Undocumented With COVID-19: Many Face A Long Recovery, Largely On Their Own
People can spend months recovering from COVID-19 and sometimes have lasting disabilities. That is especially hard for undocumented people, who often are in high-risk jobs without health insurance.
In early August, José came home to the Chicago apartment he shares with his wife and five children. He'd just spent three months in the hospital after contracting the coronavirus.
"We were all so happy," says his daughter Alondra, describing that day. "Everybody in the hospital was like: He was about to die. There was no more hope for him... So now we're like: Thank God, he's still here with us."
José, who is from Mexico, is undocumented. His children were all born in the United States and have U.S. citizenship. NPR agreed to use just first names for him and his family.
And once he was home, it fell to his family, and especially José's wife, to
