    [House Hearing, 116 Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                        IMMIGRANTS AS ESSENTIAL WORKERS
                                DURING COVID-19

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                       SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION AND
                                   CITIZENSHIP

                                     OF THE

                           COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                         ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 SECOND SESSION

                                   __________

                         WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

                                   __________

                               Serial No. 116-87

                                   __________

             Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                   Available via: http://judiciary.house.gov

                                  __________

                        U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
    45-494                     WASHINGTON : 2021

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                           COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                        JERROLD NADLER, New York, Chair
                   MARY GAY SCANLON, Pennsylvania, Vice-Chair

    ZOE LOFGREN, California              DOUG COLLINS, Georgia, Ranking
    SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas                Member
    STEVE COHEN, Tennessee               F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, Jr.,
    HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr.,          Wisconsin
        Georgia                          STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
    THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida          LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas
    KAREN BASS, California               JIM JORDAN, Ohio
    CEDRIC L. RICHMOND, Louisiana        KEN BUCK, Colorado
    HAKEEM S. JEFFRIES, New York         JOHN RATCLIFFE, Texas
    DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island     MARTHA ROBY, Alabama
    ERIC SWALWELL, California            MATT GAETZ, Florida
    TED LIEU, California                 MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana
    JAMIE RASKIN, Maryland               ANDY BIGGS, Arizona
    PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington          TOM McCLINTOCK, California
    VAL BUTLER DEMINGS, Florida          DEBBIE LESKO, Arizona
    J. LUIS CORREA, California           GUY RESCHENTHALER, Pennsylvania
    SYLVIA R. GARCIA, Texas              BEN CLINE, Virginia
    JOE NEGUSE, Colorado                 KELLY ARMSTRONG, North Dakota
    LUCY McBATH, Georgia                 W. GREGORY STEUBE, Florida
    GREG STANTON, Arizona
    MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania
    DEBBIE MUCARSEL-POWELL, Florida
    VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas

            PERRY APELBAUM, Majority Staff Director & Chief of Staff
                     CHRIS HIXON, Minority Staff Director

                                     ------

                  SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP

                         ZOE LOFGREN, California, Chair
                    PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington, Vice-Chair

    J. LUIS CORREA, California           KEN BUCK, Colorado, Ranking Member
    SYLVIA R. GARCIA, Texas              ANDY BIGGS, Arizona
    JOE NEGUSE, Colorado                 TOM McCLINTOCK, California
    DEBBIE MUCARSEL-POWELL, Florida      DEBBIE LESKO, Arizona
    VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas              KELLY ARMSTRONG, North Dakota
    SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas            W. GREGORY STEUBE, Florida
    MARY GAY SCANLON, Pennsylvania

                        DAVID SHAHOULIAN, Chief Counsel
                        ANDREA LOVING, Minority Counsel

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------

                         Wednesday, September 23, 2020

                                                                       Page

                               OPENING STATEMENTS

    The Honorable Zoe Lofgren, Chair, a Member of Congress from the
      State of California, Subcommittee on Immigration and
      Citizenship....................................................     1
    The Honorable Ken Buck, Ranking Member, a Member of Congress from
      the State of Colorado, Subcommittee on Immigration and
      Citizenship....................................................     3
    The Honorable Jim Jordan, a Member of Congress from the State of
      Ohio, Committee on the Judiciary...............................     4

                                   WITNESSES

    Vicente Reyes, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
      Oral Testimony.................................................     5
      Prepared Statement.............................................     8
    Haeyoung Yoon, Senior Director of Policy, National Domestic
      Workers Alliance
      Oral Testimony.................................................    16
      Prepared Statement.............................................    18
    Tom Jawetz, Vice-President, Immigration Policy, Center for
      American Progress
      Oral Testimony.................................................    24
      Prepared Statement.............................................    27
    Dimple Navratil, Dimple's Imports, Racine, Wisconsin
      Oral Testimony.................................................    34
      Prepared Statement.............................................    36

              LETTER, MATERIAL, ARTICLES SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

    Statements for the record from Adoptees For Justice, Adoptee
      Rights Law Center..............................................    64
    Statements for the record from U.S. Conference of Catholic
      Bishops........................................................    68
    Statements for the record from The American Federation of Labor
      and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).............    78
    Statements for the record from Agricultural Workforce Coalition..    80
    Statements for the record from Clif Bar & Company................    82
    Statements for the record from The Ethics & Religious Liberty and
      Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention..................    85
    Statement for the record from Jessie Hahn, The National
      Immigration Law Center.........................................    89
    Statements for the record from H-2B Workforce Coalition,.........    94
    Statements for the record from Charles ``Chuck'' Johnson,
      President/CEO National Council For Adoption, Russell Moore,
      President, Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty
      Commission, Nancy Kay Blackwell, Executive Director,
      Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), and Holt
      International..................................................   140
    Statements for the record from Church World Service (CWS)........   143
    Statements for the record from The Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee,
      Texas, a Member of Congress from the State of Ohio, Committee
      on the Judiciary...............................................   144

                IMMIGRANTS AS ESSENTIAL WORKERS DURING COVID-19

                                  ----------

                         Wednesday, September 23, 2020

                            House of Representatives

                  Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship

                           Committee on the Judiciary

                                 Washington, DC

        The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:01 p.m., in
    Room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Zoe Lofgren
    [chairman of the subcommittee] presiding.
        Present: Representatives Lofgren, Jayapal, Correa, Garcia,
    Neguse, Mucarsel-Powell, Escobar, Jackson Lee, Scanlon, Buck,
    Jordan, Biggs, McClintock, and Lesko.
        Staff Present: Anthony Valdez, Legislative Aide; John
    Williams, Parliamentarian; Betsy Lawrence, Counsel,
    Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship; Ami Shah, Counsel,
    Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship; Kyle Smithwick,
    Minority Counsel; Kiley Bidelman, Minority Clerk; and Andrea
    Loving, Minority Chief Counsel, Subcommittee on Immigration and
    Citizenship.
        Ms. Lofgren. The Subcommittee on Immigration and
    Citizenship will come to order.
        Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a
    recess of the Subcommittee at any time.
        I will offer my opening statement, and as soon as Mr. Buck
    arrives, he will be recognized to offer his.
        We welcome everyone to this hearing Immigrants as Essential
    Workers During COVID-19.
        Before we begin, I'd like to remind Members that we have
    established an email address and distribution list dedicated to
    circulating exhibits, motions, or other written materials that
    Members might want to offer as part of our hearing today. If
    Members would like to submit materials, please send them to the
    email address that has been previously distributed to member
    offices, and we will circulate the materials to Members and
    staff as quickly as we can.
        I would also remind Members that guidance from the Office
    of the Attending Physician states that face coverings are
    required for all meetings in an enclosed space, such as
    Subcommittee hearings, and Members on all sides of the aisle
    are expected to wear a mask except when they are speaking.
        I'll now recognize myself for my opening statement.
        The COVID-19 pandemic has served as a wake-up call on a
    variety of social and economic issues, both globally and in the
    United States. The pandemic has exposed social injustices,
    vulnerabilities in our healthcare system, the fragility of our
    economy, and inequities in our education system, to name just a
    few.
        With today's hearing, we highlight another issue that has
    taken on new meaning in the wake of COVID-19: The fundamental
    role that immigrants have long played in key sectors of our
    economy.
        Since 2003, the Department of Homeland Security has
    identified certain industries as critical to national security,
    including public health, agriculture, and food processing. In
    the early days of the pandemic, DHS issued guidance to U.S.
    employers identifying certain workers as essential critical
    infrastructure workers.
        While many of us shifted to full-time telework, these
    workers had to continue to report in person. Each day, they
    risk their lives to ensure that America has a safe and
    plentiful food supply, they care for our children, tend to the
    elderly, sanitize our schools and public places. A significant
    portion of the essential workforce is comprised of immigrant
    workers.
        This Subcommittee has held many hearings over the years to
    examine the important role that immigrants play in certain
    economic sectors. Our first hearing this Congress focused on
    the growing labor challenges in the agricultural sector. To
    anyone that attended that hearing, it should come as no
    surprise that farmworkers were deemed essential during the
    pandemic.
        Today, as wildfires rage here in California and other parts
    of the West Coast, agricultural work is more dangerous than
    ever. In addition to dealing with the threat of COVID, many
    farmworkers must now quickly harvest at-risk crops in areas
    where the air is filled with ash and smoke.
        The COVID-19 pandemic has also exposed the essential role
    of immigrants in American life. Immigrant physicians,
    researchers, and other healthcare workers have been essential
    in the fight against COVID-19.
        Immigrants provide direct home care for more than 13
    million elderly and disabled Americans, many of whom have taken
    ill with COVID and require even greater assistance
    transitioning from hospital to home.
        A demand for childcare services has increased by almost 250
    percent over the past 20 years, and the void has been filled by
    immigrants. Today, one-fifth of the nearly 2 million early-
    childhood educators in the United States are immigrants. As
    long as schools remain even partially closed, the childcare
    shortage will continue to be a significant roadblock to a full-
    functioning economy.
        Many immigrant essential workers are undocumented and live
    under constant threat of removal. Many others are protected by
    temporary programs, such as the Deferred Action for Childhood
    Arrivals, or DACA, or the Temporary Protected Status, TPS, but
    they, too, live in fear as a result of the Administration's
    efforts to terminate these programs. They all deserve better.
        Over the past year and a half, the House has passed several
    bills that would provide protections to immigrant essential
    workers: H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act, would
    provide lawful permanent residence to Dreamers and long-term
    TPS recipients; in addition to reforming the H-2A visa program,
    H.R. 5038, the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act,
    would provide legal status to thousands of farmworkers; and
    this past May, the HEROES Act, which would provide stimulus
    relief to individuals and businesses and protect essential
    workers from removal during the pandemic.
        Although these workers have been identified as essential
    during the COVID emergency, the truth could not be plainer:
    They are essential now and will remain so long after the
    pandemic has passed. Until all essential immigrant workers are
    protected through legal status and can easily participate in
    our economy and society, the United States will continue to
    fail to realize its full economic potential.
        At this point, I would like to recognize others for their
    opening statement.
        First, our Ranking Member, Mr. Buck, you are recognized for
    your opening statement.
        Mr. Buck. I thank the chair.
        I want to start by acknowledging the important role that
    legal immigrants and legal refugees play in my home State of
    Colorado and across this country. These individuals work
    difficult jobs that are essential to keeping our state's
    economy running, including serving vital sectors like
    healthcare, food services, the meat-packing industry, and on
    farms and ranches.
        I also want to mention something that the chairperson
    brought up and address that issue. I think it's important that
    we understand that, as this country tries to regain its
    economic footing after this terrible disease, we have a lot of
    Americans who are out of work, a lot of people who have spent
    their lifetime paying taxes and contributing to our country
    that are the fabric of this country. While we have to recognize
    those who are legally in this country who are assisting in
    fighting this terrible disease and I have a great deal of
    respect for those people who are doing that, I also think we
    have to recognize that illegal immigrants have no role, should
    not be in this country, and that we are making a serious
    mistake when we don't allow Americans to fill jobs that are
    being filled now by illegal immigrants.
        We are doing this country a great disservice when we
    continue to see the unemployment rolls swell while this country
    actively promotes sanctuary cities in the large cities and
    policies that undermine the Rule of law and undermine the very
    nature of what this country is about. The idea that Americans
    should stand in line for unemployment checks or welfare checks
    or get other forms of subsistence while those who are in this
    country illegally are working and undermining our economy is a
    sad day.
        I think that this hearing should not only recognize those
    who are here legally who are helping America and helping
    Americans during this very difficult time, I also think it's
    important that we recognize that those who are here illegally
    should leave, that we should take even more swift action to
    make sure that they leave, and that we should make sure that
    our southern border is secure so that we don't allow more
    illegal immigrants to come into this country.
        With that, Madam Chair, I yield back.
        Ms. Lofgren. Thank you very much.
        I understand that Mr. Nadler is not yet present, but I am
    happy to recognize the Ranking Member of the full committee,
    Mr. Jordan, for any opening remarks he may have.
        Mr. Jordan. Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't really have any
    opening remarks. I just want to welcome our witnesses, in
    particular Ms. Navratil, and look forward to hearing her
    testimony.
        I yield back.
        Ms. Lofgren. Very good.
        Then it's now my pleasure to introduce the witnesses, and
    here they are.
        Vicente Reyes is a 20-year-old farmworker, college student,
    and a beneficiary of the Deferred Action for Childhood
    Arrivals. He resides in Bakersfield, California. Since 2010,
    Mr. Reyes has worked alongside his parents harvesting crops--
    carrots, beets, oranges, table grapes, onions, lettuce, kale,
    and mustard crops. He, along with his mother and father, are
    currently working the table grape harvest. Vicente is a second-
    year student at Bakersfield College and plans to attend the
    California Institute of Technology in the fall of 2020 to
    pursue a career in robotics engineering.
        Just as a point of personal privilege, my husband attended
    Bakersfield College for 2 years before he went off to UCLA, and
    my late father-in-law, Dr. John J. Collins, served as the
    President of Bakersfield College for many years. So, I have a
    tremendous affinity for Bakersfield College. It's a wonderful
    institution.
        We have also Haeyoung Yoon, who is the senior director of
    policy at the National Domestic Workers Alliance. She has spent
    her career advocating for the rights of low-wage and immigrant
    workers, serving as the distinguished Taconic fellow at
    Community Change and in various director-level roles at the
    National Employment Law Project. Ms. Yoon is an experienced
    litigator, having represented low-wage and immigrant workers in
    wage and hour litigation at the Urban Justice Center and
    serving as lead counsel in the civil rights case Iqbal v.
    Ashcroft. She has also taught law courses at the NYU School of
    Law and Brooklyn Law School.
        We also have Tom Jawetz, who is the vice President of
    immigration policy at the Center for American Progress, where
    he oversees the organization's immigration-related research and
    advocacy efforts. Prior to this, Mr. Jawetz served as chief
    counsel for this very Subcommittee and as an attorney for the
    ACLU's National Prison Project. He has also represented asylum
    seekers in judicial and administrative proceedings with the
    Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban
    Affairs, as well as a law clerk to the Honorable Kimba Wood of
    the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
        Finally, we have Dimple Navratil, who, along with her
    husband, owns a retail store in Racine, Wisconsin, called
    Dimple's Imports. The business imports goods from a variety of
    countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Central America but
    specializes in gemstone jewelry made by Ms. Navratil's family
    Members in India. Ms. Navratil is active in the community and
    currently sits on the board of the Racine Zoo, the Downtown
    Racine Corporation, and the Ascension Hospital Foundation.
        We welcome all our witnesses and thank them for
    participating in today's hearing.
        Now, if you would please rise, each one of you, and raise
    your right hand, I will begin by swearing you in.
        Do you swear or affirm, under penalty of perjury, that the
    testimony you are about to give is true and correct to the best
    of your knowledge, information, belief, so help you God?
        The record will reflect that each of the witnesses answered
    in the affirmative.
        Thank you. You may all be seated.
        I will note that each of your written statements will be
    entered into the record in its entirety, and, accordingly, I
    ask that you summarize your testimony in about 5 minutes.
        To help you stay within that timeframe--I don't think any
    of our witnesses are in the hearing room. For those joining
    remotely, there's a timer on your screen to help you keep track
    of time. When you have reached your 5-minute limit, we do ask
    that you stop and summarize and finish so that we can get into
    our opportunity to ask questions.
        So, first, Mr. Reyes, you may begin. You're recognized.

