Charles Schumer said how vital our DACA recipients are to continuing health care in America COVID-19

Democrats have pitched a series of proposals to benefit immigrants in coronavirus relief packages, ranging from automatic extensions of visas and other immigration benefits to inclusion of otherwise ineligible immigrants in COVID-19 testing and relief.

Those proposals have generally not made it into the final bill language, a reality that's started to gnaw at immigrant advocates.

Democrats say the goodwill earned by essential immigrant workers, particularly in health care, will force the Republican-controlled Senate to consider legislation it would have ignored before the pandemic, such as automatic extensions for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the temporary protected status (TPS) programs, two immigration programs that President Trump has fought to curtail.

"What coronavirus has made clear is how vital our DACA and TPS recipients are to continuing health care in America," Senate Minority LeaderCharles Schumer(D-N.Y.) said on a call with reporters Tuesday.

"It's obviously an awful crisis, but I think it's showing Americans how much we need these folks to fight this crisis and it will help us gain support as we negotiate [the next stimulus bill]," added Schumer, who called on the administration to extend DACA and TPS permits automatically.

Immigrants have been among the people who have worked in hospitals and other essential services like grocery stores during the pandemic.