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COVID-19: The Continued and Disproportionate Impact on Low-Income, People of Color and Immigrant Communities

April 2024: We launched this site in October 2020, amidst a global pandemic, and the past four years have only reaffirmed what we already knew—that communities of color persistently face stark social and economic inequities. The COVID-19 pandemic brought these realities to the forefront, as immigrants, who are often people of color, faced higher rates of disease and death, while also comprising a larger share of the “essential” workforce that sustained the state as more privileged workers stayed home (see charts below). In addition, the digital divide became even more apparent, as some young students sat outside of businesses to log into classrooms and seniors experienced isolation and challenges accessing services, as well as information online. Researchers also found that Californians living in neighborhoods already impacted by higher levels of pollution—and more likely to be Latino and low-income—were at higher risk for COVID-19 infections. At the same time, immigrants also composed a large share of those impacted by pandemic unemployment and those that had limited access to relief.

Navigating this challenging landscape, after immigrants and advocates implored the state to do more, California provided relief to some immigrants. Further, mutual aid efforts and community organizations statewide stepped up and continue to provide essential services, including connecting immigrant families to safety net programs. First-of-its kind efforts such as the California Immigrant Resilience Fund, established the infrastructure for the state to quickly mobilize to respond to the crisis. State and national pandemic response kept poverty rates down in the early years of the pandemic, though income inequality persisted as the state’s top 1 percent grew richer and many immigrants were unable to access much of the federal aid. Mutual aid organizations and other community-based organizations often worked to fill the gap, providing critical assistance to immigrant communities.

Yet, poverty rates rose dramatically in 2022, as much of the pandemic-related public assistance expired, (e.g., supplemental paid sick leave and an eviction moratorium for renters), exacerbating already existing racial inequities. By early 2023 much of the country, including California had ended their “COVID-19 State of Emergency” protocols that helped bolster the need for increased public assistance, though total U.S. deaths from COVID-19 have reached over one million people and over 100,000 in California. Still, the disease and its effects, including “Long COVID,” persist. In 2023, some of the final relief programs ended, such as emergency funds for CalFresh recipients and county-based assistance programs implemented in the early days of the pandemic.

As of 2024, the pandemic is no longer considered a “public health emergency,” though we continue to face regular “surges” in cases. Despite calls to reimagine a more equitable and inclusive future, including centering equity in public health, inequalities persists. The data and resources on this page provide insight on how California’s immigrants were, and continue to be, impacted by this global crisis, pointing to the work that lies ahead to ensure a safe, healthy, and equitable future for all.

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