                       TESTIMONY OF VICENTE REYES

        Mr. Reyes. Chairwoman Lofgren, Ranking Member Buck, and
    Members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to
    speak with you today.
        My name is Vicente Reyes. I'm a farmworker, a student, and
    a member of the UFW Foundation. As a second-year student at
    Bakersfield College, I plan my school schedule around my work.
    I need the money to pay for my tuition and to help my parents
    pay the bills. My dream is to pursue a career in robotics
    engineering.
        Although I'm a DACA holder, my parents are undocumented.
    For 10 years, I have worked with them, harvesting table grapes,
    avocados, carrots, onions, tangerines, wheat, kale, lettuce,
    and potatoes in Kern County, California. California is the
    national leading agricultural State and home to the largest
    number of farmworkers.
        My parents migrated from Mexico in 2005. In 2010, we moved
    to Bakersfield, California, where we began to work in the
    fields for the first time in our lives. I was only 12 years old
    when I personally learned about the brutal work and personal
    sacrifice that farm labor requires.
        Before I even finished the eighth grade, I had spent
    several seasons--
        Ms. Garcia. Madam Chair, we've lost connection.
        Madam Chair?
        Madam Chair, we are having technical difficulties.
        They have advised the technical staff.
        Mr. Correa. On behalf of the chair, we're going to recess,
    go vote, and then we will come back and resume this Committee
    hearing. Thank you very much.
        [Recess.]
        Ms. Lofgren. So, let's start over again. We will begin with
    Mr. Reyes.
        If you could turn on your video and begin your testimony
    from the beginning, that would be perfect.
        Mr. Reyes, can you hear us?
        Mr. Reyes. Yes.
        Ms. Lofgren. If you could turn--there you are. If you could
    start your testimony again. It was not heard in the room
    because of a technical difficulty that has now been corrected.
    So, let's start from the top.
        Mr. Reyes, you are to be heard for 5 minutes. You're
    welcome to give your testimony now.

                       TESTIMONY OF VICENTE REYES

        Mr. Reyes. Chairwoman Lofgren, Ranking Member Buck, and
    Members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to
    speak with you today.
        My name is Vicente Reyes. I'm a farmworker, a student, and
    a member of the UFW Foundation. As a second-year student at
    Bakersfield College, I plan my school schedule around my work.
    I need the money to pay for my tuition and to help my parents
    pay the bills. My dream is to pursue a career in robotics
    engineering.
        Although I'm a DACA holder, my parents are undocumented.
    For 10 years, I have worked with them, harvesting table grapes,
    avocados, carrots, onions, tangerines, beets, kale, lettuce,
    and potatoes in Kern County, California. California is the
    Nation's leading agricultural State and home to the largest
    number of farmworkers.
        My parents migrated from Mexico in 2005. In 2010, we moved
    to Bakersfield, California, where we began to work in the
    fields for the first time in our lives. I was only 12 years old
    when I personally learned about the brutal work and personal
    sacrifice that farm labor requires.
        Before I even finished the eighth grade, I had spent
    several seasons harvesting onions. It was hard work. When you
    harvest onions, you are on the hot ground without shade for
    hours and moving down the rows with your hands and knees.
        As a child, I remember hiding when the supervisors would
    drive by. I wanted to help my family financially, but I feared
    that they would identify me as being too young and would kick
    me out of the field.
        If you're wondering why farmworkers bring their children to
    work, it's out of economic necessity. My parents and I have not
    stopped working in the fields despite fearing deportation when
    we hear about ICE raids in agriculture.
        When the pandemic started, we were unable to shelter in
    place because we were designated as essential critical
    infrastructure workers. As essential workers, we wonder how we
    will get to work without being stopped or cited by the police
    because we're driving during the shelter-in-place orders. If
    the Nation is relying on us to work, will our employers provide
    us with protections and benefits if we get sick?
        If our work is essential, would my parents and others be
    protected from detention and deportation? For my parents, this
    fear of deportation compels them to wake up every morning and
    hug us as if it were the last day together.
        At work, being an essential worker has not meant that we
    get protections from COVID. Everything at work runs as if the
    pandemic doesn't exist, even though Kern County has over 30,000
    cases of COVID-19 and nearly 400 people have died from the
    virus. No one in our family or in our crew has received masks,
    special instructions about workplace social distancing or
    sanitation.
        Not once has our employer screened us for symptoms. My
    parents tell me that some workers who arrive at work ill are
    not turned away by the crew boss. I also know that many
    undocumented farmworkers are afraid to test positive for COVID-
    19, because it would require them to quarantine at home without
    pay and without benefits to survive.
        I certainly don't feel like an essential employee, and the
    reality in the fields makes us think that picking the crops is
    more important than protecting our lives and health. Employers
    know that we don't speak out because many of us are
    undocumented.
        To feed the Nation, we are exposed to extreme heat,
    pesticides, to the risk of getting COVID-19, and, more
    recently, to the wildfires and air that's unhealthy to breathe.
    We are at the core of the food supply chain, and we're also its
    first responders when extreme weather threatens to devastate
    the harvest. Without our labor, the food supply chain would
    collapse.
        My family are among the 5.5 million essential workers and
    the 11 million people who are undocumented and live in fear
    about our future. Farmworkers and the rest of our Nation's
    undocumented immigrants deserve a path to legalization and
    citizenship that recognizes the essential role that we play in
    this Nation.
        The country is relying on us. We rely on you to recognize
    our contributions and the many ways in which our health, lives,
    and well-being are interconnected.
        Thank you.
        [The statement of Mr. Reyes follows:]

    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Ms. Lofgren. I want to thank you, Mr. Reyes, for your
    testimony and also for your patience in waiting while Members
    voted.
        Now, we will ask Ms. Yoon to give her 5 minutes of
    testimony.

                       TESTIMONY OF HAEYOUNG YOON

        Ms. Yoon. Chairwoman Lofgren, Ranking Member Buck, and
    Members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to
    testify today.
        My name is Haeyoung Yoon. I'm the senior policy director at
    the National Domestic Workers Alliance. We represent 2.2
    million domestic workers who work as nannies, home care
    workers, and house cleaners in private homes. Over 90 percent
    of domestic workers are women, well over half are women of
    color, and more than a third are immigrants.
        The COVID pandemic has revealed what many of us knew long
    before this pandemic: That our economy is powered by workers
    and that essential workers span many sectors of our economy.
    These essential workers are largely in low-pay service jobs,
    overrepresented by immigrants, and disproportionately women and
    women of color.
        From farmworkers like Vicente to janitors, from domestic
    workers to nurses, it took a pandemic for our Nation to
    recognize their work is essential, and it always has been.
        While their labor makes our lives possible, essential
    workers have been largely invisible and undervalued. Too many
    essential workers are underpaid without benefits. Lack of
    immigration status makes undocumented workers even more
    vulnerable to violations of rights.
        Essential workers are risking their lives every day, and
    that of their family Members, for us. Despite this, many
    immigrants essential workers and their families have been
    excluded from Federal relief.
        Domestic workers have faced enormous hardship during this
    pandemic. While many are primary breadwinners, their pay is too
    low. All domestic workers typically make $12 an hour. Home care
    workers typically earn just over $16,000 annually. Many do not
    have savings to fall back on. During one Zoom meeting, one
    worker held up her phone to show that she had just a few cents
    in her bank account.
        Only one out of five domestic workers have employer-
    provided health insurance, and hardly any worker has paid
    leave. Thus, this pandemic has been a crisis of impossible
    choices for domestic workers. They have no choice but to go to
    work or risk eviction and the threat of having no food.
        For months, many workers went without PPE and did not
    receive an increase in pay.
        Take Sandra. She's been a house cleaner and a nanny for the
    past 20 years. She lives in New York City and takes the train
    to work to care for two children. On the train, she covers
    herself as much as she can, because she knows that a train is a
    high-risk area, but she needs to keep working to pay for rent
    and food. She has paid taxes all the years she's been working
    but is excluded from COVID relief because she's undocumented.
    She also has no health insurance.
        Lee is a home care worker in L.A. She worries about losing
    her job because she has no paid sick time, but she has an 85-
    year-old mother and children to support. If she does not work,
    she does not get paid, which puts them all at risk. Early in
    the spring, she was exposed to the virus at the assisted living
    facility where she works. Her employer did not give her PPE
    until after the exposure.
        COVID-19 has also underscored the need to invest in the
    care infrastructure. Even before the pandemic, it was projected
    that the home-care sector will need to fill 4.2 million jobs by
    2026, creating more new jobs than any other occupation in our
    economy. By one estimate, nearly 20 million adults need long-
    term care, largely due to baby boomers aging. Our Nation's need
    for care is colossal, and care workers will continue to be
    essential into the next decade.
        The work that care workers, other essential workers, and
    immigrant essential workers do is heroic, yet they are not
    treated like heroes. Treating them as heroes means transforming
    low-wage essential jobs into good jobs by paying higher wages
    and benefits and providing a path to citizenship.
        Lack of legal status for immigrant workers hurts all
    workers, because when employers exploit the lack of their legal
    status to abuse immigrant workers, they create a pervasive
    culture of fear in the workplace that chills efforts of all
    workers to enforce their rights and better their working
    conditions. For this reason, legalization of immigrant workers
    must be a central pillar of transforming essential workers'
    jobs into good jobs and to rebuild our economy out of this
    crisis.
        Thank you again for the opportunity to testify. I look
    forward to answering any questions you may have.
        [The statement of Ms. Yoon follows:]

    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Ms. Lofgren. Thank you very much for that testimony, and,
    also, thank you for your patience while we voted.
        I'll turn now to Tom Jawetz, a face that we've seen over
    the years in our subcommittee.
        Tom, you're welcome to give your testimony now.

