(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08) today joined Reps. Tony Cárdenas (CA-29) and Zoe Lofgren (CA-19) in sending a letter to Secretary Pompeo and Acting Secretary Chad. F. Wolf urging the Departments of State and Homeland Security to allow foreign-born physicians and healthcare workers to practice in the United States during this COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Due to the surge of patients seeking treatments as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, hospitals are in desperate need of personnel support. The letter was signed by 63 Members.

The Members wrote: “Today, the United States has the most confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world. For weeks, state, local, and federal officials have focused their efforts on addressing the extreme shortage of medical supplies, including personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators, that has hindered our response to this national emergency. Long-before this pandemic emerged, the United States was already experiencing a shortage of medical workers.  As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase, so does the risk to U.S. doctors, nurses, and other critical care workers. As this crisis will undoubtedly continue to take its toll on these professionals, we must do everything in our power to build and retain a robust workforce.”

The letter was also signed by Representatives Donald Beyer Jr., Lisa Blunt Rochester, Salud Carbajal, Ed Case, Joaquin Castro, Judy Chu, Gilbert Cisneros, Yvette D. Clarke, J. Luis Correa, Jim Cooper, Jim Costa, Madeleine Dean, Rosa DeLauro, Peter DeFazio, Ted Deutch, Val Demings, Eliot Engel, Anna G. Eshoo, Dwight Evans, Jesús G. “Chuy” Garcia, Sylvia Garcia, Jimmy Gomez, Raúl M. Grijalva, Deb Haaland, Jared Huffman, Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna, Joeseph P. Kennedy III, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Alan Lowenthal, Nita M. Lowey, Carolyn Maloney, James P. McGovern, Jerry McNerney, Grace Meng, Jerrold Nadler, Grace F. Napolitano, Eleanor Homes Norton, Ilhan Omar, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Linda Sánchez, Jan Schakowsky, David Scott, Brad Sherman, Albio Sires, Darren Soto, Jackie Speier, Greg Stanton, Haley M. Stevens, Dina Titus, Rashida Tlaib, Norma J. Torres, David Trone, Lauren Underwood, Juan Vargas, Marc Veasey, Nydia M. Velázquez, Rob Woodall, John Yarmuth, Seth Moulton.

A copy of the full letter can be found here.

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