[Author] Linda E. Sanchez
[Excerpt] The pandemic has made visible the vulnerabilities that many undocumented immigrants in the U.S. face on a daily basis.
One afternoon in mid-April, I was sitting at the kitchen table working from home on my computer when the phone rang. I jumped to pick it up. My friend Eloise’s* voice came over the line.
“I have some bad news,” she said. “Herminio has been hospitalized because of COVID.”
Eloise had also contracted the virus but had been sent home to recuperate. Her boyfriend of 10 years, Herminio, had to stay in the hospital because of complications with his diabetes.
I struggled to imagine Herminio, with his jovial spirit, stuck in a hospital bed. I knew that his job—driving patients to their doctor’s appointments—put him at risk for contracting COVID-19. But I was still surprised to hear that his case was so serious; despite having diabetes, Herminio was a relatively healthy 52-year-old who didn’t smoke or drink.
When the pandemic hit, like others labeled “essential workers,” Herminio found himself in a precarious position—made even more so because of his undocumented status as an immigrant from Mexico.