WHY WE NEED IRLA

Immigrants are LA. About 35 percent of L.A. County’s population are immigrants, more than half of them Latinx. Fifteen percent identify as AAPI, and 8 percent identify as Black. Four-fifths o have been here longer than 10 years. Three-quarters are people of color, and more than a million are undocumented. In the Los Angeles metro area, immigrants are a significant consumer base that spends more than $108.6 billion a year and contributes more than $38 billion in state, local, and federal taxes.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the weaknesses in the federal, state, and county social safety nets and exacerbated barriers to them that immigrants face. Thirty percent of immigrant households, and 42 percent of those who are undocumented, reported language barriers.

When the pandemic hit, more than 30 percent of Latinas, and 36 percent of those who are undocumented, lost their jobs compared to their white counterparts, pushing their unemployment rate to 20.5 percent. In Southeast L.A. County communities, 7 of 10 residents reported lost jobs or wages during the pandemic. Forty percent of them reported less than $500 in savings, and more than 85 percent reported concerns about discrimination. Low-income neighgorhoods of the metro region reported COVID rates 2.9 times higher than the regional average. For largely Latinx communities, the increase was only slightly lower at 2.7.

COVID-19 continues to be a threat to the immigrant community. But beyond the pandemic, local elected officials must step up to serve immigrants the immigrants who are their constituents and contribute in every way to this community. So, beyond specific federal or state aid programs, we ask the county’s supervisors to include immigrants in their yearly budget, to ensure equity across the entire county.