Provided by The Texas Organizing Project (TOP)
The Texas Organizing Project (TOP) today released a list of demands for City of San Antonio and Bexar County officials, as well as local business leaders to address the economic and health needs of local residents during the spread of COVID-19.
“In this time of uncertainty for many working families, we need our local officials and business leaders to step up in a big way and act on policies that will successfully combat the COVID-19 pandemic. This means investing in and targeting services for the most vulnerable among us,” said Michelle Tremillo, TOP executive director. “This includes low-wage workers without paid sick leave, immigrant families afraid to access health services due to the threat of deportation, detained and incarcerated individuals in crowded jails who cannot self-quarantine, and Black and Latino families who are burdened with the reality of being uninsured.”
With confirmed cases increasing at an exponential rate across the country, TOP is announcing these demands to spur local elected officials to prioritize the well-being of working-class San Antonio residents who will inevitably bear the brunt of the pandemic.
Economic protections for working families
We demand paid sick leave for all working families, a moratorium on evictions, and a halt to all utility shut-offs to ease the financial burden of COVID-19 recovery for San Antonio families. We demand:
- The business community immediately drop its lawsuit and work with the City to enact the paid sick leave plan as developed by the Paid Sick Leave Commission in 2019
- A moratorium on water, light, and gas cut-offs while expanding utility assistance programs
- A moratorium on evictions and an expansion of rental assistance programs
- Access to grants for small businesses to recover from forced closures
- The citywide implementation of measures to eliminate price gouging and hoarding of supplies
“The current crisis underscores the need for Paid Sick Leave and exposes the weak points of our economic system. Our city leaders should understand that economic protections for working families are not only fair, but they are a necessary action to flatten the curve of the current COVID-19 pandemic and any future health crises.” – Bryan Ramirez, TOP member
Healthcare justice for all
We demand free testing, treatment and medical care for all families impacted by COVID-19 regardless of race, gender, religion, criminal background, or citizenship status. We believe that healthcare for all families, including COVID-19 testing, treatment, as well as access to other life-saving medications, should be a right. We demand not only these protections while this health crisis exists, but that the City of San Antonio and Bexar County support Medicare for All. We demand:
- Clear communication that immigration status will not be a factor in receiving testing or treatment and ICE will not be present in any medical setting.
- An expansion of mobile testing and an increase in the number of tests available in San Antonio
- Free treatment and medication should be accessible to all-free of cost, regardless of income, race, gender, or status
“Having Medicare for All in place right now would do far better than our current healthcare system at ensuring the safety and health of every resident of San Antonio” – Ashley Longoria, TOP member
Right2Justice in Bexar County Jails
We demand measures be taken to reduce the number of detainees and to take steps to limit the spread of the COVID-19 within Bexar County Jails to the maximum extent possible.
- Immediately educate the jail population on risks and precautions of the coronavirus.
- Release all eligible pre-trial, immune-vulnerable and pregnant inmate populations. This release should also include those with ICE detainers.
- Release all people who are within six months of completing their sentences unless they prove to impose a threat to our communities.
- Suspend all probation, parole/ pretrial meetings, court-ordered classes, fines & fees as well as in-person drug testing.
- Ensure electronic monitoring and home confinement conditions allow people to seek medical help and care for family members.
- Provide free calls for people in jail.
Ensuring the rights of immigrant families
ICE has a track record of abuse and neglect toward immigrants in detention centers. This has resulted in a disturbing amount of people dying in the agency’s custody due to lack of basic medical attention. We demand the release of immigrant families, an end to local collaboration with ICE enforcement operations or raids, and humane medical attention for all immigrants.
- Cease all local enforcement operations and suspension of any raids
- Ensure all facilities where people are detained in ICE custody, be it county jails or dedicated facilities, are addressing the health and well-being of people detained
TOP promotes social and economic equality for Black and Latino Texans through community and electoral organizing.
Texas is a big and diverse state, and considering the evolving social makeup and the widespread need for improvement in areas of health care, poverty, and education, community organizing has never been more important.
*Texas has the highest rate of uninsured citizens in the country.
*Texas has the 5th highest poverty rate in the country.
*Texas has a high school dropout rate over 50% in urban areas and more than double the national average.
In order to address these and other critical issues, Texas needs empowered and organized residents. TOP provides hard working Texans the opportunity to implement real change by organizing their own neighborhoods, investing their time and energy in causes relevant to their respective communities, and collectively taking ownership of TOP’s agenda, strategy and direction.
With a seasoned and committed organizing staff with a combined 70 years of experience, and a distinguished and diverse Advisory Committee made up of leaders from all walks of life, TOP is poised to make tangible impacts on the issues of critical importance to Texas’ communities.
The Texas Organizing Project (TOP)organizes Black and Latino communities in Dallas, Harris and Bexar counties with the goal of transforming Texas into a state where working people of color have the power and representation they deserve.
San Antonio:
700 S. Zarzamora Dr., San Antonio, TX 78207 – 210.900.2901
