{"id":211570,"date":"2022-10-14T10:14:13","date_gmt":"2022-10-14T14:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/?p=211570"},"modified":"2022-10-14T10:14:13","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T14:14:13","slug":"telling-an-untold-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/2022\/10\/14\/telling-an-untold-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Telling an Untold Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of a Hispanic\/Latinx Heritage Month campus event, Public Health Associate Professor Mireya Vilar-Compte recently shared her research showing how undocumented immigrants were disproportionately affected by the pandemic.<\/p>\n

In her presentation of \u201cThe Long-Term Impact of COVID-19 on the Latinx Immigrant Community,\u201d Vilar-Compte discussed how many social and economic factors and growing anti-immigrant rhetoric contributed to their distrust and hesitancy in seeking needed health care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vast majority of undocumented people in our study population were essential workers who actually worked throughout the pandemic under very trying circumstances, and they live in areas that have high mortality and high morbidity of COVID,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Vilar-Compte studied more than 400 immigrants, half in New York City and half in Los Angeles, and through geocoding and geographic analysis found that COVID-19 and morbidity and mortality rates were higher in the Bronx and Brooklyn in New York, where many immigrants live, and in the meatpacking and warehouse districts in Los Angeles, where many immigrants work. While her research results were not necessarily surprising, Vilar-Compte says \u201cthe magnitude was a surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese people contributed disproportionately to the economies of these cities, and yet there is no social justice for their burden,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"Professor
Mireya Vilar-Compte says she will continue to advocate for services for undocumented immigrants who drive the American economy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are also lessons to be learned from the research, including a significant \u201cneed for trusted and culturally sensitive health-care resources\u201d to combat vaccine hesitancy and misinformation, Vilar-Compte says.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in the healthcare system can come with a biased lens,\u201d Vilar-Compte is quoted as saying in a\u00a0National Geographic article<\/a>\u00a0looking at the unique toll COVID-19 took on undocumented immigrants, which was\u00a0republished by MSN<\/a>. The professor stressed the need for more doctors, nurses and administrative staff from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds as one part of the solution.<\/p>\n

However, there are many problems that require solving, as Vilar-Compte pointed out during her presentation. The professor says the long-term impacts include mental health care issues, such as depression for adults and children left parentless due to COVID deaths, exacerbation of chronic diseases and economic challenges, such as food insecurities, among immigrants \u2013 all of which are an \u201cinvisible story\u201d not being told, she says.<\/p>\n

While the more dire consequences of COVID-19 occurred in 2020 and 2021, the pandemic is not over and the long-term effects must be addressed, Vilar-Compte says. \u201cI don\u2019t have solutions for any of these problems but I do know that we need to work together with community organizations and local governments to address them,\u201d she says, adding that she will continue her research and advocacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a social justice issue. It is my crusade to \u2018visible-ize\u2019 them,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"Katia
Katia Paz Goldfarb, associate provost for Hispanic Initiatives and International Programs, says it\u2019s important to talk about issues in the Latinx community while people are attuned to Latinx\/Hispanic Heritage month events.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Associate Provost for Hispanic Initiatives and International Programs Katia Paz Goldfarb says it\u2019s important to highlight not just the celebrations and contributions of Latinx during\u00a0Hispanic\/Latinx Heritage Month<\/a>\u00a0at Montclair.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is extremely important because this is a segment of our population. The Mexican undocumented immigrants in this research are a very invisible group. People often do not want to talk about \u2018them,\u2019\u201d she says, adding air quotes. \u201cAnd yet, they are an intrinsic part of our society. They are part of the way that we live, the way that we would like to live, the services that we like to have. We cannot just use people without making sure that we offer the services and support they need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several students with the Public Health Association at Montclair took time between classes to listen to the presentation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very informative,\u201d says senior Patricia Bolivar. \u201cThe fact that immigrants and the working class are not supported is a social justice issue, which is a cause in our department.\u201d<\/p>\n

Genesis Jara, a junior, says the research also highlighted the need to improve access to vaccines for Hispanics.<\/p>\n

\"Students
Public Health students Patricia Bolivar, Adriana Sanchez and Genesis Jara, left to right, listen to a presentation on the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the Latinx immigrant community.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis information is relevant, not only with regard to the pandemic, but to inequities that we discuss and try to improve in Public Health,\u201d says Christopher Haggar, a senior Public Health major.<\/p>\n

In closing, Vilar-Compte told the audience: \u201cIf you encounter an undocumented immigrant, be really nice to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mireya
Mireya Vilar-Compte and Katia Paz Goldfarb welcome attendees, which included Public Health students, to a Hispanic\/Latinx Heritage Month presentation on the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the Latinx immigrant population.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Story by Staff Writer\u00a0Sylvia A. Martinez<\/a>. Photos by University Photographer\u00a0Mike Peters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Montclair professor\u2019s research shines light on COVID-19\u2019s long-term impact on undocumented immigrants, essential workers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":326,"featured_media":211572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-76_alumni-news-and-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/326"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211570"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211573,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211570\/revisions\/211573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}