Talking to a group of about 20 Hispanic community leaders, U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan listed some of the legislation he supported in Washington, D.C., that impacts the Hispanic community.
Mrvan, D-Highland, said he voted in favor of the American Dream and Promise Act, which gives conditional permanent resident status for 10 years to a qualifying immigrant who came to the U.S. as a child.
The COVID-19 pandemic made “extremely clear” that access to health care in minority communities is an issue, Mrvan said. He voted in favor of the American Rescue Plan, which helped get COVID-19 vaccines to underserved communities and reopened businesses and schools, Mrvan said. It was a bill no Indiana Republicans in Congress voted for.
Mrvan voted for the infrastructure bill, which will improve roads, bridges, waterways and broadband access. Again, the Indiana GOP members in Congress voted against the bill. But, Mrvan said he strives for the inclusion of minority workers to receive contracts for the work created through the infrastructure bill.
“I believe I’ve earned a seat at this table to advocate for the Hispanic community,” Mrvan said.
U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, and State Reps. Mike Andrade, D-Munster, and Earl L. Harris Jr., D-East Chicago, met with area Hispanic leaders Thursday at Wicker Park in Highland to discuss issues facing the Hispanic community. The group discussed immigration reform, education, health care, food insecurity and resources for small business owners.
Northwest Indiana immigration attorney Alfredo Estrada said immigration in the United States is framed as family reunification but it is “an import of labor.” Amid the current worker shortage, the federal government should think of pathways to attract immigrants to come work in the U.S., Estrada said.
“There’s a good opportunity to have this conversation because what immigration does is bring workers,” Estrada said. “It’s like we’re not pulling back that current to realize that our economies are depended upon our undocumented people.”
When considering comprehensive immigration reform, young immigrants designated Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors, or DREAMers, “need their own pathway” to citizenship, Estrada said.
But, immigration reform should also take into account asylum-seekers, illegal immigrants who have found jobs and established their families in the U.S. and restructuring immigration courts, Estrada said. Not every illegal immigrant deserves to stay in the U.S., he said, like someone with a criminal history of drug trafficking or terrorism.
When looking at immigrants who want to come to the U.S. to work or to be with family, immigration policy should remove obstacles, like waiting years for a visa, that keep families apart and lead people to consider illegal immigration.
“If we take off that pressure, illegal immigration slows down. The biggest cause of illegal immigration is the restraints of legal immigration,” Estrada said.
Mrvan, the former North Township Trustee, said immigration is a national security issue, so a strong immigration policy should prevent immigrants with serious criminal records from entering the country. But, Mrvan said a viable immigration policy would benefit the economy because immigrants work various jobs across the country.
“I always want to be a welcoming nation,” Mrvan said. “I always want to be a country that welcomes people that are coming here for the right reason: To get the American Dream.”
Harris said during the Indiana General Assembly’s 2022 session he filed a bill that would allow a qualified individual who has been authorized to work in the U.S. to pay the in-state tuition cost at Indiana universities.
Despite the bill having two Republican co-authors, it wasn’t heard in committee and was not considered by the legislature, Harris said. With the Democrats in a super minority in the legislature, Harris said it will take time to get such legislation passed.
“We know that there is interest on the Republican side,” Harris said. “We’ll get there. We understand the long game. As much as we would love to see things happen within a year or two, sometimes it takes a while. We’re going to continue to push this.”
On the federal level, Mrvan said he co-sponsored the Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act, which would double the maximum Pell grant award and expand eligibility to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, among others.
In terms of health care, Mrvan said the goal of the American Rescue Plan was to make sure that health resources were available “to vulnerable populations.” In Gary, there was a coordinated effort between the federal and state government, the National Guard and the governor’s office to get 63,000 people vaccinated against COVID-19.
Mrvan said he has advocated for access to mental health, and that he has co-sponsored, supported or advocated for bills that relate to mental health because he understands that “to break the chain of poverty you must look at addiction (and) mental health.”
Referencing the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Mrvan said more than half of Hispanic young adults between the ages of 18 to 25 with serious mental illness may not receive treatment.
“First we have to work collectively to reduce the stigma of receiving help in mental health,” Mrvan said. “Now I know through this statistic and through this meeting what has evolved is that the Hispanic community needs more resources. So, what I will do is go back … that will be an action plan that I will have to find out what is being done in regards to addressing the mental health disparities within the Hispanic communities.”
In supporting the infrastructure bill, Mrvan said the broadband component of the bill will lead to health and mental health appointments done online.
“That is what is the byproduct of an effective mental health system because it tears down the stigma of people getting up and going into an office. It allows the practitioner to be more efficient and effective with their time,” Mrvan said.
Food Bank of Northwest Indiana CEO Victor Garcia said COVID-19 has increased the rate of food insecurity among Hispanics.
Latinos are two and a half times more likely to be food insecure than white households, Garcia said. Hispanics are 22% more likely to be food insecure since 2020 while white individuals saw a decrease in food insecurity by 6% since 2020, Garcia said.
“We’re seeing a huge widening of that gap between those that are food insecure that are people of color and their white counterparts,” Garcia said.
Garcia said the food bank is doing more with less funding and support from the federal and state government as well as donations from corporations. The Farm Bill will be before Congress soon, Garcia said, which is “extremely critical” in overseeing the supplemental nutrition assistance program.
“A lot of folks are concerned about misuse of SNAP, we have not found that to be the case. In our community, SNAP is vital and critical to making sure people have food on their table,” Garcia said.
Additionally, operational costs like utility and gas have been on the rise, Garcia said.
“It’s not getting cheaper to help the people that need help in our communities,” Garcia said.
Mrvan said Congress is working to address inflation to help lower the administrative costs like utilities and gas. But, Mrvan said hearing this from Garcia is “a new nugget of information,” which he will use to “better represent” the community.
Mrvan said the Farm Bill is “extremely important to our communities.” The SNAP program “when effectively and efficiently used is a vehicle to be not a hand out but a hand up,” Mrvan said.
The American Rescue Plan offered $12 billion in nutrition assistance to address the hardship caused by the pandemic, Mrvan said, including a 15% increase in the SNAP benefits.
“Food disparities is something that I find intolerable. I don’t want people or children or anyone else to go to bed hungry in the United States of America,” Mrvan.
Robert Acevez, the owner of Acevez Funeral Home in East Chicago, said it would be helpful to receive more information about federal grants for minority-owned businesses.
At the federal level, Mrvan said it is his and his staff’s job to inform the community about federal grants for minority owned businesses. Mrvan said he supported a fiscal year 2022 consolidated appropriation act, which included $33.6 million in funding for community development financial institution fund.
“The theme is you want an equitable opportunity to participate within the economy and to know what you’re eligible for and to be able to plug into those so that you can make your business more competitive so you can create more jobs and services your community,” Mrvan said.
