As Justice for Migrant Women’s Mónica Ramírez wrote at Prism last week, “despite their immense contribution to the world and the labor economy, farmworkers are among the lowest paid workers in our country. They have the fewest employment rights, they work under substandard conditions, and they are, essentially, invisible to most people in society.” Now picture all this in the midst of a pandemic, legislators said in their letter to officials including Agriculture Sec. Sonny Perdue.

“Despite their low-wages, many won't be able to receive the direct cash assistance headed to millions of U.S. households” even though undocumented workers pay billions in U.S. taxes every year. “Many of these essential workers lack critical benefits. Our country depends on their valuable work. During this national emergency, protecting farmworkers and their families is a matter of national security since this workforce is the backbone of the country’s food supply.” Farm laborer Carlos Garcia is part of the backbone of the country’s food supply, but he’s not being treated like it.

“Despite being 73 with diabetes, Garcia couldn’t afford to stop working,” the Los Angeles Times reported. “His employer hadn’t said anything about the virus to workers, provided them with extra protective gear or supplied extra hand-washing stations, he said.” Garcia, though, has taken steps on his own to protect himself, washing his hands multiple times before, during, and after the work day. “When he got home,” the LA Times continued, “he walked in through the garage, stripped off his clothes and threw them into the wash before hopping in the shower.”

But as legislators note, officials must ensure farmers—those in charge and in control—are taking proper measures to protect these workers and their families. “Is the administration requiring employers to provide at least one hand-washing station with clean water, soap, and paper towels for every 10 workers as well as giving farmworkers adequate time to wash their hands, including enough time to walk to and from the stations, without retaliation?” they ask.

“We are aware that there is a shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (such as masks and respirators) due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the legislators continue. “Is the administration working with employers to ensure that farmworkers have adequate access to PPE to do their jobs safely? Also, of great concern are farmworkers who work during wildfires and must use respirators to protect themselves from the smoke and other harmful particulate matter.”

Like undocumented farmworkers, domestic workers lacking legal status are also shut out of coronavirus relief as many have lost work in homes they’d cleaned for years now. “Last week, a nanny posted that her employer had dismissed her,” The New York Times reported. “In the comments, other nannies chimed in: ‘I got laid off too.’ ‘They laid me off with zero money.’ ‘Six years with the same family … they told me not to come and they won’t pay me.’”

“At this dramatic moment, it is imperative that all of us pull together and work together to defeat the coronavirus. And all of us means all of us,” immigrant rights advocacy group America’s Voice said. “Who plants the crops, harvests the bounty, puts food on our table? Who works as home health care aides, hospital nurses, attendants and doctors? The answer in many cases: immigrants. Our government should be embracing the real time talent, skills and dedication of immigrants—including the 11 million without papers—already here and rolling up their sleeves to help America.”

For their work, we are grateful. They deserve more than gratitude, however—they deserve full protections.