💸💪🏾Moneda Moves (08): The cost of fear
Buen día, mi gente. 👋🏾In an era of uncertainty around immigration and a steady stream of news updates and enforcements around the matter, I've been thinking about the cost of being an immigrant while undocumented. There is cost of travel, documents, growing debt, food, and a mental toll, to name a few. 💵
This week, an NBC Latino piece by Suzanne Gamboa posed an interesting question: What about the cost of fear? Undocumented people like the Marlene, from Veracruz, Mexico, and her family have abandoned food stamps out of fear of risking their chances of getting a green card. Documents leaked earlier this year revealed that the Trump administration could deny legal U.S. residency to immigrants who use almost any kind of public benefit, per The Washington Post.
While there are several anecdotal cases that demonstrate immigrants dropping benefits like children's health insurance and food stamps, some institutions that help individuals using the programs say "they're seeing declines in participation that coincide with Trump's election and other key moments in his administration," per NBC. Enrollment in the Women's Infant and Children Program (WIC) has decreased year over year, from 7.2 million last May to 6.8 million this year.
I'd recommend reading Gamboa's piece the entire way through, as it covers decrease in WIC and benefits cases specifically in immigrant communities and what it means to have to choose between support and the potential to become American citizens.
Have feedback? Find me at @MonedaMoves or @LyanneAlfaro. Share with your colegas using this link.
Con poder,
Lyanne
P.S.: I may not tweet as much as Lin-Manuel, but I'm listening... 🙃
We're keeping tabs/cuentas on what happened last week in the world of Latinx in business. We review studies, features and news updates as they relate to our community and underrepresented communities at large.
The cost of being a sponsor 💰: In a ProPublica story co-authored with Mother Jones, reporters detail the long and painful process unaccompanied minors endure in Chicago shelters for immigrant children. While one young adult from Guinea went on a hunger strike in an attempt to expedite his journey out of the shelter another teen from Guatemala said he wanted to take his life away after spending more than 580 days on site. While the amount of time children spend in shelters increases, it also becomes increasingly difficult for some sponsors to relieve minors of "indefinite detention." When sponsors (often family members) sign up to try to pick up minors, their information must be shared with Immigration Customs and Enforcement, per federal regulations. All household members need to be fingerprinted. Both are factors which could slow the process of matching children to families. But the article also details that sponsors need to cover the cost of a flight to a new home for both the minor and escort. For families who have already gone into debt to send children to the U.S., this proves to be difficult.
Employees at "The Happiest Place on Earth" demand a living wage🔊: It's certainly not the first time Disney has been called out for its low wages, but a recent video op-ed published in The New York Times seemed to pick up considerable steam this week. In the piece, veteran Disneyland employees in California spoke out against their employer as they struggle to pay for food and rent while some say they are living out of their car. The video prefaces a November 6 vote, in which Anaheim voters will decide whether large hospitality businesses accepting city subsidies must pay their employees $18/hour by 2022. In Anaheim, more than half of the population identifies as Latinx.
Get to know the powerful/potentes Latinx and up-and-comers in business.
This Dominican rapper is selling out concerts in a historic way 🎧: If you haven't heard of El Alfa, it may only be a matter of time before his urban DR beats pegajosos find their way to your playlist. A recent exchange between Cardi B and the Dominican rapper forecasts a potential collaboration, Remezcla reports. Meanwhile, the rapper recently broke a record himself by selling out a concert at Santo Domingo’s Palacio de los Deportes, writes Caitlin Donohue. It's even a bigger deal as the agency that regulates the DR’s radio and TV communications banned one the songs he worked on, "Lo Que Yo Diga." As of this writing, the song is the second most popular of his songs, per Spotify.
Put your money/monedita where your mouth is! These are Latinx entrepreneurs, business owners and thought leaders to consider backing.
A Dominican fashion blogger, influencer and luchadora for equal pay is remembered➡: The first time I heard about Kyrzayda Rodriguez was from my Lyft driver in Union City, New Jersey. My driver was a longtime fan and headed to buy a few of her clothes after concluding her ride with me to show her support. The driver was one in more than 360K followers whose life was touched by Rodriguez, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 stomach cancer last year, per Fierce by Mitu. Her impeccable style was admired by many, and she used her influence to talk about her experience with cancer and call out brands for lack of diversity.
Credit: Kyrzayda Rodriguez's Instagram feed.
Thatiana Diaz published a recent interview with the fashion influencer for Refinery 29 just a few days ago that explains how Rodriguez coped with cancer while continuing to work on projects she was passionate about.
That's all for today, triunfadores. If you have a clip that should be featured in this newsletter, don't be shy. Drop me a message. Let this notita be a reminder to keep telling your stories. ✊🏾