Arizona Republic: Mayors of Tucson, Los Angeles urge federal government for more help for Latinos

JAVIER ARCE, ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero asked Congress and the Trump administration to include Latinos, including undocumented immigrants, in a future economic stimulus package.

In a virtual Town Hall with the Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti and the president of the UnidosUS organization Janet Murguia, the mayor of the southern Arizona city made a call to legislators.

"We are on the front lines of the workforce in this pandemic - domestic workers, day laborers, hotel and restaurant workers - and the shortage of health insurance is huge for them," Romero said. "The portion of the population that has most contracted the coronavirus in Pima County has been people between the ages of 22 and 44, and of course those people who are out there doing the work."

According to information from the Arizona Department of Health, Pima is the second county with the highest number of infections in the state, only behind Maricopa County. As of Friday, there were 1,750 coronavirus cases with 155 related deaths in the county.

"Tucson is a blue city in a great red state," said Romero, "we are only 45 minutes from the southern border and that makes us the largest city, closest to the border with Mexico."

The mayor emphasized that lack of health insurance and poor access to the health system have greatly affected Hispanics in Tucson, and has exposed them even more to the disease.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said interaction and trust between the federal government and the Latino community is low.

"We have seen a huge gap in the federal response of the government, in the health of the community and lately in the fear that the Trump Administration has implanted," Garcetti said.

He urged the federal government to expand support, and that such aid include immigrants protected by DACA and TPS, and mixed families, who were excluded from the first economic stimulus.

Romero also introduced the We Are One / Somos Uno Resilience Fund, a nonprofit foundation, aimed at people who need it most. The Fund was established to provide immediate and long-term support to the Latino community during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fund enables donors to support nonprofit and for-profit organizations affected by the crisis.

“At Somos Uno we provide cash assistance, gas cards and food to families affected by COVID-19 regardless of their immigration status,” Romero said.

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