Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) issued the following statement on the passage of the Heroes Act:

"The Heroes Act is the federal response we need to overcome the gravest national crisis in a century. The coronavirus pandemic and the Trump administration's failures have resulted in nearly 1.5 million people infected, over 87,000 American deaths, and more than 36 million unemployed workers. Latinos have been hit especially hard in this crisis — one in five are out of work, we are the highest uninsured rate of any group, and also make up millions of essential workers as part of our nation's ‘critical infrastructure.' This bill sends a strong message that we will get through this crisis together as one American family.

WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders of color are warning that the COVID-19 pandemic risks disproportionately undercounting historically underserved communities. In the letter to Census Bureau Director Dr. Steven Dillingham, the Tri-Caucus Chairs and Native American Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Deb Haaland are requesting immediate action and answers to their questions about census operations impacted by COVID-19, but also critical to a complete count in 2020.

The letter was signed by Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (CA-37), Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Judy Chu (CA-27), and Congressional Native American Caucus Co-Chair Deb Haaland (NM-1), and CBC Census 2020 Task Force Chair Steven Horsford (NV-04).

WASHINGTON — Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Joaquin Castro, Congressman Joe Kennedy III, and 46 House Democratic members sent a letter to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Wolf urging him take immediate steps to safely and swiftly reduce detention population numbers to help safeguard public health.

SAN ANTONIO — The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is proud to endorse the Paycheck Guarantee Act introduced by Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), which would help end mass layoffs, keep workers in their jobs and connected to their health care and other benefits, prevent employers of all sizes from being forced to close permanently, and ensure that the economy is ready to restart when the COVID-19 pandemic ends. A white paper on the bill is available here, and a one-page summary is available here.

SAN ANTONIO — Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), issued the following statement after the first reported coronavirus-related death in immigration custody.

"CHC Members send our condolences to the family and loved ones of the person who had tested positive for COVID-19 and later died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after being hospitalized from Otay Mesa Detention Center in California. While ICE has yet to confirm the death and all the details are still pending, it's nevertheless evident that this tragedy is exactly what lawmakers, doctors and public health experts have been working to avoid.

WASHINGTON—Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus led by Chairman Joaquin Castro sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Azar and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Wolf urging the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (ORR) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) follow the federal legal and policy requirements to ensure the health and safety of unaccompanied migrant children amid pandemic and to swiftly and safely place children in sponsor homes. Unaccompanied migrant children in US custody face a heightened risk during the global COVID-19 crisis.

WASHINGTON — Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus led by Chairman Joaquin Castro sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Azar and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Verma urging them to use funding from the CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act to support Puerto Rico's health care infrastructure during this unprecedented pandemic.

WASHINGTON — Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Rep. Darren Soto sent a letter to Secretary Mnuchin of the Department of the Treasury and Administrator Carranza of the Small Business Administration urging that affiliation rules not be changed to allow large private equity firms to gain access to CARES Act funding intended for small businesses. This action is in response to possible attempts by large private equity firms to find and exploit loopholes in the CARES Act and subsequent legislation.