June is Immigrant Heritage Month, and a Berkshire County nonprofit has identified key issues the community faces in 2020.
Michelle Lopez is the executive director of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts based Berkshire Immigrant Center. She says the COVID-19 pandemic has put the immigrant community at higher risk than most groups.
“The fact that there are so many essential workers who are immigrants, especially here in Berkshire County, in terms of the health care system and also essential workers in food production, at our restaurants, grocery stores, etcetera," Lopez told WAMC. "They’re providing health and sustenance to all of us.”
Two other issues Lopez identifies are the Trump administration’s immigration suspension during the pandemic and the increasing backlog of citizenship processes government closures have created.