                        TESTIMONY OF TOM JAWETZ

        Mr. Jawetz. Thank you. Chairwoman Lofgren, Ranking Member
    Buck, and Members of the subcommittee, thanks so much for
    inviting me to testify today. It's an honor to appear before
    the Subcommittee for which I once worked, although I would
    prefer to be sitting in 2141 this afternoon.
        Still, I recognize that my ability to do my job from the
    safety of my home during this pandemic is a privilege and a
    luxury that many don't have. Over the past 6 months, millions
    of immigrants, like millions of other Americans, have continued
    to go to work at great personal risk to themselves and their
    families.
        Out of the estimated 7 million undocumented immigrants in
    the workforce, CAP estimates that 5 million, nearly three in
    four, are doing jobs deemed essential to the Nation's critical
    infrastructure by DHS's Cybersecurity and International
    Security Agency, or CISA.
        Hundreds of thousands today are on farms and in food-
    processing plants, securing the Nation's food supply. More than
    200,000 are in healthcare occupations as doctors, nurses, and
    home health aides, and around that same number are working to
    keep health-care settings safe and open. Undocumented
    immigrants are keeping grocery store shelves stocked, packing
    warehouses, and sanitizing businesses and public spaces.
        When CISA recently recognized the essential contributions
    of care workers, they finally caught up with something every
    parent and employer has understood deeply for months, maybe
    years: Childcare is the backbone of the entire economy.
    Immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, play an outsized
    role in those jobs.
        While the country comes to appreciate the essential work
    immigrants are doing during this pandemic, it's important to
    recognize that this work didn't just become essential, these
    people didn't just start doing this work, and many of these
    jobs didn't just become hazardous to the health and safety of
    workers. This is work and these are workers who have long been
    essential to the functioning of this country and its economy,
    and their work will remain critical to the economic recovery
    ahead.
        That's why it's so important that the HEROES Act would
    extend financial support to all tax filers, as well as free
    coronavirus testing, treatment, and vaccines, regardless of
    immigration status. The bill's automatic extension of work
    authorization to DACA recipients and TPS holders is crucial, as
    these protections are now more vulnerable than ever.
        It's important to the nearly 1 million people who have DACA
    and TPS and to the more than 500,000 U.S. citizen children in
    their households. It is also vital to the country as a whole,
    as more than 550,000 DACA recipients and TPS holders are
    serving their communities as essential workers--people like
    Doris Reina-Landa-verde, a member of SEIU and the National TPS
    Alliance who developed coronavirus symptoms when she was asked
    by her employer, Harvard University, to continue cleaning
    buildings even as it was sending most of its students home to
    prevent the further spread of the virus.
        Of particular importance to today's hearing, the HEROES Act
    would also grant temporary protection from deportation and work
    authorization to undocumented essential workers.
        These HEROES Act provisions should be in any package passed
    by the current Congress, but the next Congress can and must do
    even better. It's clear the next Congress will have to enact a
    comprehensive national recovery package, and for this recovery
    to be sufficiently dynamic and durable, as well as inclusive
    and equitable, it must reach historically marginalized
    communities that have disproportionately been affected by the
    twin public health and economic crises that we are in and
    excluded from past recovery efforts.
        For undocumented immigrants who have long contributed to
    this country in myriad ways, including those now performing
    essential work, as well as their families, such legislation
    must include a path to citizenship.
        The American people get this. Hart Research Associates
    found this summer that, by a three-to-one margin, voters
    support a path to citizenship for undocumented essential
    workers. They support it both because they recognize that these
    workers stepped up for our country when we needed them the most
    and because immigrant workers who were essential in the
    pandemic will also be essential to rebuilding our economy.
        The 10.5 million undocumented immigrants in the country
    today have lived here for an average of 14 years. This is their
    home, where they are raising their families, and it's long past
    time we recognize them as fully woven into the fabric of
    American life.
        Legalization must be a core component of the recovery
    effort also because it will strengthen the economy and expand
    opportunity. My written testimony cites a range of studies
    showing that first legalization and then citizenship will
    increase wages and productivity for all workers, generating
    both additional tax revenue and spending.
        As undocumented immigrants are particularly vulnerable to
    wage theft and other forms of workplace abuse, legalization
    also will create the foundation for a strong and resilient
    labor market for all workers.
        Think back to March and April, when the country first
    became aware of how serious this pandemic was. At the time,
    there was a real sense of common purpose and shared sacrifice.
    People clapped during shift changes at the hospital and put up
    signs in their yards thanking essential workers.
        Six months in, even as the number of new infections and
    deaths each day is so many times greater than in those early
    months, it's hard to feel that same sense of unity. Now we've
    lost more than 200,000 American lives. Our failure to check the
    virus has kept the economy in deep freeze.
        The main lesson of the pandemic, a lesson we learned, then
    forgot, but need to learn once more, is we can only beat it if
    we work together. Just as we must all work together to defeat
    the corona-virus, we have to all work together to rebuild the
    country. A national recovery package that leaves behind
    millions of people, people who have put so much on the line and
    have already lost so much, will come up short of what our
    country and its people need and deserve.
        Thank you so much.
        [The statement of Mr. Jawetz follows:]

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        Ms. Lofgren. Thank you very much for that testimony and
    your patience.
        Now we will turn to our last witness.
        Ms. Navratil, you are invited to give us your about 5
    minutes of testimony.

                      TESTIMONY OF DIMPLE NAVRATIL

        Ms. Navratil. Thank you, Chairwoman Lofgren and Ranking
    Member Buck, for the opportunity to testify today. My name is
    Dimple Navratil. I appreciate the opportunity to tell my mostly
    happy immigration story.
        I'm originally from India, but I am now a proud citizen of
    the United States. I have made my home in Racine, Wisconsin, a
    beautiful city on the shores of Lake Michigan. I've been
    married to Denis Navratil for 28 years, and, together, we have
    a grown son named Zane.
        Please allow a mother a moment to brag. Zane is a three-
    time State champion in tennis. He was an Academic All-American
    in college. He's an accountant and also the fifth-ranked
    pickleball player in the world. He's also humble and a kind
    young man.
        We own a retail store on Main Street in Racine called
    Dimple's. Our business has been in downtown Racine for 21
    years, making us the oldest downtown merchant. We specialize in
    sterling silver jewelry and unique gifts from around the world.
    Also, we have raised roughly $1 million over the years for
    hospitals via jewelry fundraisers.
        On a personal note, I feel blessed for the opportunities
    available for a minority woman from a third-world country. 20-
    seven years ago, I started a small business selling jewelry
    from a little folding table at a church festival, to today
    owning a large retail store in Racine. I also feel fully
    accepted by the community and many organizations that I now
    serve as a board member, including the Racine Zoo, the Downtown
    Racine Corporation, and the Ascension Hospital Foundation.
        Our business has grown slowly and steadily over the years,
    and we expected the same this year. Then COVID hit. Our
    business was forced to close, sadly. We had to let go of some
    excellent employees, a first for us. Then our hospital partners
    began canceling our fundraisers, which account for
    approximately half our sales. Suddenly, the survival of our
    business was at stake.
        Our local mayor, Corey Mason, then announced the city would
    award grants to small businesses negatively impacted by COVID.
    We applied for the relief. Though we clearly met the criteria,
    and the city strongly indicated a desire to assist women- and
    minority-owned businesses, we were denied both of the two
    rounds of grants that were funded through HUD and our local
    taxes.
        I did not understand why we were denied the grants. I
    thought that many would consider our award-winning business as
    an anchor in downtown, worthy of efforts to save. We pay our
    taxes on time. We are active in the community. We are located
    in the heart of the business district. Something didn't seem
    right.
        After some persistence, I received a call from Mayor Mason.
    After more questioning, he told me the real reason why we were
    denied the grant. It was because my husband had attended the
    ``Open Wisconsin'' rally in Madison that challenged Governor
    Evers' stay-at-home order.
        Mayor Mason admitted as much in a public statement, adding
    that Denis, and I quote, ``willingly jeopardized public health,
    flagrantly violated safety measures, put city residents at
    unnecessary risk, and engaged in reckless behavior at the
    rally.''
        Here is the truth: Denis did attend the rally. Because he
    was concerned about the virus, he wore a mask. He stayed at the
    edge of the crowd and was careful to maintain a safe distance
    from others. All of this has been proven.
        It was there that Denis was approached by a reporter. He
    had two simple points. First, if a liquor store or a Walmart
    can safely serve their customers, why can't we? Second, you can
    be concerned about the damage done by the virus and care about
    the people suffering economically.
        It is also important to stress the nature of this protest.
    Nobody was insulting or throwing objects at the police. No
    buildings were set on fire. No businesses were looted or
    destroyed. There were no arrests. This was an entirely peaceful
    protest. Apparently, our mayor believes he is not constrained
    by a Constitution that I swore allegiance to and that he swore
    to uphold.
        We have decided to fight this injustice, and, as such, I am
    grateful to live in the United States with a Constitution
    designed to protect the rights of citizens from abusive
    officials. I am thankful to have the opportunity to pursue a
    just conclusion through an impartial judicial system. I look
    forward to a resolution that I trust will uphold the cherished
    rights of all Americans.
        Thank you, and I'm happy to answer any questions you may
    have.
        [The statement of Ms. Navratil follows:]

