Allison, 5, eats a lunch of refried beans, scrambled egg, and a handmade tortilla, at home, Wednesday, April 15, 2020, in Washington. It is the one meal a day that her mother can cook for their family, outside of cereal from a food bank that is quickly running out. With both of her parents out of work due to the coronavirus pandemic they will look each day for donated food to share. Most days it is a question of whether to pay for food or bills with the dwindling funds they have remaining.
Janeth and her husband, Roberto, are part of the greatest surge in unemployment in the U.S. since the Depression, setting off a wave of hunger that is swamping food programs nationwide. The couple and every adult member of their extended family in the U.S. have lost their jobs in the economic lockdown prompted by the pandemic.
Before the pandemic, food policy experts say, roughly one out of every eight or nine Americans struggled to stay fed. Now as many as one out of every four are projected to join the ranks of the hungry, said Giridhar Mallya, senior policy officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for public health.
When the global economy clamped down, Roberto, a cook in his mid-30s, and Janeth, who keeps water glasses filled at another restaurant and is in her mid-40s, spent $450 out of their final paychecks to stock up. Weeks later, their diminished cache includes two half-full five-pound bags of rice, an assortment of ramen noodles, a half-eaten bag of pasta, two boxes of cornbread mix, four boxes of raisins and cans of beans, pineapple, tuna, corn and soup.
On a good day recently, after Roberto landed four hours of work preparing take-home meals for a grocery store, they had enough for what constitutes a feast these days — a can of refried beans split three ways and two eggs each, scrambled. Janeth also made tortillas from their last half-bag of masa flour.
By day, they race in their second-hand pickup truck from food pantries and churches to relatives’ houses. They chase tips about food giveaways or temporary jobs. They share their painstakingly acquired cartons of food with her two sisters, who themselves have a total of five young children to feed, and call their grown children with leads on food lines.On a recent day, Janet and Roberto’s breakfast is coffee and a few crackers. Allison eats cereal, a favorite provided by a food bank.
You have legal Americans in the same place .
Immigrant. Code for illegal aliens?
They made an economic calculation to come here in search of a 'better life' or so we've been told. If that economic advantage no longer exists, they can make that same calculation and return from whence they came, no?
brooklynmarie the wealthiest country on earth can't assure its people of access to food and water
This article is about a family here illegally. That is why they are not getting public assistance. The church they belong to can feed them a good meal and then send them home to Mexico where they can apply legally to come back or stay there and work on making their country better
$110 for gas is a lot....
They should go to USCCB the catholic church. In times like this the church should provide meals to them. That’s why Christians give to the church to take care of things like this. Not to pay for palaces for popes.
But we saved one life!!!
Well gee maybe they could have stayed in their own country instead of bringing their poverty to ours?
But if it saves one life...you want grandma to die?
And trump does nothing but compare himself to Lincoln-what a joke that is!
so, just like home?
This is why this administration delayed responding. They knew that the financial effects of the Coronavirus would harm hardworking immigrants, doing the jobs most of us wouldn’t do, first and worst. Never mind that the virus would also kill 10’s of thousands. They just don’t care
Stay the hell home and don’t come to America illegally and expect taxpayers to carry your ass!
Are the legal or illegal? My parents immigrated to the U.S also but they arrived with a visa in hand and walked through customs. Very misleading headline.
My heart goes out to these people.. They are struggling like many American families..?!! We need more who will fill these needs out of compassion..?!! Make a difference some one..?!! 🐴
People are not invisible.
As a homeless veteran,I've been down to one meal a day for the last 10 years. Do l compete with migrant families?NO!We're in the same boat, and I support them more than myself because they have kids involved. But in the richest country in the world,we should ALL get 3 meals a day
Open up the economy
And the AP and other MSM outlets share the blame for spreading panic and cheering on the shutdown of the economy. Flattening the curve wasn’t good enough, now it’s flatten the economy. MSMIsTheEnemyOfThePeople
Is this USA?
ap what a sorry ass news organization..... burying the word illegal deep in the story
The CCP could care less they did this to them.
Starving children. That is all.
