From Chicago: New achievements in the fight for justice and equality

In the midst of this pandemic, Conchita from Chicago shares with us her achievements in her fight for equality for migrants.

VICTORIA! Thanks to our legislative champions! Illinois Access to Justice can continue to provide legal services and education to our vulnerable communities. VICTORIA! Illinois becomes the first state in the country to cover undocumented seniors

Ere Rendón told us the news “As a member of the Healthy Illinois Campaign Steering Committee we want to thank the Illinois Latino Legislative Caucus for their unwavering commitment to funding to expand Medicaid (health coverage) to low-income undocumented adults in Illinois!”

We are at the heart of the Latino community, not only in Illinois, but also in Chicago, with a large presence of Mexican immigrants. A place with a lot of optimism and a lot of determination. We are immigrants, and we came here so we can give our children a better life. And I think now is a much more challenging time. Ere Rendon is an immigration advocate for the non-profit Resurrection Project based in Chicago. I think people are as afraid of the virus as they are of what it means to them in terms of deepening poverty. And I think these two fears are now so overwhelming to our families. Hard times that weigh heavily on Rendon. Both of his parents are undocumented. Since then, 15 members of her family have tested positive, and she says that when the virus attacks the more than half million undocumented immigrants in the state of Illinois, relief is lacking. There are no benefits. There is no unemployment. There is no evidence of stimulus reaching the people we work with. So they have no choice but to go to work or find a way to make a living. To help, the resurrection project has created a fund based on donations. We go to a house, she has four U.S. citizen children, and her husband has not worked since early March. So we’re going to give her her check, and hopefully that will help. From a public health perspective, we need to make sure that people who need to be quarantined can stay home, and that means they should be able to pay their rent, their bills and put food on the table. We have to give people money to be able to do that.

Illinois will be the first state to give health insurance to people over 65 regardless of their immigration status, it’s just the beginning.

For Rosa, the experience of fighting COVID-19 in isolation and without the benefit of any medical assistance, has left deep feelings of trauma. ¨I honestly suffered a lot emotionally,” she said. ¨ We need this help… because we have been living in this country for many years. And it would be so difficult for us to continue without medical coverage in this country that we’ve made our home.¨

All that remains is to greet them and bless them and thank them for belonging to the MSC.  This has been by the grace of God an opportunity, which God gives us to be part of God’s dream for his people. Even in times of world-wide test, He gives us rays of hope, that He Himself takes care of canalizing them and weaving them, those situations and histories of ours, and that when doing with others, a world, more solidary, that looks for justice, is obtained.

Thank God that he is the Hope of our world. For Him the Glory and Honor.