Opinion: Why Philly’s and Pittsburgh’s mayors want immigration action from Congress – By Feyisola Akintola and Amy Eusebio (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) / Aug 2 2021
Mayor Jim Kenney and Mayor Bill Peduto, along with more than 80 other mayors from 28 states, signed onto a letter urging our representatives in Washington to move quickly.
The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the truth about deep inequalities in our society. Communities of color were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, and our noncitizen neighbors were among the very hardest hit because they were unable to access COVID-19 relief benefits despite the fact that they make up a disproportionate share of frontline workers.
In the absence of federal aid, we saw neighbors stepping in to look out for one another. While these stories are inspiring, and demonstrate the very best of the people who make our cities so great, the fact that such extraordinary efforts were necessary in the first place is deeply troubling, and we as a nation must do more to look out for the most vulnerable among us.
Working in city government, we don’t have the luxury of failing to act or kicking the can down the road when our neighbors need help. During the pandemic, our cities stepped up and developed relief programs to try and protect all of our residents, particularly the most vulnerable, and we continue to do that work every day.
In Philadelphia, we took a number of steps to protect all our neighbors, including immigrant families and essential workers, during the pandemic. One of these key initiatives was the Philadelphia Worker Relief Fund, which distributed money to workers who were ineligible to receive federal and state COVID-19 relief. We also worked hard to make sure that all our residents were aware of resources available to provide rental assistance and allow people to stay in their homes, and provide resources to all Philadelphia small-business owners, regardless of their immigration status. Once vaccines became available, we worked with members of our local communities to provide vaccine information in several different languages.