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        Ms. Lofgren. Thank you very much for your testimony and
    your patience in waiting while the Members voted.
        We will now go to Members of the Subcommittee who have
    questions. Each member has up to 5 minutes to answer their
    questions.
        We will first turn to the gentlelady from Washington, Ms.
    Jayapal, for questions that she may have.
        Ms. Jayapal. Thank you, Chairwoman Lofgren.
        Thank you to all the witnesses for being here today.
        Ms. Navratil, I too am an Indian citizen, and I applaud
    your work and your business for what it has done. Thank you for
    testifying.
        More than 200,000 lives lost in America due to COVID-19 and
    this pandemic that has raged throughout this country, even as
    this President and too many around him have denied even the
    most basic science about mask wearing, social distancing, or
    PPE--200,000 lives lost. Meanwhile, across the border in
    Canada, they're down to zero deaths.
        Of course, essential workers have been most susceptible and
    most affected, because they are actually helping to save us.
    They are essential, and yet we have treated them as expendable,
    not giving them the most basic protections that they need.
        Some have called the economic crisis that we're facing a
    ``secession'' due to the deep and disparate impact on women.
    Women's unemployment rate has reached double digits for the
    first time since 1948. The hardest-hit industries--leisure,
    hospitality, education, and even some parts of healthcare--are
    disproportionately non-White and female.
        At the same time, women who have traditionally worked
    outside the house are now being forced to choose between work
    and childcare. Domestic workers and working women have always
    been inextricably linked, and never more so than now. Domestic
    workers have given not only women but families across the
    country the ability to work outside the home.
        So, let me start with you, Ms. Yoon. How has the COVID-19
    pandemic impacted domestic workers, specifically, and the
    people who depend on them?
        Ms. Yoon. Thank you, Congresswoman, for that question.
        So, as soon as the shelter-in-place orders went into effect
    in March, we started a weekly survey of our workers to
    understand how the pandemic was affecting them and their
    families.
        In early April, we found that 72 percent of surveyed
    workers, a lion's share of them being nannies and house
    cleaners, suddenly lost their jobs, while home-care workers
    were overwhelmingly continuing to go to work to care for an
    elderly or person with disabilities.
        The survey also confirmed that 77 percent of workers are
    primary breadwinners. So, with the sudden loss of income,
    domestic workers quickly started to experience food and housing
    insecurity. In early April, 84 percent reported that they were
    uncertain whether they would have enough money to buy food. In
    the following week, 55 percent were unable to pay rent.
        Housing and food insecurity has been one of the most
    pressing concerns for domestic workers throughout the pandemic.
    In our more recent survey in September, 56 percent still
    reported that they could not pay their rent or mortgage.
        Since April, we have seen workers slowly regaining their
    jobs, but they're working less hours, which means they're
    earning less. Domestic workers were experiencing financial
    insecurity even before the pandemic, and, during this crisis,
    the hardship they're experiencing is unspeakable.
        I want to close with this one data, because that has been
    most disconcerting for all of us at the National Domestic
    Workers Alliance, is that domestic workers that we've been
    surveying, that 80 percent of those who are working have earned
    at most $300 per week since the lockdown, right? So that's $300
    at most, $1,200 a month. That is not a wage that can sustain a
    worker and their families.
        Ms. Jayapal. Thank you.
        I have a follow-up question. I'm going to ask you to be
    really brief, because I want to get to Mr. Jawetz as well.
        For domestic workers who are able to continue working, what
    safety precautions exist to ensure that they're able to work
    safely?
        Ms. Yoon. So, I think, earlier on, no one had any PPE,
    right? Domestic workers were already navigating the reality of
    being legally excluded from basic workplace protections like
    health and safety and not having critical workplace benefits
    like health insurance and paid leave. The pandemic really
    thrusted on them a lot more to navigate on their own to protect
    themselves and protect the clients, right? Without the
    assistance from the government.
        So, early on, we heard--
        Ms. Jayapal. Thank you.
        Ms. Yoon. Oh.
        Ms. Jayapal. Thank you. I just want to make sure I get in a
    question I have for Mr. Jawetz, as well, before my time
    expires.
        Mr. Jawetz, the vast majority of domestic workers are
    immigrant women. Would these immigrant women qualify for the
    economic relief under the CARES Act? How do we ensure that they
    get that relief and also that they're acknowledged for the
    critical role they play?
        Mr. Jawetz. Thanks so much, Congresswoman.
        I mean, obviously, if you look at the provisions in the
    bill for the different populations, but, by and large,
    especially looking at undocumented immigrants who are subject
    to these rules, they're carved out of some of the most
    important and most commonly understood benefits, right?
        So, if you're looking at the direct stimulus checks, for
    instance, not only were undocumented immigrants across the
    board carved out from that, but even U.S. citizens who were in
    the families of those individuals were carved out, including
    U.S. citizen children. If you look, for instance, at all the
    unemployment insurance that was expanded, that's going to carve
    out undocumented workers.
        In terms of emergency medical care relief, for the
    provisions that provided direct care access for coronavirus
    testing and treatment and related services, emergency services
    weren't necessarily affected, but the provisions that expanded
    access to make sure everyone had access to care, those were
    carved out as well.
        Ms. Jayapal. Thank you so much, Mr. Jawetz.
        I yield back.
        Ms. Lofgren. The time of the gentlewoman has expired, and
    I'm pleased now to recognize the Ranking Member of the
    subcommittee, the gentleman from Colorado, Mr. Buck.
        Mr. Buck. I thank the Chair. I would like to yield to Mrs.
    Lesko and then be recognized later, if that is acceptable.
        Ms. Lofgren. That's totally acceptable.
        Mrs. Lesko, you are recognized.
        Mrs. Lesko. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
        Thank you for all of you testifying today.
        Ms. Navratil, I have some questions for you.
        In your testimony, you said, ``Our local mayor, Corey
    Mason, announced that the city would award grants to small
    businesses negatively impacted by COVID. We applied for the
    relief. Though we clearly met the criteria and the city
    strongly indicated a desire to assist women- and minority-owned
    businesses, we were denied both of the two rounds of grants
    that were funded through HUD and our local taxes.''
        Then in your testimony later, you said, when you spoke to
    him in person, he admitted that the reason he did it was
    because your husband attended a rally or whatever you want to
    call it, a protest, in Madison to open up back businesses,
    which I find very offensive and obviously not right.
        Do you know, are you aware, is your husband and you and the
    mayor from different political parties?
        Ms. Navratil. Yes, as my husband has been vocally
    conservative on local issues.
        Mrs. Lesko. Thank you.
        Were there protests and riots in Racine, Wisconsin, and the
    surrounding areas after the George Floyd killing?
        Ms. Navratil. Yes, there were protests and limited rioting.
    Our community-oriented policing house was set on fire. To the
    best of my knowledge, there was not an involvement of social
    distancing, and nobody was punished or cited for it.
        Mrs. Lesko. What was the mayor's reaction to those protests
    and riots? Did he approve of them? Did he sign off on them? Did
    he say anything about them?
        Ms. Navratil. From what I believe is that he allowed the
    protests and riots to go on for 2 days and that continued for 2
    weeks. Our city was on the edge, expecting to get worse again.
        Mrs. Lesko. So, basically, the mayor said you guys weren't
    in compliance because supposedly your husband went to this
    protest and was not in compliance and affected the community in
    some way. Yet, you testified that your husband had on a mask,
    was on the outskirts of the people. The mayor had a totally
    different set of rules for these protesters. Is that my
    understanding?
        Ms. Navratil. Yes, ma'am.
        Mrs. Lesko. Well, I find that outrageous, and I'm glad that
    you're pursuing it. I would assume that these grants probably
    came from some type of Federal money, and so I'm glad that
    you're here testifying today. I hope that you are successful,
    and I applaud you for stepping forward.
        Hopefully, you don't get rioters and protesters now at your
    house, like is being threatened in some other areas and with
    Congress Members.
        Now, I'd like to--I have about a minute left, and I have
    some questions for Mr. Jawetz.
        Mr. Jawetz, in your testimony, you advocate for legislation
    to provide legal immigration status to the Nation's illegal
    immigrant population. Do you support precluding aliens who have
    DUI convictions from benefiting from this legalization?
        Mr. Jawetz. I think--well, for starters, let me say thanks
    for the question.
        If we look at the legalizations that have been done in the
    past and proposed in the past, we've seen different eligibility
    criteria that had been created. Last year, we worked very
    closely on the H.R. 6 bill that would provide a path to legal
    status for Dreamers and TPS holders. That bill was very, very
    well-negotiated, passed with strong bipartisan support in the
    past, and it certainly did have eligibility criteria in it.
        Whether you would look at a single DUI as being something
    that disqualifies someone, even when I was on the committee,
    frankly, we looked at that issue, and I think there were a
    number of Members of the Committee itself, frankly, who
    wouldn't have passed that test.
        So, anytime I think you're looking at what the
    qualifications should be for eligibility for a program, we need
    to do that in connection with the totality of the
    circumstances, the person as a whole, think about that in terms
    of what the criminal justice system, more broadly, looks like,
    and I think that's where you find that criteria.
        Mrs. Lesko. So, I think your answer is, yes, depending on
    the circumstances. If they did have a DUI conviction, they
    should benefit from legalization is what I think your answer
    said.
        So, I yield back. My time is up.
        Ms. Lofgren. The gentlelady's time has expired.
        A third vote has been called on the floor, but it will take
    some time. So, I think--let's go through some Members,
    especially the Members that are in the room, as opposed to
    participating virtually, and perhaps, as they are called on,
    they can go vote and come back.
        The gentleman from California, Mr. Correa, is recognized.
        Mr. Correa. Thank you, Chairperson Lofgren, for holding
    this most important hearing.
        Again, here we are again debating the role of immigrants in
    our society and in our Nation, this time, of course, in the
    context of COVID-19. We keep hearing the same story I've heard
    for decades, which is that these jobs should be done by
    Americans.
        Yet, a few months ago, I got a phone call from a
    representative of the poultry industry. That was prompted by
    the ICE raids in the poultry plants in the Deep South. The
    representative said, look, Lou, this is not about salaries. All
    these workers are Members of the United Food and Commercial
    Workers Union; they make good money. The problem is, no locals
    want to take these jobs. As a result, those industries, those
    economies as well, were brought to a standstill.
        A few months later, I visited a local farm here in my
    district to essentially distribute protective equipment and
    gear to local farmworkers. Those farmworkers, I can tell you,
    were also undocumented. I can also tell you they wanted nothing
    to do with us, because they wanted to do their job, stay away
    from society, stay away from the authorities, and move on.
        Then, of course, just a few months ago, I remember walking
    into our local supermarkets: Empty shelves, no foods. For the
    first time in my life, in America, I have to say, I was
    concerned that there wasn't going to be enough food for us. We
    tried not to panic, and we didn't, but the point was clear:
    These workers are essential workers. They are feeding America.
        From the farms to the poultry plants to, of course, our
    hospitals, those essential workers, those nurses are taking
    care of us. So, I find it interesting that we are talking again
    about illegal individuals as opposed to our frontline workers
    in the fight against COVID.
        If I may, in the 2 minutes, 3 minutes that I have, I want
    to ask our witnesses a question. If I can have each one of you
    answer it briefly. Is there a pathway to citizenship? Is there
    a pathway for one of these workers to get a work permit in this
    country today?
        Vicente, is there a legal pathway for your mom and dad to
    get a work permit to continue to work in the fields to feed our
    society, yes or no?
        Mr. Reyes. I don't have the answer right now, but--
        Mr. Correa. Ms. Yoon, can you answer that question?
        Ms. Yoon. Yes. For many of the domestic workers, care
    workers, the vast majority of people who've been in our country
    and working in our economy for decades do not have a real path
    to gain legal status and citizenship.
        Mr. Correa. Ms. Navratil, is there a pathway for these
    individuals, or would you know, yes or no?
        Ms. Navratil. Are you asking me, sir?
        Mr. Correa. Yes. Go ahead. Would you know if there's a
    pathway for these essential workers to get a work permit in the
    U.S.?
        Ms. Navratil. Well, I'm not an expert in that--
        Mr. Correa. Thank you very much.
        Ms. Navratil. Thank you.
        Mr. Correa. In the minute I have, Mr. Jawetz, there was a
    question earlier about a DUI. I think this is an issue really
    talking about judicial discretion. You have judges that make
    decisions whether you should stay in this country or not.
        I'm reminded of the story of our veterans with green cards
    that are deported because there is no judicial discretion in
    our immigration system. You have these immigrants with green
    cards who go off and fight for our country. Then they return
    and they do something that's dumb or, because of their mental
    scars, they do something, and then they're convicted, and
    they're deported.
