Earlier this year, Public Health Law Watch, in collaboration with members of the George Consortium and other partner organizations, hosted a series of legal briefings related to COVID-19 and legal and policy issues associated with the global pandemic. Experts and scholars joined us for bi-weekly livestreamed discussions on these issues. We invite you to read the summaries of selected episodes below! And, enjoy relistening to the series (linked below and archived on our #COVIDLawBriefing webpage).
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4/28/20: Immigration
Mod: Nicolas Terry
Speakers: Wendy Parmet, Medha Makhlouf
In this #COVIDLawBriefing, Professor Parmet and Professor Makhlouf are guest speakers on a panel examining the role of immigration on the entire COVID-19 response. The conversation began by looking at the history of using pandemics and epidemics to limit immigration to the United States. The clearest example of this policy is the long history of banning non-nationals with HIV from coming to the United States. The President's travel ban could be boiled down to saying that the “disease followed passport not where people traveled.” This means that the ban excluded people from foreign countries, such as China, from coming in, but allowed American citizens to enter the US freely after being in the same places. This is problematic because it creates a false narrative that by keeping “them out” the United States could effectively curve the spread of COVID-19. This way of seeing the pandemic as an immigration issue has had the devastating effect of ensuring a slow response from our federal government. Additionally, the Trump administration's immigration policies have made people hesitant to seek the care they need. Furthermore, raids have continued during the pandemic, bringing both fear and greater exposure to COVID-19 in immigrant communities. Beyond the public health implications, asylum seekers are being turned away at the border and the CDC is overstepping by checking people’s passports upon entry into the country. With ICE’s new policies regarding international students coming to the United States, understanding the impact of COVID-19 on immigration is more important than ever.
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Public Health Law Watch’s COVID Law Briefings are co-sponsored by the Center for Health Policy and Law at Northeastern University School of Law, the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University Beasley School of Law, the Network for Public Health Law, and the APHA Law Section.