Undocumented immigrants and COVID-19 vaccine

One of the questions I get asked most often from clients is that when they are in the US with no lawful status, if they are still eligible to get injected with the life-saving vaccines against COVID-19. As you know, undocumented immigrants are always afraid to come out in the open for fear of being deported. This struggle is real. They want to protect themselves and their families from COVID-19 but on the other hand, they do not want to take the risk of being sent home. As we have mentioned here before, immigrants, either documented or not, are one of the most vulnerable communities as a large majority of them work in the frontlines against this pandemic. This includes not only the higher-level healthcare workers but also those working in service industries such as restaurants, farms, meat-packing plants, hospitality, construction, etc. These latter industries have higher concentration of undocumented immigrants who are in almost all cases are overworked, underpaid, and uninsured.

This dilemma whether to vaccinate undocumented immigrants or not, though complicated it appears, is not even a problem to begin with. All must have access to the vaccines regardless of his or her immigration status. The virus does not discriminate whether you are an overstaying alien or a US citizen. It infects anyone whether documented or not. It is the moral duty of the state to protect its people without discrimination.

Thus, the US Department of Homeland Security has announced that COVID-19 vaccines are available to everyone including undocumented immigrants. In order to allay their suspicions, it has also committed that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement will not carry out enforcement operations at or near healthcare facilities conducting vaccine distribution.

This is great news for the undocumented immigrants. The question is, how trusting would they be in taking the government’s word? It would take a lot of education and trust-building initiatives by the Biden administration and the states that are overseeing this program to convince the undocumented that they have a crucial role in the fight against COVID-19.

And of course, there are those who oppose this program. Why would the government give out vaccines for free when these people are here illegally and are taking advantage of the generosity of America? This criticism is near-sighted and viewed from the prism of selfishness. It would be another topic for future columns to present a counter-argument. What I am sure of is that everyone would agree, regardless of political stripes or where you stand at the immigration debate, that the health of the general populace takes higher precedence than one’s immigration status. In the long run, it would be far too costly both in lives and in resources, if we only vaccinate those who are here legally. Turning a blind eye to the 12 million or so undocumented immigrants is not only illogical but also grossly immoral.

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Speaking of vaccines, I hope that when it is available in the Philippines, it is not as chaotic as what we have experienced here in the US. For sure, you have heard that there are wasted vaccines thrown in the garbage because they have already reached their expiration point. It is such a shame that a first-world country like the US cannot get its act together in ensuring its orderly distribution.

What I am most concerned about in the Philippine vaccination effort is that just like in the early days of the pandemic when testing kits were scarce, it was the healthy politicians, their wives and children who got swabbed first, way before our healthcare workers and those who were obviously sick. And when the financial aid and relief goods did not reach those intended recipients, the long-awaited and life-saving COVID vaccine and its distribution is most certainly going to be tainted with corruption and patronage. When the determination of who gets vaccinated depends on whom you voted for, or what political party your barangay captain belong to, or if you are a family member, friend, or relative of someone at the vaccine clinic, that’s when it gets ugly. When the rich and the well-connected get ahead of the line while the poor has to wait with uncertainty, that’s when you see the wickedness of the social divide. When politicians, government officials, religious leaders, and their own families volunteer to get vaccinated first under the convenient guise that they can serve as an example to the rest of us, that’s when you see the brazenness of their hypocrisy.

All the above has happened here in the US. There is no reason that these same situations cannot happen in the Philippines. I certainly wish not.