        Sir, how important is judicial discretion when it comes to
    immigration and the application of immigration law?
        Mr. Jawetz. Yeah, so discretion is actually essential to
    any judicial system, and it's the underpinning of due process
    and, sort of, fundamental fairness in the system.
        In our immigration system, as you pointed out, you can have
    someone who has a green card who's deported for a crime they
    may have been convicted of 20, 30 years earlier that wasn't
    even a deportable offense when they were convicted of it, and
    the judge has nothing they can really do.
        Mr. Correa. I have to tell you that I agree with you. It
    just breaks my heart to know that there are colonies of
    American veterans that are living outside this country, in the
    Philippines, in Mexico, that because of an infraction--they
    could return to the United States to be buried at a national
    cemetery, but they can't get a green card to live in the U.S.
        Madam Chair, I'm out of time. I yield. Thank you very much.
        Ms. Lofgren. Thank you very much.
        The Ranking Member, Mr. Buck, is now recognized for 5
    minutes.
        Mr. Buck. Thank you, Madam Chair.
        I appreciate the gentleman from California talking about
    legal status.
        Ms. Navratil, you undoubtedly have a great perspective on
    legal status in this country. Where were you born?
        Ms. Navratil. I was born in India, sir.
        Mr. Buck. How did you obtain legal status in this country?
        Ms. Navratil. I fell in love with an American citizen.
        Mr. Buck. You did. How did that happen?
        Ms. Navratil. I don't know how to explain that, but--
        Mr. Buck. Okay.
        Let me ask you about your situation with your husband. Is
    he--I take it he didn't burn down an Arby's restaurant in
    Racine?
        Ms. Navratil. No, sir.
        Mr. Buck. Did he spray paint any rude language on public
    buildings in Racine, maybe like city hall?
        Ms. Navratil. No, absolutely not.
        Mr. Buck. How about, did he taunt police officers or in any
    way demeaning to public servants?
        Ms. Navratil. No, sir.
        Mr. Buck. So, in other words, your husband followed the
    law, obeyed the law, and exercised his First amendment rights
    to protest, to express his opinion, to question authority. I
    always see, when I drive by or anywhere close to Boulder,
    Colorado, I see bumper stickers that say, ``Question
    Authority.'' I think that's an American right and sometimes an
    obligation in this country. Your husband did just that, didn't
    he?
        Ms. Navratil. Absolutely, sir.
        Mr. Buck. So, he questioned authority, and the result was
    that he was discriminated against.
        Ms. Navratil. Correct.
        Mr. Buck. How does that make you feel? As a woman of color,
    how does it make you feel that, for being an American, for
    exercising your constitutional rights, you are discriminated
    against?
        Ms. Navratil. Well, we were very upset and sad. We
    considered leaving the city. We considered selling our building
    and moving out. After thinking through it all, we decided that
    we were going to fight this injustice. We have the support of
    all the local citizens, our customers, our friends over here,
    and I don't think we can leave that easy. We are going to
    fight.
        Mr. Buck. Do you remember the oath you took when you became
    a naturalized citizen?
        Ms. Navratil. Yes.
        Mr. Buck. That you would support and defend the
    Constitution, do you remember that part of the oath?
        Ms. Navratil. Yes, sir. I went through it again.
        Mr. Buck. Yeah. Do you feel like you are supporting the
    Constitution by making your case heard around the country?
        Ms. Navratil. Absolutely. It was a very, very difficult
    decision to make, but we couldn't be quiet about this. I wanted
    to make sure nobody else went through the same as we were.
        Mr. Buck. Oh, I'm afraid you're going to be joined by many
    other conservatives. Anybody who questions authority in a town
    that's run by liberal socialists are going to be discriminated
    against. You can guarantee that.
        You might want to make sure that you prepare them. You let
    them know that if they contact the Republican staff at the
    United States House Judiciary Committee, we will be glad to
    help them get their voices heard. Would you help us in that?
        Ms. Navratil. Absolutely. That's why I'm here, to encourage
    people like me to be able to speak out and not be afraid.
        Mr. Buck. Okay.
        Ms. Navratil. Thank you for your support.
        Mr. Buck. The question earlier about pathways to legal
    status--are you aware that if someone is in this country
    illegally, they can leave the country, they can go back to
    their country of origin, and they can go to their U.S.
    consulate, and they can apply for legal status to become--to
    get some type of visa to come into this country legally? Are
    you aware of that process?
        Ms. Navratil. All the process needs to be done legally.
        Mr. Buck. Sure.
        Ms. Navratil. That's right way to do it.
        Mr. Buck. You sacrificed to become a U.S. citizen. You went
    through some hard times to become a U.S. citizen, didn't you?
        Ms. Navratil. Well, to go through the proper channel, you
    have to.
        Mr. Buck. Sure. What do you think about the fairness of
    people who don't sacrifice, who cheat, who break the law, who
    come into this country and flagrantly decide that they don't
    need to play by the rules, that they can just have the benefits
    that they enjoy in this country, while other people are waiting
    in line, trying to do the right thing?
        Ms. Navratil. I don't think that's fair.
        Mr. Buck. Okay.
        I yield back. I thank the lady for her time in this
    hearing. Thank you very much.
        Ms. Lofgren. The gentleman, the Ranking Member, yields
    back.
        We now will turn to Ms. Garcia, the gentlelady from Texas,
    for 5 minutes.
        Ms. Garcia. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for convening
    this very critical Subcommittee hearing to highlight the vital
    economic role that immigrants serve in our country, especially
    amid this COVID-19 pandemic.
        I thank all our witnesses for their powerful testimony
    today by sharing their personal stories.
        The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the fundamental role
    that immigrants have long played in key sectors of our economy.
    According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics,
    prior to the COVID-19 outbreak and the economic recession that
    has followed, immigrants comprised 17 percent of the U.S. labor
    force. Now, as the United States exceeds over 200,000 deaths,
    many such workers are still at risk of their lives and the
    well-being of their families as they report to work in critical
    sectors.
        While we've addressed the critical needs of our vulnerable
    communities when the HEROES Act was passed by the House in May,
    the Senate continues to blatantly stonewall the needs of the
    American people. This is unacceptable.
        As we heard from Mr. Reyes, these essential workers are
    indispensable to a safe and plentiful domestic food supply.
        As we heard from Ms. Yoon, these essential workers also
    clean and sanitize spaces for care for our children, tend to
    the elderly, and play an increasingly large role in agriculture
    and bear the responsibility of taking care of our loved ones.
        As we heard from Mr. Jawetz, the ability to be able to work
    from home amid the pandemic is, quite frankly, a privilege--a
    privilege that many of us have. In fact, for some of us, it's
    even a luxury. Yet, this is not true for many of these people.
    You can't do the work of agriculture work from home. You can't
    care for someone from your home. You can't clean houses from
    your home.
        Take, for example, Bertha Chan (ph), who has two jobs, with
    one being as a janitor at the Pennzoil Building in downtown
    Houston. She cleans offices on four floors in the span of 4
    hours and does not bring home enough money from this job for
    her family. Adding to the pressure, Bertha has been doing this
    with minimal protection, as she is not provided masks and
    worries about the quality of the gloves that she is given.
    Bertha is an immigrant on the front lines of this pandemic to
    ensure that there are clean, sanitized offices for workers to
    go back to, but she worries about her well-being and her
    ability to provide for her family.
        Another example is Gloriabel Gutierrez (ph), who moved to
    the United States 27 years ago from El Salvador in search of a
    better life in this country. She works as a wheelchair
    attendant at the Houston airport and believes that all humans
    are deserving of having the same resources and treatment
    regardless of their immigration status. She feels especially
    strong about this because migrant workers have been at the
    forefront of this pandemic, helping to keep the country running
    during these tough economic and healthcare crises.
        These are just but a few examples, but these examples could
    be so many other immigrants across America.
        So, I want to start with you, Mr. Reyes. First, let me say
    that I picked cotton myself. I've worked on the farm. I had a
    friend that--we would compare notes, and she told me it was
    worse for her because she picked onions. You could never get
    rid of the smell. So, I hope that has not happened to you,
    because I know you said you pick onions.
        Thank you for picking avocados. I've always said that, if
    I'm deserted on an island and I could get one piece of fruit or
    vegetable, it would certainly be an avocado. So, thank you for
    doing that, because certainly the food you put on the table is
    important to all Americans.
        I was, frankly, just shocked to hear you tell me that there
    is absolutely no protective gear given to any of your family or
    any of the workers around you. Is that true, sir? Can you tell
    me what you can do to just protect yourself?
        Mr. Reyes. Yes, there is no gear that's given. All that we
    try to do, on our part, is we take either cloth, shirts,
    bandanas, things we have at our house, and we use that to
    protect ourselves the most that we can. There is no gear that's
    being given to the farmworkers.
        Ms. Garcia. So, what if one of you does start getting sick,
    some of the symptoms--the high fevers, the nausea, the chills--
    what happens then?
        Mr. Reyes. We would--I mean, if we don't go to work and
    have to attend the doctor or stay at home, we would either just
    have to ride the wave and try to ration out our food and try to
    minimize waste of money to be able to stay aboard and pay for a
    whole month or more needed if we can't go to work.
        If we can, we will try to go to work and protect ourselves
    and protect others so that we can be producing the food that we
    all eat.
        Ms. Garcia. Well, I think it's shameful that you don't get
    the things that you need.
        Madam Chair, I know I'm out of time. I yield back. Thank
    you.
        Ms. Lofgren. Let's see. We have just 18 minutes left to
    vote on the floor on the third vote. So, Members who need to go
    to the floor to vote should go now, and we will get you when
    you come back.
        Mr. Biggs, if you have already voted, we would be happy to
    recognize you for 5 minutes.
        Mr. Biggs. Thank you, Madam Chair. I've already voted.
        Ms. Lofgren. All right. You are recognized.
        Mr. Biggs. Thank you. I appreciate that.
        So, Ms. Navratil, can you please tell us a little bit about
    the naturalization process that you went through?
        Ms. Navratil. Exactly what would you like to know, sir?
        Mr. Biggs. How long did it take? The process? What did you
    endure?
        Ms. Navratil. At that time--it was such a long time ago.
    Like I said, I've been here in this country 28 years ago, and
    I've been a naturalized citizen for 16 or 17 years. At that
    time, I went through the proper channels. I submitted my paper.
    I had a green card first, and I had to go through my tests.
        Mr. Biggs. How long did it take to go through the process,
    if you recall?
        Ms. Navratil. Oh, my goodness, it's been such a long time.
    I think maybe a year altogether.
        Mr. Biggs. Okay. Good. Thank you. Thanks for sharing that.
        You run a business in Racine called Dimple's. How long have
    you been doing that business?
        Ms. Navratil. I've been in business for about 27 years, but
    I've been in downtown Racine for 21 years.
        Mr. Biggs. How did the COVID virus and the lockdowns and
    the public response as well as the government response to that
    impact your business?
        Ms. Navratil. Well, first, it dropped our sales 100
    percent. After the lockdown lifted, we are back, but, like I
    said, the majority of our business, we do fundraisers at
    hospitals. We are for-profit, but we give a part of our sales
    to the hospitals for our various fundraisers. All of them have
    been canceled. We do our hospital fundraisers in four different
    States, and, so far, none have called us back, and we don't
    know when we will be able to get back.
        Mr. Biggs. So, the grants that were offered to others would
    have been very helpful to you, I'm sure, as you've testified
    previously.
        Ms. Navratil. Extremely, sir. In my 28 years in this
    country, we've worked very hard to be where we are, and we have
    never, ever had a handout. This was the first time I applied
    for a grant, and we were denied. This would've helped us
    tremendously.
        Mr. Biggs. I can't help but express some dismay and some
    certain degree of outrage when the mayor is quoted as saying in
    a statement that it was his duty to ``protect the public health
    of our city's residents. While I certainly support the rights
    of free speech and assembly, I cannot in good conscience send
    scarce city resources to a person or business that willingly
    jeopardized public health.''
        He's referring to your husband, who was on the edge of a
    crowd at a rally that was peaceful, and he wore a mask the
    whole time. That is, I find, pretty weak sauce as a reason to
    deny the grant and to punish you for your husband's
    participation in a peaceful protest where he was actually
    observing the health needs of other Members of the society.
    That's pretty outrageous conduct on the part of the Racine
    mayor.
        I would just--I'm going to close my comments by just noting
    that people who work in this country legally are appreciated.
    That word does not excuse past noncompliance with U.S.
    immigration law, nor does it necessitate--it doesn't obviate a
    path to U.S. citizenship. We respect those who are working
    legally in the United States.
        So many things that are going on in this country would be
    resolved if we would open our economy back up while taking
    appropriate safety precautions. That will allow the economy to
    flourish once again and laid off workers can be rehired. It
    would actually increase wages again. If you recall, the median
    income in this country is now--or, excuse me, pre-COVID was
    $68,000. At the same time, EU is below 40.
        With that, I yield back.
        Ms. Lofgren. The gentleman yields back.
