How Covid-19 has impacted skilled immigrants

One of the oft-overlooked aspects of the Covid pandemic has been the disproportionate impact it has had on the emotional well-being of immigrants. While this should hardly be surprising, given that immigrants, especially those from developing economies, frequently get the short end of the stick and have resigned themselves to being second-class citizens of the countries where they reside, the global mismanagement of the Covid pandemic has done further damage to a global community of immigrants already suffering from a spectrum of discrimination.

Immigration, especially across countries, takes two forms — voluntary (e.g. People moving abroad to improve their economic prospects) and involuntary (refugees, etc.). Since it would inappropriate for me to talk of involuntary immigration (having never had to experience anything nearly as traumatic as, for example, those who had to move across countries due to racial systemic oppression), this post focuses on voluntary immigrants, who, despite relative privilege, still undergo hardships that cannot be ignored.

• Voluntary immigration generally benefits all the actors involved
• It helps the immigrant by enhancing their economic prospects
• It helps businesses by enhancing the breadth and quality of the talent pool
• It helps the host nation since immigrants invest a significant portion of their earnings back into the nation’s economic machinery
• It helps the immigrant’s country of origin in the form of money sent back by immigrants to their families

However, inspite of the various ways in which immigrants help the systems in which they act, they suffer on account of having lesser rights than the citizens of the countries where they work. This may take various forms, including

• The inability to move jobs (A common challenge for skilled workers in the US applying for an H1B visa)
• Having to pay more for public services such as education, healthcare, etc.
• Restrictions on being able to start businesses, and others
• The threat of revoking their visas for participating in activities such as protests, etc.

In addition to these structural handicaps, immigrants suffer from various other psychological challenges, such as isolation and discrimination. I have experienced extreme isolation, especially when I moved to the states, to a city where I knew no one and had no social structures to lean on during adversity. But hey, that’s the deal — Immigrants are told to put their heads down, shut up and get on with it and most do so, often for decades in the pursuit of the pot of gold at the end of the immigration window — full citizenship. I don’t mean to be disparaging of immigrants either — very often, citizenship can play a pivotal role in uplifting entire immigrant communities and provides them with financial security for generations. If the tradeoff between having reduced rights for a period of time for the prospect of a better tomorrow for you, your children and your grandchildren is something you can stomach, I believe it is commendable.

But make no mistake, the systems that immigrants put up with are discriminatory by design and over the last few decades in particular, have become increasingly oppressive as we steadily move towards a more polarized society, one where the “Us vs Them” complex continues to grow.

And this has only increased in light of Covid. While global travel was admittedly the reason for the rapid spread of the disease, many countries reacted aggressively by shutting down international travel entirely — an approach that was understandable in the initial days of the pandemic, but continues to be the blunt instrument of choice that governments use to curb the spread of Covid (unsuccessfully so). The lack of nuance in this approach has particularly impacted immigrants, especially those from developing countries such as India, isolated from their families, many of whom have older, ailing parents back home whom they have been unable to visit for upwards of a year now. Inspite of the emotional damage this has, the message continues to be the same — shut up and get on with it.

My father was diagnosed with cancer in February 2020. My sister, who lives in Australia was able to fly down in time to be with my parents for for the biopsy and was able to provide immense emotional support to the family through her presence. Subsequently, I flew down from Singapore to be with them, move the family to a different city where we had more social support and better medical care for my father as he embarked on a long journey to treat his cancer — we were able to create the foundational systems they would need right before the world went into a lockdown in March 2020. The ability to travel freely between countries was instrumental for us to be able to provide our aging, ailing parents with the support they need.

In December 2020, my father’s condition rapidly worsened — his oncologist told we were facing the worst. As a consequence, me and my sister had to travel back to India immediately. This time, however, our travel was far more complex. We had to navigate a complex system of government approvals, get tested for Covid and find flights to India — eventually, I had to travel to Dubai and take a connecting flight to Hyderabad, India. After reaching India as well, we went through a maze of poorly managed Covid screening systems and unclear quarantine requirements. While international travel was still possible, it was far more complex.

After coming to India, I realized how fortunate we were just to be able to come back home to my father during his last days — he passed away a couple of weeks after we arrived, perhaps he was just waiting for his children before he said goodbye — We heard stories of various Indian employees in the US and Europe who have been unable to come to India in similar circumstances.

Currently, I am waiting for government approval to return to Singapore. During this period, I have had ample time to consider the systems currently in place to enable immigration and continue to grow increasingly frustrated and angry at the lack of nuance behind the policies and systems that currently enable immigration. Despite the easy access to Covid tests, the development of numerous Covid vaccines, and standardization of quarantine regulations, this has not translated to increased ease of travel. I struggle to understand why governments have not invested in systems that enable safer cross-border travel.

• Why has there not been meaningful progress in Covid tests that provide instant results ?
• Why don’t governments create special provision for immigrants who have to travel home for exceptional circumstances such as the critical illness or death of a family member ?
• Why don’t governments modify tax regulations to recognize the fact that many working professionals are marooned and unable to return to their country of work ?

While taking cognisance of the fact that these are complex issues to grapple with, the lack of consideration for the circumstances of immigrants during Covid has been eye-opening. It would be naive to not recognise that some of this is informed, in part at least, by the increasingly aggressive attitude of many countries towards immigration. While we have only begrudgingly been permitted through the hallowed walls of immigration thus far, many political parties are using this as an opportunity to restrict immigration for current and future populations and score political points. Additionally, the fact that migrants have little political power or agency in these countries means that there is no incentive for politicians to cater to the needs of stranded migrants.

Covid has been a tumultuous time in our modern history and has significantly changed how we look at the world in a number of ways. At this stage, it also seems to have exposed the lack of consideration for migrants in various countries, a sign that does not bode well for the future of immigration. It has, sadly, laid bare the fact that we are not as global or open minded a society as we once believed — where did we go wrong ?