Mexico's President to Provide COVID-19 Vaccines to Undocumented Immigrants in the US

By Neil P. First Posted: Jan 12, 2021 08:31 AM EST

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced on Wednesday he was ready to provide COVID-19 vaccines for the undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

(Photo : Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

Pres. Obrador to Provide COVID-19 Vaccines for the Undocumented Immigrants

There are many undocumented immigrants in the U.S. and most of them are from Mexico. Despite their immigration status in the country, it cannot be denied that most of them played very important roles during the global pandemic and putting their lives at risk.

Most of them worked as farmers, factory workers, household helpers, grocery store staff, and many more. This means that they are highly exposed to the virus.

It is no longer a surprise anymore why the country's Black and Brown residents are heavily impacted by the infectious and deadly COVID-19.

According to a report in We Are Mitu, Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday he was ready to provide COVID-19 vaccines to undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.

"It's a universal right. We would do it," said Pres. Obrador before his regular daily press conference after the press asked him if Mexico would step up to help vaccinate undocumented migrants living in the U.S. on which many of them are Mexicans.

Undocumented Immigrants in Nebraska Will Not Receive the Vaccine

Obrador said this after Nebraska Gov. Pete Rickets announced that undocumented immigrants working in the meatpacking plants will not be eligible to receive the vaccine.

According to Migration Policy, they are comprised of at least 14 percent of Nebraska's meatpacking workers.

Gov. Rickets said during a coronavirus briefing that a person should be a legal resident of the country to be able t work in the state's meatpacking plants.

This means that illegal or undocumented immigrants will not be a part of the state's vaccination program.

Nebraska's Decision Was Criticized

After Nebraska Governor said that undocumented immigrants will not be included in the vaccination program, he was immediately criticized.

Roberto Velasco, a senior Mexican diplomat for North America, wrote on his Twitter account "To deprive undocumented essential workers of #covid19 vaccination goes against basic human rights," He also cited a text from the U.N.'s declaration of human rights.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a leader of pro-migrant progressives in the Democratic party of President-elect Joe Biden, also gave her statement and asserted her strong opposition against Rickett's statement.

Ocasio-Cortez posted on her Twitter account and wrote, "Imagine being so racist that you go out of your way to ensure that the people who prepare *your* food are unvaccinated."

Undocumented Immigrant Fill the Essential Jobs Amid the Pandemic

According to different studies conducted, they found out that most of the nation's essential workers are people of color with a large number of undocumented immigrants. The same applies also the country's meatpacking plants.

Meanwhile, a study from the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute estimates that 11 percent of Nebraska's meat-packing workers while 10 percent nationwide lack legal immigration status.