FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 2, 2021

CONTACT: Kathy Melley, (617) 791-0708

(BOSTON, MA) – Today, the Biden-Harris administration announced a series of executive actions to reform our immigration system and keep families together. This includes advancing legislation to create a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and other undocumented workers, and directing federal agencies to review the Trump administration’s public charge regulations, which effectively denied immigrant families’ health care and economic support during the COVID-19 pandemic and threaten to undermine vaccination efforts. The public charge rule has led to nearly one in seven adults in immigrant families reporting that they or a family member avoided health care and food assistance through programs like Medicaid, CHIP and SNAP for fear of risking future green card status.

Statement of Emily Stewart, executive director of Community Catalyst, in response to the Biden-Harris executive actions on immigration:

“No one should ever have to choose between keeping their family healthy or keeping them together. The Trump public charge rule is a part of a larger pattern of attacking Black and Brown communities, and it has had the devastating impact of denying many the health care they need during the COVID-19 pandemic. As health advocates, we are very relieved the Biden-Harris administration is taking swift action to reverse it.

“This is a good start towards sensible, humane, and fair immigration policies — policies that support immigrant families’ ability to thrive in a country built and sustained by their contributions.”

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About Community Catalyst 

Community Catalyst is a national, non-profit consumer advocacy organization founded in 1998 with the belief that affordable quality health care should be accessible to everyone. We work in partnership with national, state and local organizations, policymakers, and philanthropic foundations to ensure consumer interests are represented wherever important decisions about health and the health system are made: in communities, courtrooms, statehouses and on Capitol Hill. For more information, visit http://www.communitycatalyst.org. Follow us on Twitter @CommCatHealth.