BPSGroup We have legal citizens suffering and this trash gets written. Move already, get out of here.
We are worried about our own now. Get out with your constant advocating for illegal immigrants
Ha ha
ELLEN KNICKMEYER and JACQUELYN MARTIN write a story about illegals struggling during the cororonavirus while millions of legal citizens are hurting just as bad as well as dying.
No Jobs, No Healthcare, No Money, Lines to get Food, People in Cages. The world used to Look at America with Bright Eyes now the World is Laughing at US. Some Pity US. This is Killer 45’s, Corrupt, Crooked Republicans FAULT. Stay True and Vote Blue
Maybe the shouldn’t of snuck into a foreign country! Wtf!
realjuliasong You forgot the word “ILLEGAL” in your headline.....
The best part of this article is when they say that “they feed six families here and in honduras” WHAT ELSE Are Americans responsible for buying food for the rest of the world too? This is exactly the problem with illegal immigration. If they were here legally theyd pay taxes!!
So go back home
So who should pay for these peoples food?AMERICANS? They are in the country illegally. Its terrible for anyone to not have enough food to feed their families but America needs to FIRST provide for American families. plenty of American tax payers are still waiting for unemployment
Seriously? “Immigrant couple”? They’re illegal immigrants. There are plenty of Americans going through this nightmare! Americans First, Always.
There’s a better chance of the pandemic ending when people listen to the folks who have medical common sense & knowledge instead of exercising selfishness & putting all the folks who are jobless, homeless, hungry, or about to be jobless with no hope of employment now AT RISK!
Conveniently skips over illegal. Conflating legal and illegal immigration is dishonest.
FuckYourLandLord
Why label the family Is that being racist?
☹️😕😞
Ohhhhh...well most of them work your farms pick your fruits clean your houses etc etc....besides now you know how the natives felt when all you lot started showing up....lololololol
Deport them citizens FIRST AmericaFirst keep immigration down
There are “Help Wanted” signs right now in almost every window of the grocery stores, pizza delivery, fast food restaurants, and trucking companies. Having a hard time filling bc of the govt cover stimulus enemployment supplements.
I got to where it said ‘they’re here Illegally” and I was out. It’s very sad. Perhaps they would have been better off staying home or maybe worse. We need help for our CITIZENS
I personally know many AMERICANS waiting for their first unemployment check six weeks into this BS, where are their stories?
They need to go to food banks.
Unsure why came here, he obviously don't have enough to take care of everyone
Good , I hope all of Newsom's illegal pets go broke and leave
AP writes stories like this to enrage you. We see through you.
33 million and growing, all stories like this
SendThemBack
How about a story about legal inmigrants facing feeding their families or paying their property tax in the state of NJ?
Illegal aliens disappointed they’re criminals. News at 11.
IlegalAliens... no sympathy for law breakers when so many American are out of work.
What is the gas money for if we are on lockdown in our homes?
ILLEGALS .. sorry , we have our own LEGAL citizens to take care of .
This is the real problem, the true reason to protest is the toll this pandemic has on our basic needs.
realjuliasong Who would have imagined illegally living somewhere might have consequences. Weird
Legal immigrant or illegal immigrant? Seems relevant when millions of citizens are still waiting for unemployment checks, no?
“The AP is withholding the couple’s full names because they are in the country illegally and could face deportation” We all know American citizens suffering just like this and worse And you wonder why Trump connects with voters?
'Immigrant' My guess since the media loves to lie about illegal immigration this is FakeNews. Illegal immigrants should not even be here.
realjuliasong ReopenAmericaNow then!!!
How can we help them?
Theres enough American families struggling right now that AP wants to address illegal immigrants. Unreal.
If only there was something we could do.. oh yeah let them work
This is all the fault of Mr. Trump. There can’t be anyone else to blame but him.
In. The. Country. Illegally. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
Legal citizens are having the same issue but not a narrative story. Open up America for business. Keep elderly and health compromised sheltered.
Get the hell out
Allow me to introduce myself. My wife and I have spent 14 years building a business. In 6 weeks it has been wiped out along with our savings. I am millions of Americans.
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