        The gentlelady from Texas, Ms. Jackson Lee, have you
    already voted? If not, we will go to Ms. Mucarsel-Powell. If
    so, we would recognize you now.
        Ms. Jackson Lee?
        Let's go to Ms. Mucarsel-Powell.
        Ms. Mucarsel-Powell. Thank you, Madam Chair.
        Regrouping the focus of our hearing today, we are here to
    discuss the immigrants that are essential to keeping our
    country working during this pandemic.
        I have to say just one quick response to Representative
    Buck here that started with, you know, talking about
    undocumented immigrants. I think immigrants have been living
    here for tens of years, for decades, have been waiting for a
    legal path to citizenship, including our Dreamers.
        So, I would invite Representative Buck to join all of us to
    asking the Senate to pass that Dreamer bill so that, actually,
    the Dreamers that have been living here for years who are
    essential workers can actually have a legal status. Because I
    agree with you.
        So, we know that immigrant workers are the healthcare
    workers that are treating COVID patients. They are farmworkers
    that are putting food on our table. They're teachers that are
    keeping our children learning while they're at home;
    maintenance, sanitation workers that keep our cities livable
    and clean; and so many others that are critical to our
    infrastructure.
        In my State, here in Florida, immigrants make up nearly 30
    percent of our food-sector workforce. In the middle of this
    pandemic, 300,000 immigrants in Florida work in the healthcare
    industry. Florida and our country rely on these essential
    workers. The reality is that many do not have legal status
    because the immigration system makes it impossible for them to
    have legal status.
        We've had multiple hearings about this. They don't want to
    just be here without papers. They want the papers, but the
    Administration, under this President, is making it almost
    impossible. They're not processing asylum requests. They're
    denying TPS, denying passing the DACA bill.
        An estimated 11,600 healthcare workers in the Nation right
    now hold TPS status: 29,000 DACA recipients. In Florida, DACA
    recipients contribute to the economy in over 6,300 jobs that
    are considered essential, including 1,100 healthcare positions.
    These immigrants are people that are working right now to save
    lives. They're keeping our Nation operating during a pandemic.
        People like Camila, who is here in my district, in
    Florida's 26th district. She's a DACA recipient. She came to
    the U.S. with her family when she was 3. She grew up in Miami,
    and she's now about 22. Graduated from FIU and works as a
    medical assistant at Memorial West Hospital. She's working at a
    COVID testing station, where she takes those nasal swab
    samples. So, you can imagine, people like Camila are on the
    front lines of the pandemic, and they're risking their lives to
    keep our country going.
        Instead of working to protect Camila and keep her here in
    her country--because she's just as American as you, Mr. Buck,
    and everyone else--the Trump Administration is trying to
    dismantle DACA, terminate TPS for hundreds of thousands of
    immigrants, including Haitians, Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, and
    so many others that live here in my district.
        We've already lost 200,000 lives because of this pandemic,
    and we owe it to every American to keep our essential workforce
    at levels that are able to handle the virus. We owe it to
    Camila and to countless others who contribute to the fight
    against COVID to provide those protections and provide an
    opportunity to live and work in our communities.
        So, Mr. Jawetz, you know, you discussed that--and we know
    that we have about 550,000 DACA recipients and TPS holders who
    are constantly under threat by the Department of Homeland
    Security. What would be the impact on our ability to fight this
    pandemic if these workers were removed from our country or
    didn't have those work permits to continue working here in the
    United States?
        Mr. Jawetz. Thanks for the question, Congresswoman.
        Yeah, it's a great point. We're not here talking about
    adding additional folks to the workforce when there are tens of
    millions of Americans out of work. These are people who are
    currently contributing. They have been contributing for many,
    many years.
        If you think about what it would look like to take hundreds
    of thousands of workers out of the workforce that play an
    essential role, the amount of turnover cost that businesses
    would encounter, the amount of disruption to their ability to
    provide services, especially when they're trying to make ends
    meet in the first place, you know, the ways in which it would
    essentially disrupt, obviously, their ability to provide for
    their families. It would be massively disruptive to the U.S.
    economy and to so many of these places.
        You've got tens of thousands of DACA recipients right now
    who are serving in healthcare occupations, same as in TPS. When
    you look at what the American Association of Medical Colleges
    said in their brief to the Supreme Court, they said there have
    been years and millions of dollars of investment by medical
    colleges in these individuals, who are going to help close the
    doctor shortage gap that we can anticipate in this country
    going forward.
        So, they're playing an important role. Taking them out of
    the economy makes absolutely no sense. It certainly doesn't
    make us feel like the system is working any more fairly or
    humanely.
        Ms. Mucarsel-Powell. Yeah. Mr. Jawetz, why is it so
    important, then, to have these essential workers work here
    freely without having that threat that they may be deported?
    Like Vicente was just mentioning that his father hugs him in
    the morning like it could be the last time that they're
    together.
        Mr. Jawetz. There are a lot of reasons for that.
        So, one of the things that study after study has found is
    that, when individuals who are undocumented get work
    authorization and then when they get citizenship, they do a lot
    of different things. First, when they have work authorization,
    they can get jobs that are better matches to their skills,
    since they're not locked into a particular job and a particular
    employer. Second, you get additional productivity from them.
        Also, with that additional confidence and security in their
    future, they invest in themselves and their communities better,
    right? So, we've seen this from DACA, that when individuals got
    the ability to stay here and got some protection from
    deportation and work authorization, they went to school more,
    they got better jobs, jobs that paid better. They put back into
    the community more fully. They're buying houses, they're buying
    cars. They're already part of our country, but they have the
    ability to more fully invest in their communities and in their
    families.
        Ms. Mucarsel-Powell. Thank you.
        I think we have to make it clear that this is not--these
    essential workers are not taking jobs away from our American
    workers that are here, that we also have to provide
    opportunities for them. It's not an either/or question. We can
    do both.
        Ms. Navratil, a quick question for you, as I was listening
    to you trying to remember when you got your papers. Do you
    remember who was President at the time?
        Ms. Navratil. Yes, ma'am. It was President Bush.
        Ms. Mucarsel-Powell. Okay. So, we've had Republican
    Presidents that provide that path.
        I'm glad to hear that it only took you a year. I can't tell
    you how many people in my district have been waiting for years
    to become citizens. Same when they've been married to
    Americans, American-born citizens.
        So welcome. I'm sorry to hear that you've had such a
    difficult time. We support people like you, small-business
    owners like you, regardless of political affiliations. I don't
    know why we have to politicize everything in this Committee
    when we're talking about immigration.
        So, I'm glad that it took a year, and I would hope for the
    same for all the immigrants that are asking and waiting,
    waiting for legal status here in this incredible country.
        Thank you.
        Ms. Lofgren. The gentlelady's time has expired.
        I would turn to the gentleman from California, Mr.
    McClintock, for his 5 minutes of questions.
        Mr. McClintock. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
        Two immediate thoughts come to mind from this hearing.
        The first is that if there are many in the majority party
    who don't care enough about this issue to even show up but
    simply are content with phoning it in, how seriously any of us
    should take it.
        I do take it seriously, which brings me to my second point:
    How tone-deaf can you be? Here we are in the middle of the most
    self-destructive panic in history, when millions of people have
    lost their jobs because of government edicts forbidding them to
    work, resulting in massive unemployment, and the majority holds
    a hearing regarding foreign workers, at a time we are facing a
    shrinking pool of jobs that Americans desperately need to
    recover from this government-ordered lockdown. I'm simply left
    with an inexpressible sense of disbelief.
        These lockdowns haven't saved lives. We can see that
    plainly by comparing jurisdictions that locked down with those
    that didn't. Lockdowns have produced overall higher mortality
    rates and much higher unemployment rates than those
    jurisdictions that didn't panic, that stayed open, that coped
    and carried on.
        Just 8 months ago, we were enjoying the greatest economic
    recovery in our lifetimes. Unemployment was at its lowest point
    in 50 years. Unemployment for African Americans, Latino
    Americans, and women was the lowest ever recorded. Median
    income was rising for the first time in a decade and especially
    for blue-collar, working-class Americans.
        Unlike the Obama years, when people were leaving the
    workforce by the millions, in the Trump years they were
    reentering the workforce by the millions. This didn't happen by
    accident. It happened because this Administration produced one
    of the biggest tax cuts in American history and the biggest
    regulatory relief in American history. It turns out, when you
    get out of people's pockets and out of their faces, they can
    succeed and prosper.
        Now, the left loves to talk about essential jobs. Well, let
    me remind them that, if a job is putting food on your table and
    it's putting a roof over your family and is allowing you and
    your family to get ahead, that job is absolutely essential. To
    call such jobs nonessential and such workers as nonessential is
    the very height of leftist, elitist philosophy.
        All the progress that we made was swept away, and yet the
    one constant theme of the left is to destroy the jobs of
    American workers while, in this hearing, they're elevating
    those who have entered our country illegally.
        Don't tell me there are jobs Americans aren't willing to
    do. The question is what employers are willing to pay. They
    don't have to pay a lot if we're pushing American workers aside
    and replacing them with illegal immigration.
        Now, I missed Ms. Navratil's testimony, but I have heard it
    is a warning that every American needs to hear, and it bears
    repeating.
        Ms. Navratil, you obeyed all our laws. You came to America
    with a sincere desire to become an American, to see your
    children succeed and prosper as Americans. You did everything
    our country asked of you to do. You obeyed our laws. You
    respected our sovereignty. Now you're watching millions of
    illegal immigrants cut in front of you.
        I'd like to, for a moment, have you reprise the encounter
    that brought you to this Committee today, because I'm told it
    is a warning that we all need to hear.
        Ms. Navratil. Well, I am in front of the Committee because
    of the injustice that was done by our Racine mayor.
        We have worked very hard to be where we are, and, like I
    said earlier, we didn't take handout. We had jobs; we started a
    business. I started with a small table in front of a church
    selling jewelry. Twenty-eight years later, we have a store. We
    pay our taxes on time. We give back a lot to the community. I'm
    very involved with the community. We've never asked for any
    kind of handouts.
        So, when the mayor denied our grants, it was a slap to our
    face. Now, it's not about the money issue at all. It's about
    the injustice that was done over here and our First amendment
    right that was taken away from us.
        Mr. McClintock. The reason was because your husband had
    exercised his constitutional right of free speech and freedom
    to peaceably assemble.
        Ms. Navratil. Yes, sir. Exactly.
        Mr. McClintock. Well, thank you again for telling your
    story. I think we need to be aware that that is the future of
    every one of us in this dystopian world that we will live in if
    these leftists ever seize control of our government.
        I yield back.
        Ms. Lofgren. The gentleman yields back.
        The gentleman from Colorado, Mr. Neguse, is recognized for
    5 minutes.
        Mr. Neguse. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Chairwoman
    Lofgren, for holding this critical hearing on immigrants on the
    front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. I want to thank you for
    your leadership.
        Immigrants are part of our communities. They are our family
    Members, our neighbors, our colleagues, and our friends. They
    are overrepresented in nearly every job that has been deemed
    essential during the pandemic.
        While the Trump Administration closed its borders to new
    immigrants, millions of immigrants already here continued to
    work to stop the spread and lessen the virus's impact on our
    economy.
        To my friends on the other side of the aisle who apparently
    are indignant at the notion that these immigrants are part of
    the American fabric of our country, I would say that they are
    working as medical and healthcare workers caring for COVID-19
    patients, putting their and their family's health and safety at
    risk. They are our farmworkers, grocery store workers, meat
    plant workers, and those in delivery, shipping, and trucking
    who are continuing to go into work each and every day to keep
    Americans fed. We should honor their contributions to our
    society.
        Colorado, the great State that I have the honor of
    representing, is, of course, no different. Our immigrant and
    refugee communities have played an instrumental role on the
    front lines of this pandemic as healthcare workers, engineers,
    educators, small-business owners, and essential workers in our
    food supply chain.
        One such person who I'd like to mention is Ashwani
    Upadhyay, a manufacturing engineer who works in an
    international company with an office in my district, in
    Boulder, that has a number of product lines used by the world's
    largest pharmaceutical companies, some of which are working on
    COVID-19 vaccines. His H-1B petition was denied earlier this
