Barack Obama Says Race and Illegal Immigrants Pathway to Citizenship Should be Focus During Coronavirus Crisis

In a pair of tweets today, former President Barack Obama took time to share a race related article and another that talked about illegal immigrants who came here as children with their parents.

In the first, he shared an article from the Atlantic that talked about racial data in relation to the Coronavirus. The headline was ‘What the racial data show.’ The subheadline was ‘The pandemic seems to be hitting people of color the hardest.’

Obama’s response was that it’s a reminder to policymakers to keep our most vulnerable communities at the forefront when making decisions.

We can’t deny that racial and socioeconomic factors are playing a role in who is being hit the hardest by the virus. It’s a reminder for our policymakers to keep our most vulnerable communities at the forefront when making decisions.

We can't deny that racial and socioeconomic factors are playing a role in who is being hit the hardest by the virus. It's a reminder for our policymakers to keep our most vulnerable communities at the forefront when making decisions.https://t.co/aipc8p7Hwh

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 13, 2020

The second article, from the Washington Post that he shared, was titled “‘Dreamers’ risk lives on pandemic’s front lines while they await a decision on their own futures.” The article talks about illegal immigrants who are here and working in the health field.

Obama agreed that they were “risking their lives” and said that “they deserve permanent immigration status and a pathway to citizenship.”

Dreamers have contributed so much to our country, and they are risking their lives fighting on the frontlines of this pandemic. They deserve permanent immigration status and a pathway to citizenship—as they are Americans in every way but on paper.

Dreamers have contributed so much to our country, and they are risking their lives fighting on the frontlines of this pandemic. They deserve permanent immigration status and a pathway to citizenship—as they are Americans in every way but on paper. https://t.co/e4IYqX3WIy

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 13, 2020