In ordinary times, sanctuary city and state policies can relieve some of these burdens. Built on expanded eligibility and promises of non-cooperation with federal immigration authorities, sanctuary cities are a resource for cultivating civic unity. This is sorely needed in the face of the politics of fear that swirl within national discourses, currently visible in the closure of borders even to asylum seekers and racist characterizations of COVID-19 as the ‘Wuhan virus’ or the ‘Chinese virus’. The defense and expansion of sanctuary policies are integral to our collective resiliency at this time, in terms of public health, economic recovery, rights, and the retention and restoration of democratic values.
We are facing a biological enemy that respects no legal or political barriers and makes no distinction between citizens and non-citizens. In Canada, citizenship or prescribed immigration status is ordinarily necessary to access publicly-insured health services. The COVID-19 crisis changed that – at least in Ontario. On 20 March, Premier Doug Ford announced that all persons physically present in Ontario can access hospitals and medical services regardless of immigration status. This measure prioritizes the limitation of contagion and aligns with the right of every human being to be treated as valuable and worth protecting. Other provincial jurisdictions are starting to follow suit, including Québec and British Columbia, though policies vary.
Although most of its resources have been redirected to broader emergency needs, key municipal institutions in Toronto – Canada’s first sanctuary city – are mobilizing to enhance implementation. The Toronto Newcomer Office, Toronto Public Health, and the City’s Emergency Operations Committee meet daily to triage emerging issues and ensure that residents without other supports can receive at least some of what they need. They are joined by several health networks and immigrant and refugee-serving community organizations, all of which have experience working with migrants and co-implementing access without fear policies.
Another pillar of state responses to COVID-19 are expanded access to social assistance, paid sick leave, shelters, and momentary reprieve from evictions. Spearheaded at federal and provincial levels, these services are legally or practically unavailable to non-status migrants; there is expanded but uncertain access for many precarious-status migrants, like temporary foreign workers and international students. There are ways to go around this problem. The government of Portugal recently decided to treat migrants and asylum seekers as though they are permanent residents, so they can access social services, although this still doesn’t address the situation of non-status migrants. With vastly stronger economies, Canadian and American governments have yet to extend access to the most vulnerable among us.
Social and economic policies have direct impacts on public health. Without support, the COVID-19 crisis will increase rates of homelessness, the need for city shelters, and the risk of infection in under-regulated industries. Reports from the US indicate that homeless persons are twice as likely to be hospitalized and up to four times more likely to require intensive care. The interdependence of economic policy, social support, (irregular) migration, and public health, requires governments to carefully recalibrate policy to be inclusive of all persons living and working in the country. Citizenship and official status is an irrational marker of difference.