.
It is important to address the fundamental issues to close the gaps in services
In 2018, immigrants made up nine percent of the foreign-born share of essential workers in Oklahoma, a disproportionate share considering that immigrants only represent eight percent of Oklahoma’s workforce. They fill roles in construction, hospitality, food production, and health care, all of which help keep our local and state economies strong. However, during the pandemic, immigrants faced unemployment at higher levels than U.S. born citizens and were at higher risk of COVID-19 infection.
Despite the fact that immigrants fill essential roles in the economy and have been particularly devastated by the pandemic, they have restricted or no access to the federal and state social safety net. Furthermore, lingering concerns regarding the now-overturned public charge rule caused immigrants to avoid public programs they did qualify for in fear it might jeopardize their immigration status or subject them to deportation. Much of the policy regarding immigrants is crafted at the federal level, but that doesn’t exclude the state from taking steps to improve the well-being of immigrants with low-wage jobs. Across the country, other states took the necessary steps to help immigrant communities by creating cash assistance programs, resource guides in various languages, and even small business assistance funds.
While Oklahoma did not have a statewide program to help immigrants, the city of Tulsa serves as a pointed example of a municipality taking the initiative to help immigrants in our communities. The Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Equity, in partnership with other organizations, convened the Latinx COVID-19 Outreach Committee to help the Tulsa Health Department reach this community effectively. They also used grants to support vaccine access in immigrant communities and to look at the impact COVID-19 had on communities of color and immigrants. Another city specific action was the Tulsa Immigrant Relief Fund (TIRN), created by the Tulsa Community Foundation which raised $2.4 million in donations that was then distributed as cash relief assistance to immigrant families.
Oklahoma should build robust systems to address the needs of immigrants
The pandemic left many immigrant communities in a difficult spot without much state or federal aid, if any, depending on their immigration status. Oklahoma is fortunate to have so many immigrant-led and immigrant-serving organizations ready and willing to fill in these gaps. Without them, immigrants in Oklahoma would have struggled even more to access services and aid. Yet while these organizations provided invaluable assistance to immigrant communities, it should not fall upon non-profit organizations and individual cities alone to fill the gaps in the system, particularly since immigrants contribute so much to Oklahoma’s economy and society. The deep inequities exposed by the pandemic can be best addressed through government action by expanding state aid to immigrants of all immigration statuses, and we should not wait until the next pandemic to do so.
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On March 6, 2020, Oklahoma reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19 and declared a statewide emergency 10 days later. As the pandemic now enters its third year, Oklahomans continue grappling with the impact of lives lost and the immense disruptions it has created. OK Policy will be reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts and challenges. Our hope is that this will highlight opportunities for collaborative decision-making, future improvements, and prosperity for all Oklahomans.
