Connecting Immigrant Families with COVID-19 Relief

Immigrant workers are too often unable to access federal financial relief, despite being disproportionately affected by the economic and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Language barriers, coupled with evolving eligibility requirements for relief programs, put COVID-19 stimulus checks out of reach for many. Thankfully, community-based organizations have stepped up to raise awareness of stimulus check availability for immigrant families and direct eligible households to free filing resources.

During the first round of stimulus checks, only filers with a Social Security number were eligible for the payment. Relief package and round of payments, the eligibility requirements have expanded to include more immigrant filers using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers. Eligible families currently have until May 17 to file their taxes and claim their payments.

Hatcher recently partnered with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) on their Get It Back Campaign to develop a multilingual marketing toolkit that equips community-based organizations with resources to raise awareness of stimulus check availability and direct eligible families to free tax filing assistance. The toolkit includes:

• A “how-to” fact sheet for conducting media outreach.
• Talking points.
• A press release template.
• A sample script for a public service announcement (PSA).
• Social media posts and graphics.
• A flyer.
• A sample script for text and email outreach.

All of the public-facing materials in the toolkit are available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish, and Vietnamese to help organizations reach non-English speakers in their communities. The tools are also customizable, allowing organizations to insert a link to their website or phone number to call for more information.The Hatcher Group is also supporting CBPP in developing and placing multilingual PSAs in major national media outlets and a series of Facebook ads to educate immigrant communities about the availability of COVID-19 stimulus checks.

Many immigrant workers have served on the front line during our pandemic response. They shouldn’t be excluded from receiving support to help make ends meet. Hatcher is honored to play a small role in connecting families with much-deserved stimulus payments before the May 17 deadline.

By Lauren Pescatore, Vice President