Univision News premiered its new documentary “Rising Up in the Heartland, Latino Workers Fight for Pandemic Relief.” Produced with support from the HHMI Department of Science Education, the documentary is available on UnivisionNoticias.com.

After long struggles to regain their health, marginalized and undocumented Latino essential workers in rural Iowa took on a bold new challenge in 2022: demanding a share of the pandemic relief funds that have excluded them. In this new documentary, the Univision News team followed four Latino activists in their fight to be included.

The movement started in Iowa City and has expanded to rural communities and includes many Latinos who are speaking out for the first time as activists. Their collective is called “Escucha Mi Voz” (Hear My Voice) and fights for the rights of excluded workers, from the undocumented to those who are not eligible for federal benefits such as unemployment and stimulus checks. As part of the group’s campaigns for direct relief, community organizers across rural Iowa receive training on how they can fight locally for the issues affecting the Hispanic population.

“Univision Noticias continue to report on stories that are relevant to our community and give a voice to underrepresented groups, aligned with our mission to inform and empower Latinos. We are immensely proud of the work done by our team of dedicated journalists who are bringing us the story of these essential workers and their ongoing fight to be included in the distribution of relief funds,” said José Ángel Gonzalo, Senior Director and Managing Editor of Univision Noticias Digital.