At the end of March, Congress passed a $2 trillion coronavirus relief package (the CARES Act) in response to the economic blow that the COVID-19 outbreak has caused. On Thursday morning, another 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment. With so many questions about the package and what it all means, Latino advocacy organization UnidosUS released a series of videos this week aimed to explain how the act will provide support for Latinos and their families. Topics covered included health, education, jobs, housing, and immigration. All the videos have Spanish subtitles.
In one video, Clarissa Martínez-De-Castro of UnidosUS provides a big picture perspective. Another video takes on the economic perspective and how Latinos are expected to be especially hit by the economic downfall of the coronavirus pandemic, explaining how the CARES Act protects Latinos, and some of its blind spots.
“The CARES Act provides payments to many American families with additional relief for those who have children,” Agatha So of UnidosUS says in the video.
“The median income for Latino workers was about $46,000 dollars in 2017, yet only some in our community will get this relief from the government,” she adds.
So also said that many mixed-status families or those with small businesses will not receive the relief funding. However, the moratorium on eviction means that they can “at least keep a roof over their heads.”
The full series is available here.
