Should immigrants be eligible for COVID housing assistance funds? RLG Immigration Chair Darius Amiri comments

By Jessica Boehm | AZ Central

Immigrant rights activists held a rally in downtown Phoenix on Monday to encourage the Phoenix City Council to provide a COVID-19 relief fund for undocumented Arizonans.

Activists say that while Phoenix and other government entities have doled out relief funds for residents, small businesses and large corporations, they’ve “left the undocumented community to fall through the cracks of the response to the pandemic.”

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“Our economy benefits when homeowners and renters are able to stay in their homes. To exclude someone from mortgage and rent assistance provided by the CARES act based on their immigration status is not only immoral but also likely illegal.  Furthermore, many of the front line essential workers keeping our economy going during this time of shutdowns and social distancing are immigrants. We should be doing everything we can to support them keeping their homes, as they in turn support us who are privileged enough to order takeout and Amazon deliveries in the comfort of our own home.”

Darius AmiriRose Law Group Chair of Immigration Law Department