Refugees and immigrants are currently employed in thousands of jobs that are critical to keeping our country functioning during the current pandemic. Many of the refugees and immigrants in the United States 
fled conflict, disaster and danger in their home countries to find safe haven here and are now contributing to the effort to manage and overcome the national health crisis by working – often at great risk to their own health and lives – to keep Americans safe, healthy, fed and poised for economic recovery.
Today, in the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, there is a hearing, Immigrants as Essential Workers During COVID-19, which will discuss the vital contributions immigrants and refugees are making.
In his written testimony that was submitted for the hearing today, Bishop Mario Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of Washington and chairman of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops’ Committee on Migration, said, “Immigrants and refugees are a blessing to our country. The Church teaches that every human being is created in God’s image and deserves dignity and respect and that human labor has an inherent dignity, allowing all to share in the ongoing work of creation, while providing the resources to build and sustain families.”