During the Covid-19 pandemic, the South Sudanese immigrant community of Nebraska have been hit hard, trapped in poor working conditions in an uncertain economy. According to data from The Atlantic’s Covid Tracking Project, Black or African American Nebraskans account for 6% of Covid-19 deaths, though they only make up 5% of Nebraska’s population. As of November 18th, 2020, less than 1 in 10 Black or African American Nebraskans with Covid-19 sought hospitalization.
But what factors contribute to these troubling statistics?
Organizations like the Catholic Social Services of Nebraska, and the Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska help place South Sudanese immigrants in jobs throughout the state. According to Albert Maribaga, an elder in the community and employment specialist at the Catholic Social Services “it is hard to find jobs for South Sudanese immigrants, many do not come to America with formal educations and skills, and some cannot speak English”. As a result, South Sudanese community members often can only find work in meatpacking warehouses, nursing homes, and as housekeepers – all high-risk jobs in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prior to, and through the pandemic, the Trump administration has pursued an aggressive deregulation agenda, reducing safety standards for industrial and service workers. In 2017, the Trump administration halted electronic reporting of workplace injury and illness reports by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In June 2018, Trump’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services halved fines for nursing homes that violated safe working condition practices. Although the federal government was pressured to require greater transparency from nursing homes regarding Covid-19 outbreaks in May 2020, nursing homes are not required to inform staff members about case rates in their facilities.
(should I put an interactive timeline here?)
But it is the conditions in meatpacking warehouses, such as the Smithfield Foods warehouse in Crete, Nebraska that have been the source of countless Covid-19 cases, and deaths. In February 2018, the Trump administration revised inspection standards for the Federal Food Safety and Inspection Service, reducing oversight of safety measures in meatpacking warehouses with the intent to increase food production. A recent federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union highlights the bleak working conditions of Nebraskan meatpacking plants, and how management’s unwillingness to adjust these conditions have created a breeding ground for infection. According to the ACLU, meatpacking workers “stand shoulder to shoulder for hours at a time on the processing lines, and they sit crowded together in a small windowless cafeteria where they cannot wear masks while eating”. “It’s a terrible cycle” said Maribaga, “young men go to work, get sick and don’t know it, and come home and infect their families”. To make matters worse, “if workers don’t get Covid in the factory, they get it while carpooling to and from the factory” said Christa Yoakum, Senior Welcoming Coordinator for Nebraska Appleseed’s Immigrants & Communities Program.
According to the Center for Disease Control, approximately 1 in 3 Black, non-Hispanic Nebraskans between the ages of 18-64 live without healthcare coverage. South Sudanese meatpacking workers have relied on their company healthcare plans to protect them and their families during the pandemic, all too often these healthcare plans are insufficient. “Infected workers are forced to stay at home without pay” says Maribaga “even if they want to seek care, they often cannot afford it because their budgets are so tight, or they haven’t worked long enough for their healthcare deductibles to kick in”. An unnamed source raised another issue with meatpacking healthcare; “sometimes the healthcare plans that these meatpacking workers receive are not accepted by local hospitals, and in-network hospitals are too inconvenient to get to”. According to Christa Yoakum, “even if workers had adequate healthcare, most Nebraskan hospitals are stretched thin and can longer provide acute care – this affects all Nebraskans regardless of race”.
The Nebraskan South Sudanese community faces socioeconomic factors, outside of poor working conditions, that contribute to the spread and fatalities of Covid-19. “Folks are scared to seek treatment because some are undocumented” says Yoakum “they have no social security numbers, so they couldn’t get treatment in most facilities even if they wanted to”. Christa Yoakum points out “often times both parents in a household get infected, because both work in the same facility. These households don’t have childcare resources adding extra stress to families while their breadwinners are sick on unpaid leave”. According to Cezar Garcia “often times meatpacking workers aren’t just providing for their immediate family, they support their extended family too” adding pressure for workers to continue working even if they are Covid positive. It is common in Nebraskan South Sudanese communities for older members to live with their families, because they cannot afford housing in assisted living centers. While younger family members with more robust immune systems can fight off the symptoms of Covid-19, elders perish. At the time of our interview, Albert Maribaga knew of five elders who had passed away that week.
Some Nebraskan institutions are developing programs to help their immigrant communities, centered around inclusion, employment, and awareness. For instance, in South Sioux City, newscasters have been broadcasting public service announcements about Covid-19 in the different languages of Nebraska’s immigrant communities. “These awareness initiatives are so important” says Cezar Garcia, a Community Organizer for Nebraska Appleseed’s Immigrants & Communities Program, “I have heard stories about people who don’t know when or how to wear their masks, and they’ve been relying on the news to get that information”. Food banks across Nebraska have adjusted their models for food delivery, opting to subsidize restaurants and grocery stores that serve foods from immigrant’s home countries. According to Christa Yoakum, an anonymous donor has financed an angel fund to help pay for the healthcare of Covid infected undocumented workers. The Worldwide Education Services have doubled down on their existing proposals to Nebraska’s state senate; lobbying for the certification of immigrant practitioners who held medical licenses in their home countries to be certified registered nurses and vaccine administrants.
The road to proper support for South Sudanese immigrants in Nebraska is long, but the Covid-19 pandemic has brought them unprecedented connection to non-for-profits. “Nebraska is a big state, we have relied on volunteers and word of mouth to build connections to immigrant communities” says Yoakum “now, we have direct communication with community members, and we will strengthen and deepen our ties with them to provide long term support”.