    summer until my office intervened and his appeal was granted.
    The loss of him would have resulted in a less successful
    production of those critical product lines and could have
    hindered the development of COVID-19 vaccines.
        I want to talk a bit about the DACA recipients. Ms.
    Mucarsel-Powell articulated, in my view, you know, the central
    vexing problem that faces us as a country. Because no matter
    the industry, in Colorado, DACA recipients have been stepping
    up and contributing at a time when America needs them most.
    They are doing so regardless of the Trump Administration's
    ongoing efforts to end the program.
        So, I'd like to ask you, Ms. Yoon, what would be the
    consequences, in your view, if the many DACA recipients who
    are, for example, providing childcare or those caring for
    elderly, sick, and disabled Americans lost their protections
    literally in the middle of a pandemic?
        Ms. Yoon. Thank you for that question, Congressman.
        I think my co-panelist Tom talked about this, right? That
    DACA recipients are part of our community, just as you said,
    right?
        The loss of work authorization would mean a few different
    things. One is, one, the threat of being removed from this
    country and being separated from their families, from their
    communities. Being part of this economy, it would be really a
    devastating and unspeakable hardship that I think not just the
    DACA recipients but their families, their communities, right?
        So, I want to just kind of bring this conversation back to:
    For all intents and purposes, they're Americans, right? Other
    than a piece of paper. So, we should remember that they've been
    part of our community, our economy all along. They have always
    been part of our community.
        Mr. Neguse. Thank you.
        Ms. Navratil, I just want to clarify one thing. I thank you
    for testifying today.
        Thank you to all the witnesses for testifying.
        I want to make sure it's not your testimony today that you
    believe that the DACA recipients who are working in these
    various different industries should be deported. Is that not--
    that's not your testimony.
        Ms. Navratil. That's not my testimony.
        Mr. Neguse. Okay. Thank you. Well, I appreciate, again,
    your testimony today and each of the witnesses', and I just
    want to make sure that I clarified that for the record.
        Because, as Ms. Yoon articulated--and I certainly concur in
    her assessment--these individuals, the DACA recipients who work
    in our communities, who are caring for the elderly, who are
    working in our grocery stores, who are on the front lines of
    fighting for us in this pandemic, they are Americans. They're
    just as American as every single member of this committee.
        Like some of my colleagues, I'm the son of immigrants. My
    parents came to this country as refugees 40 years ago. I am
    very grateful for the opportunities and the freedoms that this
    country has been able to offer me and my family. I just hope
    that we can recognize the contributions that immigrants are
    making each and every day in communities across the country.
        With that, I yield back the balance of my time, Madam
    Chair.
        Ms. Lofgren. The gentleman yields back.
        I turn now to the gentlelady from Texas. Ms. Escobar is
    recognized for 5 minutes.
        Ms. Escobar. Thank you, Madam Chair.
        It is unfortunate that there's not a single Republican
    colleague who chose to wait and stay to the end of this
    hearing, because I was hoping that they would hear my comments.
        This hearing today is about essential workers. It's not
    about PPP. It's not about civil unrest. It's not about
    grievances against immigrants. It's about essential workers.
        The fact of the matter is that immigrants comprise a key
    component of our essential workforce. In agriculture, they make
    up 73 percent of that workforce; 29 percent of manufacturing;
    28 percent of healthcare; 24 percent of healthcare--I'm sorry--
    28 percent of healthcare; 20 percent of logistics; 12 percent
    of education.
        I have a question for Ms. Navratil.
        If you were in need of food or healthcare, would it matter
    to you that the individual helping feed you or get you better,
    would it matter to you whether that person is undocumented or
    not?
        Ms. Navratil. No.
        Ms. Escobar. Okay. Thank you so much. I appreciate that
    response.
        Mr. Reyes, your testimony was extremely compelling. I was
    hoping that there would be at least one Republican colleague
    who would wait until the very end of this hearing, because you
    described what it's like to work in the fields alongside
    undocumented immigrants--backbreaking labor. You described
    being on your hands and knees picking those onions so that the
    rest of us would have food on our table.
        What is it like for you to hear a Member of Congress, a
    member of this committee, actually more than one, say that what
    you're doing is taking jobs away from Americans and that you
    should go back, and to hear one of our panelists say that it's
    not fair that you're here? How does that make you feel, Mr.
    Reyes?
        Mr. Reyes. Congresswoman Escobar?
        Ms. Escobar. Yes.
        Mr. Reyes. I feel sad, because we are the ones who bring
    the food to every one of you every day, every week, and
    weekends as well. I think it's very unfair, that being said,
    because if we're taking away jobs, then why doesn't the
    government put homeless people who are able to work and are
    American, why don't they put them to work instead? If we are
    taking away jobs, then why don't they do that?
        Ms. Escobar. Thank you, Mr. Reyes.
        I have to share with the Members of the Subcommittee and
    our panelists that I have met with farmers who, during--this is
    pre-COVID, of course. When I met with them--and this was during
    President Trump's talks about shutting down the border. They
    met with me, and they said that they urgently needed help to
    make sure that the President didn't shut down the border
    because it would essentially shut down our ability to provide
    food--their ability to provide food for the American public.
        When I inquired about their workforce, they all
    acknowledged that they depend on undocumented labor. They
    acknowledged that, even when they have raised wages, they have
    not been able to secure American applicants for these jobs.
        So, the idea that immigrant labor is taking jobs from
    Americans, while possibly true in some sectors, is absolutely
    not true across the board.
        We have to do more for our essential workforce. We should
    be thanking them. They should be receiving hazard pay. They
    should be receiving healthcare. They should be receiving every
    protection under the sun so that we can continue to enjoy the
    food that we have the privilege of enjoying, the healthcare
    that those of us are lucky enough to receive, and all the other
    benefits that we are able to enjoy because of their
    backbreaking work and because they are risking their lives for
    us every single day.
        In fact, if we're going to talk about fairness, that is
    what is unfair, that they don't have access to those
    protections.
        Madam Chair, I yield back.
        Mr. Reyes. Sorry for the interruption. I meant to say
    jobless, not homeless.
        Ms. Lofgren. Okay. That is noted for the record.
        We now go to the other lady from Texas, Ms. Sheila Jackson
    Lee.
        Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank
    you for holding this important hearing that you're now holding.
        Let me express my appreciation to the witnesses who have
    provided us testimony for this matter.
        Let me ask a question to Mr. Reyes.
        Thank you so very much. I know how hard it was to become
    status by DACA. I have been on this Committee for a period of
    time, where I've introduced over and over again with my
    colleagues' comprehensive immigration reform which would take
    everyone who was seeking to become a citizen and put them in a
    position to access it without fear of deportation.
        So, quickly, when you said you were doing the right thing,
    to a question asked, what would you do if you didn't feel well
    and you had to take, in light of COVID-19--what did you say you
    would do? You would stay in and not work? Is that what you said
    you would do?
        Mr. Reyes. Yes. We would have to essentially try to ration
    out whatever we have as in money, food, so that we can survive
    and be able to go back to work when it's safe.
        Ms. Jackson Lee. Were you paid when you were home sick,
    even if you had--were you paid by the employer, the farmer,
    when you were home, when you took the time so that others would
    not be sick?
        Mr. Reyes. There are only certain days that you get for,
    like, sick days, but there's only 3 days. You have to
    accumulate them over a certain amount of hours, and it's really
    hard to get those hours.
        Ms. Jackson Lee. So, it's 3 days.
        Mr. Reyes, in his capacity, could be considered an
    essential worker. Essential workers bring the food supply from
    farm to market. They also clean and sanitize public spaces and
    care for our children. They tend to be elderly sometimes, but
    Mr. Reyes is a young person. They play increasingly larger
    roles in the healthcare of our Nation.
        The COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted our essential
    workers. Now, according to a recent study, 19.8 million
    immigrants are now considered essential workers. They are un-
    status.
        So, let me ask a question to Ms. Yoon and Mr. Jawetz. If
    you would take turns, because of my time, you can answer that.
        Here we are trying to confront the disparate impact not
    only on immigrant workers but Latinx and African-Americans, who
    have had a disparate impact of COVID-19. All of them have been
    on the front lines in many different ways.
        Tell us how devastating it is to have such discriminatory
    practices because someone is un-status, one, with relationship
    to having access to healthcare, time off.
        Would you not--you're not doctors, but because of our
    skewed immigration system, meaning that we are not giving
    people the opportunity for asylum or access to citizenship,
    even if undocumented, how we are harming our whole society,
    economically and health-wise.
        Ms. Yoon, would you comment? Then Mr. Jawetz. Thank you.
        Ms. Yoon. Thank you.
        Yeah, I want to share a story that we heard from a home-
    care worker in Texas in the early part of our pandemic, where,
    at that point--and this was in March or in early April--where
    the State was only providing PPE to doctors and nurses in the
    hospitals. She was a home-care worker; she was going to work
    caring for an elderly person. She just was heartbroken because
    she absolutely wanted to go and care for this patient. Because,
    for those most vulnerable to the virus, older Americans and
    those with chronic illnesses and disabilities, home-care
    workers have been their only lifeline to the outside world,
    providing the care and services they need, with daily
    activities like bathing and eating. She didn't have a mask,
    right?
        So, that's the challenge that I think that our workers are
    facing as essential workers, is that it was really--she was
    heartbroken because she didn't know what to do, right? She
    wanted to go, but she also wanted to protect the patient she
    was providing support to.
        Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you.
        Mr. Jawetz?
        Mr. Jawetz. Thanks so much.
        Yeah, I think we have to think about our workforce--and,
    yeah, I think it's most clearly with the domestic workforce
    that Haeyoung has talked about--as kind of like infrastructure.
    They're like roads. They're like power lines. They're human
    social infrastructure upon which strong communities, strong
    families, a strong economy is built. If we're not taking care
    of that economy, that workforce the entire thing crumbles.
        I look at the idea about how, starting in January, without
    a doubt, we're going to have to have a national recovery
    package that looks at these twin crises we're facing, the
    public health crisis and the economic devastation that has
    resulted from the failure to actually control this virus. I
    think, if we don't reckon with the fact that there are millions
    upon millions of people who are playing critical roles in
    protecting the country and serving in these jobs that are
    keeping us going--if we don't remove the legal stigma,
    essentially, of being undocumented from these folks and think
    that we're going to somehow build back in a more resilient and
    stable way than we were beforehand, we're fooling ourselves.
        Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the
    time. I yield back.
        Ms. Lofgren. Thank you very much.
        The gentlelady from Pennsylvania, Ms. Scanlon, is now
    recognized for 5 minutes.
        Ms. Scanlon. Thank you very much, Chairwoman. I appreciate
    your holding this hearing. My district is at least 10 percent
    foreign-born. So, we have a lot of immigrants, both documented
    and not documented, in my district, and the pandemic has
    certainly hit them hard.
        I just wanted to focus on a couple issues here.
        First off, back in April, under the CARES Act, Congress
    authorized one-time stimulus payments of $1,200 per person,
    with additional $500 bumps for children. There was a big
    section of folks--I think it was 1.2 million families were
    unable to receive those stimulus because one member of the
    household was not a citizen. It didn't matter if that married
    couple had followed the rules and that the husband or wife had
    a green card.
        Is that correct, Mr. Jawetz?
        Mr. Jawetz. So, basically, both people on a joint--both
    heads of the household, if they're filing together on a joint
    tax form, had to have Social Security numbers, essentially. So,
    if one person filing a joint tax form had a Social Security
    number but somebody else had an ITIN that they were filing
    with, that entire family was disqualified. That would include
    the U.S. citizen Social Security number holder who was filing
    as well as any children.
        Ms. Scanlon. So, if you had a husband and wife, that would
    be $2,400 that family didn't get. If they had four kids, that's
    another $2,000. We're talking, by definition, here about a
    family that's filing a tax return and paying taxes and playing
    by the rules, right?
        Mr. Jawetz. Definitionally, they're filing their return.
    Again, so if you have a U.S. citizen married to an undocumented
    spouse, who have two children who are U.S. citizens, that
    entire family is cut out from getting relief.
        Ms. Scanlon. Okay. Some of those people could be in
    process, trying to seek asylum or something else; they just
    haven't gotten through the process yet.
        Mr. Jawetz. They certainly could be. If you've got a Social
    Security number, then that would be the cure to the issue.
    Again, we know that there are millions of undocumented
    immigrants in the country who are contributing, who do every
    year faithfully file tax forms, and they use an ITIN, just like
    the Federal Government allows them to use.
