Senate Bill 419 was one of many bills vetoed by Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo.

The bill, also known as the HOPE Act, would have expanded Medicaid eligibility to undocumented immigrants in the Silver State.

Sen. Fabian Doñate, D-Las Vegas, said the measure received bipartisan support and was worked on with the governor's office. The HOPE Act would have provided health care coverage to pregnant women and children younger than 17 who do not qualify for Medicaid because of their immigration status.

"It is our obligation to make sure that they are protected and that they receive prenatal services," Doñate contended. "That is the reason why we introduced the bill. They're not going to leave."

Doñate emphasized he would like for the governor and the Latino caucus to continue to partner on legislation, as he noted was done this last session, to pass bills to help the Latino community.

In his veto letter, Lombardo said the state's Division of Health Care Financing and Policy had "insufficient resources" to implement the measure.

Leo Murrieta, executive director of Make the Road Nevada, said Lombardo "is on the wrong side of history," and added the governor played politics with the lives and futures of immigrant families.

He stressed the more than 500 Nevadans the group mobilized to help push the proposal forward are "devastated."

"It's the HOPE Act. It was supposed to bring hope. It inspired hope that their families could be protected," Murrieta explained. "That when their families need prenatal care, that they won't have to risk their lives to bring children into this world."

Murrieta added they are planning to come back stronger in 2025 and continue fighting to get the measure passed.

Organizations supporting farm workers are ramping up efforts to protect immigrant laborers in light of looming mass-deportation threats.

About 40% of farm workers are not authorized to legally work in the United States, according to the Department of Agriculture. But Elizabeth Walle, communications director for the Food Chain Workers Alliance, said immigrants play critical roles in keeping North Carolina's grocery shelves stocked and local economies afloat.

She explained the possibility of large-scale immigration crackdowns has fueled anxiety among these workers, many of whom already endure harsh working conditions.

"Something that is a consistent problem for farm workers is, obviously, people using their status as a way to control them," she said. "Whether you are undocumented or if you are an H-2A visa temporary worker, that's really an ongoing theme that's obviously going to be ramped up."

About 100,000 farm workers call North Carolina home. Walle said these workers are essential, not only to the food system but the broader economy. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that in 2022, undocumented workers paid almost $700 million in North Carolina state and local taxes.

Beyond immigration threats, Walle cited growing concerns about potential rollbacks to labor protections. She said farm workers' advocates have long fought for safeguards against extreme heat and unsafe working conditions, but these gains are now at risk. She added that attacks on the National Labor Relations Board could weaken worker protections further.

"Definitely concerned about what's going to happen to the National Labor Relations Board," she said. "Elon Musk and other CEOs and corporations have been kind of attacking NLRB for the last couple years."

Walle noted some farmers are also voicing concern about potential disruptions to their workforce. She said she thinks increased reliance on H-2A visa workers to fill these gaps could heighten the risk of exploitation within the system. So, Walle said advocacy groups are trying to equip farm workers with the resources they need to navigate an uncertain future - such as legal or financial assistance.

"Focusing on stuff like 'Know your rights' trainings," she said, "which could be anything about how to deal with ICE, how to deal with your employer, how to prepare for being caught up in the immigration system. Also a lot of rapid response networks. "

North Carolina is home to almost 300,000 undocumented immigrants.


get more stories like this via email

"Deported veterans" may sound like an oxymoron. But it is not, and those veterans are working to get pardons in the last days of President Joe Biden's term.

Around the country, 94,000 veterans do not have citizenship, which means, if they violate certain laws, they are at risk of deportation regardless of their service record.

Laura Meza Alvarado, a formerly deported veteran living in Maryland on humanitarian parole, is part of a program to allow deported veterans to enter the U.S. to access Department of Veterans Affairs health care.

Meza was brought to the U.S. from Costa Rica in 1985 by her parents. She enlisted in the Army at 23 years old but did not receive her citizenship. She said there was a lot of confusion around her immigration status.

"The recruiter had mentioned some different things," Meza recounted. "They made promises like, 'Oh well, you know, when you go into the military, if you go to combat, you're going to be an automatic citizen.' So you hear different things from people, and it's just maybe a tactic to get you to enlist."

Any green-card holder enlisting in the military can file paperwork to become a citizen on their first day at boot camp. Meza pointed out confusion, in addition to dealing with military sexual trauma and PTSD while in the service, meant she left the service without her citizenship.

Meza then began using drugs and alcohol to cope with the trauma she experienced. She eventually was convicted of attempted robbery and was deported after serving two years in prison.

Danitza James, president of Repatriate Our Patriots, argued by the time Meza had committed a crime, she should have already been a citizen.

"That conviction, for her, bars her from applying for U.S. citizenship," James stressed. "Despite her honorable combat service, she's not eligible to obtain or seek naturalization, something that should have happened while she was in service."

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, Meza is barred from applying for citizenship because of the charge.

Deported veterans such as Meza are running up against the clock. President-elect Donald Trump campaigned this year on a promise of mass deportations. James noted Meza and deported veterans like her would be at risk under such policies. She argued Biden must honor his commitment to veterans.

"President Biden, this is something that you must honor, and these are the same veterans that fought alongside his son," James urged. "We owe it to them to act. It's a shame that we are good enough to serve and die for this country but not good enough to live and get a second chance in this country."

In July 2021, the Departments of Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs created the Immigrant Military Members and Veterans Initiative. At the end of 2023, more than 90 veterans had reentered the U.S. through the program.

One New Yorker is redoubling efforts to get a pardon from Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Pascal "Shakoure" Charpentier has called New York his home for 52 years after being born on an Army base in Germany but Immigration and Customs Enforcement is trying to deport him for being a Haitian immigrant -- which he isn't -- citing a criminal conviction from his youth. Charpentier worries about President-elect Donald Trump's mass deportation plan, which he said would threaten people like himself with complicated immigration status.

"It's very difficult to imagine what day-to-day life would be like when you're constantly worrying if there's going to be a van in front of your house," Charpentier pointed out. "Am I going to be stopped at my workplace and asked to come out and then, find myself in handcuffs?"

Polls show half of Americans support the mass deportation plan despite the economic impacts it would have. Charpentier has presented evidence proving his naturalized status but prosecutors dismiss it. He added there has not been an official reason to deny the pardon and suspects politics are at play. He said he is holding out hope a pardon could still be granted.

After being released from a New Jersey detention center in 2020, he had to wear an ankle monitor. Now, he wears a wrist monitor, which Charpentier emphasized greatly impacts his daily life. He often meets with clients in his work as an interactive media designer, noting it is hard to keep the order of deportation from affecting his career.

"Sometimes I may be in a meeting with a client and my ankle monitor goes off, or I'm called in to report for a check-in," Charpentier explained. "Many times it is very inflexible."

The first time he was detained, he said he lost a significant number of clients. Following his release, he had to rebuild and restart. But as draining as it can be, he added it empowers him to continue.


get more stories like this via email