Immigrant rights groups worry Colorado’s Latino communities
are not getting the services or information they need to slow the
spread of COVID-19, putting themselves and other Coloradans at
risk.
“We have to remind each other about folks who remain
invisible. There’s a lot of discussion about the
most vulnerable,” said Victoria Gómez Betancourt, a
Venezuelan immigrant. “We know that age is a factor; we know that
a compromised immune system is a factor; underlying health issues
are factors. But marginalized communities, they’re going to be
impacted differently based on access.”
Gómez Betancourt, a Colorado resident of 20 years, understands
that well. She takes care of her 75-year-old mother, who has
dementia and no health insurance. Gómez Betancourt is thankful
she’s able to work from home and stay with her during the
coronavirus pandemic, and she’s trying as hard as she can to
maintain an environment for her that limits potential exposure.
“It feels like a ticking time bomb,” she said.
Immigrant rights advocacy groups, including the Colorado
Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, where
Gómez Betancourt works, caution that the health and economic
effects of the pandemic are exacerbated among Latino communities
that often face additional barriers to health care. The most
obvious is not finding the information they need in Spanish. But
many, particularly immigrants who don’t have legal residency,
also face socioeconomic challenges.
There’s also a growing fear among immigrants of using public
benefits — even if they are legal residents, because of a
Trump administration rule that means doing so could jeopardize
their chances to stay in the country permanently.
Both Gómez Betancourt and her mother, Teotiste Betancourt de
Gómez, are legal residents, but they haven’t been able to get
her mother insurance, partly because of that fear.
Paula Scheidegger, a nurse and practice manager at Telluride
Regional Medical Center, sees the barriers every day as she works
to make sure the Latino community in her area understands how to
prevent the pandemic, what the symptoms look like and how to get
treatment.
Scheidegger, a Colombian immigrant, takes that responsibility
seriously even though her clinic is one of only two in San Miguel
County and it has been inundated with patients. The clinic is
working closely with the county health department.
“They’re scared,” Scheidegger said. “There’s mixed
information, and they don’t know where to go.”
COLOR, based in Denver, has been urging state officials to make
information and resources accessible to Latino immigrants.
Most of the information listed on the Colorado Department of
Public Health and Environment’s webpage on the coronavirus is in
English, though press releases are translated into Spanish and the
call line provides answers to questions in Spanish. Media briefings
haven’t had other language translations, but they have included
an American Sign Language interpreter. The governor has also
distributed messages on Twitter in Spanish and spoken to
Spanish-language TV.
“The governor’s priority right now is to continue to keep
all Coloradans safe and healthy no matter what language they speak,
and in order to do that, we need to communicate to all Coloradans
across the state in a swift and timely manner and keep them up to
date with the latest information,” said Conor Cahill, Gov. Jared
Polis’ spokesperson. The state welcomes help from nonprofits in
communicating the messages, he said.
COLOR has created a resource guide with bilingual information,
hosts its own Spanish radio show called “Mujeres de COLOR”
that’s also available on Facebook
and works with a publication called El Semanario that produces
English- and Spanish-language articles. The nonprofit is also
helping other groups facilitate access to food and other supplies
for Latino immigrants who have lost jobs and wages during the
pandemic.
But advocates say more needs to be done. More than a fifth of
Colorado’s population is Latino, and if Latino communities are at
risk, so is the broader population.
COLOR is advocating for paid sick leave and emergency wage
support for all workers. The group commends the governor’s order
requiring employers to
pay sick leave while workers are getting tested for
coronavirus, but advocates want that to also include pay for forced
time off due to closures.
The group also wants
free coronavirus testing and medical services related to
COVID-19 to be covered for all Coloradans, including those who are
uninsured. Latinos are more likely than any other any racial or
ethnic group in the state to be uninsured with 10.2% of Latino
families lacking coverage in 2016, according to data from the
Colorado Health Policy Coalition.
“If we fail to act, we know Coloradans will forego needed
testing and treatment, which will only intensify and prolong the
outbreak,” COLOR said in a statement.
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In Telluride, the problems are intensified by the fact that many
depend on tourism and the ski resorts for work or other seasonal or
low-wage jobs. With all of that
shut down, many Latino workers don’t have income coming in.
It’s a remote, expensive area where the nearest Walmart is 65
miles away, Scheidegger said. Oftentimes, families are living in
crowded homes, sometimes 10 to a two-bedroom apartment — not
conducive to
social distancing.
“These people are not prepared,” she said. “They live
paycheck to paycheck. … The reality is every time I talk to a
family, they are so scared. They don’t speak the language. (Some)
are undocumented.”
Scheidegger is working with the countywide Latino Advocacy
Committee in the hopes that they can help families with rent money,
medications, food, baby formula and other necessities, particularly
because all county residents are currently
required to shelter in place. They do, at least,
have access to testing.
Advocates just have to keep getting the word out.
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