 Abel Luna, thank you so much for meeting with us today. I know you're busy, but I wanted to speak with you about how migrant justice is approaching this COVID period on behalf of the migrant workers in Vermont and around the country. Yeah, thank you again for having us. My name is Abel Luna. I'm an organizer with migrant justice. And yeah, just to very briefly before diving into some of the what's happening here in Vermont with the migrant community, migrant farm workers, I think it's important to understand the bigger picture that we're facing right now into ask ourselves, sort of how do we end up in business, right? There's thousands of people that are being laid off, millions of people that have been excluded from financial support and healthcare, thousands of families that are unable to pay rent. And it is important to question that at this moment, I had to be gay here. And it's important to understand that this is a perfect time for the right wing for power, to seize the opportunity and to put their agenda, to continue to get richer and richer while communities, the migrant communities and other working class communities continue to suffer and are fighting for the leftovers, right? And to even make it worse, migrant communities are not getting any of it. And so what is happening in Vermont? And so there is, as the government has been, farm workers essential, what does that mean, right? So farm workers have to continue to get up every day, every morning, mill the cows, continue to work with unsafe working conditions, like a protective equipment, overcrowded housing, two to three people per room. And for example, as the government is calling for people to self-isolate, to stay six feet away from each other, to stay home, that is the reality that farm workers on dairy farms cannot live because of things that I mentioned above, right? And these things are not new, these conditions are not new. They have always been there before the crisis started to sweep the nation. And they just have gotten worse now with the pandemic for the migrant community. And so what are we doing as an organization here in Vermont? There's two main things that we're focusing on right now, access to healthcare and also economic assistance. And for that we're talking to legislators and representatives and Senator Leahy and Sanders and Representative Welch's office. But some of the things that we're saying is that, it's great that there's free testing for the virus, but there's no, for example, related treatment assistance, right? If you test positive, if you need to spend more money, there's no coverage for that. It is a great idea. Also that the State of Vermont has actually expanded Medicaid to cover more people, but migrant farm workers have not been included on that. And this is a time of crisis and it's a public health crisis and everybody should have the right to coverage. And so we're saying that there is this Medicaid, has this emergency fund that in other states, for example, in Massachusetts, New York and Oregon have been used to expand that emergency fund to cover migrant communities. And that's something that Vermont can do in the broadest way possible. And we need Vermont to take that stand to protect the community that is making sure that their industry collapses in this time of crisis. And on the economic piece, migrant farm workers pay federal and state taxes and they have been excluded from everything, the unemployment fund, the stimulus checks. And so people continue to work and the government needs to put money into migrant workers' pockets. And so Vermont has gotten $1.2 billion through the CARES funds, the CARES program, that is gonna be redistributed in different ways. And that is something that Vermont can carve some money and to make sure that farm workers, if they're facing financial hardships during the crisis, they can have access to these funds. We have seen that with Texas, we have seen it with New Jersey and we have seen it with other cities across the country, putting funds aside to protect farm workers that don't have money right now. And just yesterday, California created a $120 million fund just to assist migrant communities. And that's what we're pushing here in Vermont for. The money is here in Vermont and it needs to include migrant farm workers, otherwise we're not doing anything. So what kind of response are you getting from Vermont legislators on the idea of expanding coverage to the migrant community? That is a great question. That is something that we're starting to explore with some of the percentages and senators and it's something that, we hope that there is not a lot of resistance around that because that is something that Vermont can definitely use the emergency fund from Medicaid to include farm workers. And that's what we're gonna be pushing for. We had some initial conversations already with some senators and representatives that support the idea, that want to get behind it. But again, like I mentioned at the beginning, there is a lot of interest and power and farm workers have been excluded. And so we hope that that is not the case with those funds and there is willingness to do that. Do you need help from the broader public to help make the point for this need with the Vermont legislature? Yeah, I think we're gonna sort of continue to define exactly sort of what is it that we want as a public to do. And once we sort of have that ready, I think we're gonna send out information. If it's necessary, hopefully we don't need together. Hopefully we don't need to do a campaign to make sure that people have the right to access to healthcare and financial support. That's something that it's a no-brainer and the state should be doing that. So hopefully with the conversations that we're gonna be having, that can be done and that's something that can be put in writing. But even that, that's something that I think we're gonna be calling the community to support migrant justice and farm workers ask. But we'll be sort of defining that and we can put it out there. And there is gonna be one thing that we're doing is that there is a May Day car rally. Not just for migrant justice, different organizations, the Worker Center, AFL-CIO, people are gonna be joining us. So different groups are gonna be joining their car rally. And it is to represent those working class interests and that could be something that maybe on May 1st we decide to push for something, the state has to do something. But we want people to come to join us. Yep. Well, that May Day rally will be a lot of fun, I think, because people, even if they can't be physically together would have a good time in their cars driving around certainly together and making the broader point about how working people in this country and in our state are being taken care of or not being taken care of, given that they are many of them providing the essential work that is keeping the economy and healthcare going. Yeah, and it is important for people, I know that we need to take measures and stay safe and keep safe. But at the same time, it's important for people to stand up and to work together, to organize. Like I mentioned, these are times where power's gonna cease to take opportunity and to rise in popularity and to do its thing and they never rest, they never stop and we have to do the same thing. We have to continue to organize. We have to continue to come together, especially now, different communities that have been doing work in their own areas. Now we need to talk to each other and come together and make sure that we're fighting this battle together as workers and as people who are being sort of, left out of a lot of the benefits. And so it's important to fight and to stand up. Well, now more than ever, especially that we're physically apart from each other, but we need to be united really. I think your point about the forces of capital never sleep and they're very adept at getting bailed out. So being able to, as working people, make sure that the people who need it the most are protected is really important role. And I would like to thank you and your coworkers at Migrant Justice for keeping this fight going today and always, it certainly is an uphill battle and there isn't anything that United States is doing to make it easier for the people that produce the food we rely on. Yeah, thank you for having us and yep. Great, all right, Abel, it's great to see you. Thanks for joining us. And let us know if you need any support. Yep, thank you, we'll be letting you guys know and check out our website and there's gonna be more information. If you wanna show up to the May Day, send us an email at infoatmigrantjustice.net for more information. All right, well, we'll get the word out too. Thanks a lot. Yep, take care.