        Ms. Scanlon. Right. So, they're not cheating the system
    here.
        Mr. Jawetz. No. These are folks who are net contributors to
    the country. They've long been net contributors to the country.
    There's basically unified agreement on that among economists.
        Ms. Scanlon. Okay.
        Ms. Yoon, I see that your organization has a chapter in
    Philadelphia, and I represent part of Philadelphia. Do you have
    any particular stories with regard to the Philadelphia area, or
    can I follow up with you about that?
        Ms. Yoon. I'm happy to follow up with you. We have a very
    robust chapter in Philly, so happy to follow up with your
    office.
        Ms. Scanlon. I would appreciate that. I mean, much of your
    testimony really resonated. Philadelphia has an aging
    population, and so when we think of essential workers, we think
    of doctors and nurses and such, but we've got so many folks who
    rely upon home care, care for the disabled, folks in assisted
    living, folks in senior centers.
        You mentioned the growing need for care workers,
    particularly in elder care. Can you elaborate on this and talk
    about the outsized role that immigrants now play in caring for
    our aging population?
        Ms. Yoon. Yes. So, as I noted in my testimony, that from
    2016 into 2060, the population of adults aged 65 or older in
    the country will nearly double, from 49.2 million to over 90
    million people. The number of adults aged 85 or older is
    expected to nearly triple over the same period to 19 million.
        The aging of our Nation means the aging of our workforce.
    It means more workers will be retiring and leaving the
    workforce. As advances in technology and healthcare allow all
    of us to live longer, it is so important that all of us live in
    our homes, amongst our family, amongst our community. We're
    going to need, as a Nation, care workers who are going to
    provide them very basic needs, like helping to get up in the
    morning, helping to bathe, helping them to take medication.
    Right?
        These are critical components of allowing our aging
    populations to live and thrive in their homes and communities.
        Ms. Scanlon. Thank you.
        Mr. Jawetz?
        Mr. Jawetz. Can I add really quickly one thing,
    Congresswoman? To Haeyoung's point, over this current decade
    alone, the National Academy of Sciences found that, but for
    immigrants and their children, we would actually lose 7 million
    people from the working-age population of this country. So, if
    we think that immigrants are playing an essential role today,
    just wait over the next 10 and 20 years.
        Ms. Scanlon. Okay. Thank you.
        I see my time has expired.
        Ms. Lofgren. The gentlelady's time has expired.
        I have waited until the end so I could make sure that all
    the Members had a chance to ask questions, given the votes.
    Given that the votes are over in the House for today, there is
    interest among Members for a second round of questions. So, I
    will begin my first-round questions, and then we will start
    again, for those Members who are able to stay, with our second
    round.
        I'll just say, Mr. Reyes, it was interesting to listen to
    you. Your parents have lived each day with fear that they could
    be picked up by ICE and separated from each other at any time.
        Last year, the House of Representatives passed a bill
    called the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. In addition to
    many reforms relative to the H-2A program, it would've allowed
    farmworkers like you and your parents to get what's called a
    blue card, which would allow you to work legally in the United
    States, and then, after a period of time, give you the option
    to either renew the blue card or apply for legal permanent
    residence.
        If that became law, how would that change your life and the
    life of your family?
        Mr. Reyes. Thank you, Chairwoman Lofgren, so much for your
    leadership and important work in the farm workforce
    legislation.
        For me personally, it would broaden my horizon of education
    and career-wise. I would be able to not just apply for a
    minimum-wage job, but I can now apply to a dream job, such as,
    like, working at NASA or for any Federal job that there is, as
    that is my personal goal, to work for NASA as a robotics
    engineer.
        For my family, it would be such a great relief that they
    can now work in peace. I'm pretty sure that would be true for
    all the undocumented farmworkers, that they can now work at the
    job more peacefully, more safer. They would be able to claim
    their rights that they deserve. As of now, they are afraid to
    claim rights because they're undocumented, and the ones that
    are in charge know that and violate the rights of those
    workers. So, I think, with that legislation, it would let them
    open up about what's actually going on.
        Ms. Lofgren. It's interesting, my husband grew up in
    Bakersfield, and, as a young man, his father was constantly
    pressing him to take jobs in the summer. One summer, his father
    insisted that he take a job picking carrots.
        So, he went out into the field to pick carrots, and he
    spent the whole day picking carrots and earned about a dollar.
    Meanwhile, the farmworkers who knew how to pick carrots had
    picked, you know, 5 times, 10 times as much as he picked.
    Because, although being a farmworker does not require a college
    education, it is not unskilled. What he found out is, you can't
    just walk in and pick enough carrots to actually produce
    anything if you don't know what the heck you're doing, which he
    did not. He didn't last. He was an unsuccessful farmworker.
        So, to think that these are jobs that are going to be
    easily filled is not correct.
        I'll just say, in addition to chairing this subcommittee, I
    used to be an immigration lawyer and I used to teach
    immigration law. We have not really updated our immigration
    laws--it's the same basic structure that was done in 1965. The
    system really isn't serving America well right now.
        I was interested to hear your wonderful story, Ms.
    Navratil, becoming a citizen, how wonderful that was. It
    started me thinking about the M.D.s who we need. We need these
    M.D. scientists. The way we've structured the law is, if a
    scientist who is doing cutting-edge research on COVID-19 was
    born in India, she can't get a visa, but if she was born in
    Germany, she could. That doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
        So, we have structured this in a way that it really doesn't
    serve America. It does not serve America. Because we've got
    essential workers all the way from people who are keeping food
    in the supermarkets so we can eat or doing science research or
    helping sick people because they're physicians, and the way the
    law is written, there's no--in many cases, no way for people to
    legalize their status, to do what you did, and I'm so glad you
    did, to become an American like us.
        So, we need to take a look at how we craft the law so it
    works for the United States, works for our people, works for
    our country.
        With that, I think that my time has expired.
        So, we'll go for our second round of questions. I would
    turn first to the Ranking Member, Mr. Buck, for his questions.
        Mr. Buck. I have nothing at this time. Thank you,
    Chairwoman.
        Ms. Lofgren. All right.
        I don't know, is Pramila still on this call?
        If not, I know Mr. Correa is interested. If Pramila
    returns, we will recognize her.
        Mr. Correa. Thank you, Madam Chair, for indulging me. I do
    have a couple of questions, thoughts.
        I'll start out, Mr. Jawetz, if I can. If a farmworker, a
    nurse, or a poultry worker wants a work permit, can they
    actually leave the country, return to their country of origin,
    and apply for a work permit and return to the U.S.?
        I want to be clear, because I have a lot of casework,
    immigration casework, in my office, and, far as I know, there
    is no real pathway to get a work permit or a green card to this
    country right now. Can you clarify for me what the State of the
    law is?
        Mr. Jawetz. Yeah. Would that it was so simple.
        First, any person who has accrued a year of unlawful
    presence in this country--and, again, remember that I said that
    the average undocumented immigrant of the 10 million that have
    been here have been here for 14 years on average. If you've
    accrued 1 year of unlawful presence, the second you leave the
    country, you're barred for 10 years from coming back. So, this
    idea that you can step foot abroad and then magically come back
    the right way doesn't make any sense.
        Moreover, even if you somehow got that waived and you
    didn't have that, there aren't a lot of pathways that you could
    actually apply for it in an embassy abroad that would then
    allow you to come back. So, if you look at farmworkers, for
    instance, or any sort of, like, the ``other worker category''
    in immigration law, you're looking at 5,000 or 10,000 immigrant
    visas available per year to people who are applying for those--
        Mr. Correa. So, let me ask you, if somebody is in another
    country--India, Mexico, China, Vietnam, where most of our
    immigrants are coming from--haven't stepped in the U.S., can I
    go to the American embassy in Mexico City and apply to come to
    the U.S. and automatically get a permit to come to the U.S. to
    work?
        Mr. Jawetz. Definitely, not automatically certainly. There
    are different pathways you could try and choose, and so you
    could try and access the H-2A program, you could try to access
    the H-2B program. There are certain pathways that are
    available, but they are so inadequate and so poorly tailored to
    the realistic wants and needs of the country that, ultimately,
    the dysfunction of the system is fundamentally responsible for
    the dysfunction we see in the country today.
        Mr. Correa. I just want to make sure I'm being clear here.
    If I tell my constituents, taxpayers in my district, you can
    leave the country and apply for a permit, then come back,
    that's actually not correct.
        Mr. Jawetz. No. That is dangerous advice to offer them.
        There's one thing I want--
        Mr. Correa. Thank you very--go ahead--thank you very much.
        Let me move on to Ms. Navratil, if I can.
        You mentioned that you married an American citizen. Did you
    meet your spouse in your country of origin, or did you meet him
    in the U.S.?
        Ms. Navratil. In the U.S., sir.
        Mr. Correa. Were you here as a student, or did you have a
    permit to be in the U.S. when you met him?
        Ms. Navratil. I was on a tourist visa.
        Ms. Correa. A tourist visa. You didn't happen to overstay
    on that tourist visa, did you?
        Ms. Navratil. No, sir. I did not.
        Mr. Correa. So, I guess, Chairwoman Lofgren just said
    that--and I agree with her--we have these cutting-edge
    scientists in terms of technology that this country needs to
    stay ahead of the rest of the international competition, and
    they can't stay.
        So, what would you advise those students studying in the
    U.S., doing all this postdoctoral research? Should they get
    married to an American citizen to stay in the U.S.? Or what
    other way can they stay in the U.S.?
        That's a question, ma'am. Ms. Navratil, what would you
    recommend to these hardworking individuals that are busting
    really hard, trying to find the American Dream like you did?
    What would you ask--what advice would you give those people to
    find the American Dream like you did?
        Ms. Navratil. I'm not in a position to give them advice
    like that.
        Mr. Correa. Most people aren't, but what would you tell
    them? Any advice? Find--
        Ms. Navratil. No, sir.
        Mr. Correa. --an American and marry them?
        Ms. Navratil. No, sir.
        Mr. Correa. But, you did it. That's the way you did it. You
    would advise them to do that.
        Ms. Navratil. That was my story.
        Mr. Correa. Thank you.
        Madam Chairperson, I have a few seconds left, but I yield
    the remainder of my time. Thank you very much.
        Ms. Lofgren. The gentleman yields back.
        I know Ms. Jackson Lee has a question. Before I recognize
    Ms. Jackson Lee, I would just note, certainly, Ms. Navratil has
    made it clear that she's not comfortable giving legal advice.
    That's not her expertise, and we respect that.
        Certainly, getting married only to get a visa would not be
    proper. You have to have a real marriage, a valid marriage, to
    meet the requirements of the immigration law. I think we don't
    want to leave any confusion on that point. Obviously, Ms.
    Navratil met the man of her dreams and has a valid marriage.
        So, at this point, Ms. Jackson Lee, I guess, has stepped
    out, so I will call on Ms. Scanlon. If Ms. Jackson Lee returns,
    we will hear from her.
        Ms. Scanlon, you are recognized.
        Ms. Scanlon. I don't have further questions. Thank you.
        Ms. Lofgren. All right.
        Is Ms. Jackson Lee available?
        Seeing not, then I will just conclude with one further set
    of questions.
        Mr. Jawetz, you have indicated that the number--that the
    country has a great dependence on people who are lawfully--
    they're here under cover of law. They're DACA recipients;
    they're TPS recipients.
        Are you able to provide a breakdown of how many DACA
    recipients or TPS recipients fit within the essential-worker
    category that the Department of Homeland Security has issued?
    Is there any way to know that?
        Mr. Jawetz. So not directly. What we can do and what a
    small number of research institutions do is look at the
    American Community Survey and make imputations, essentially,
    about immigration status that can identify these folks, you
    know, in the data.
        What we found, in looking for this hearing at the new CISA
    version 4.0 on essential workers, there are actually about
    331,000 DACA recipients and about 219,000 TPS holders who are
    in these essential occupations.
        We're talking about tens of thousands in healthcare jobs,
    people who are supporting the healthcare industry. We're
    talking about a very large share, actually, who are working in
    food-related occupations. If you look at the TPS workforce, for
    instance, very, very substantially related to doing home health
    work and other sort of assistant work in the medical
    profession--nursing assistants and the like.
        Ms. Lofgren. All right.
        So, at this point--that was my last question. I think there
    are no further Members in line to ask questions. Unless I hear
    from them and prove that I'm incorrect, it would be time to
    bring the hearing to a close.
        So, to conclude, I want to thank the witnesses. Really,
    it's been fabulous to hear from each one of you. We do
    appreciate it.
        Without objection, all Members will have 5 legislative days
    to submit additional questions for the witnesses or additional
    material for the record.
        Ms. Lofgren. Without objection, this hearing is now
    adjourned. Thank you very much.
        [Whereupon, at 5:04 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]

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