{"id":111618,"date":"2021-04-09T01:03:52","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T01:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=111618"},"modified":"2021-04-09T01:03:52","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T01:03:52","slug":"new-york-to-give-thousands-to-undocumented-workers-hard-hit-by-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/new-york-to-give-thousands-to-undocumented-workers-hard-hit-by-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"New York To Give Thousands To Undocumented Workers Hard Hit By Coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Undocumented workers who lost jobs or income due to the coronavirus pandemic will be eligible for payments of up to $15,600 in New York, thanks to a bill passed by state lawmakers this week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Money from the <\/span>$2.1 billion Excluded Worker Fund<\/span>\u00a0will go to workers who have been ineligible for unemployment insurance due to their immigration status, and have also been <\/span>excluded from all three stimulus payments<\/span>. It\u2019s the <\/span>largest such fund in the country<\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The legislation passed after weeks of <\/span>hunger strikes by undocumented<\/span> organizers in New York. It was negotiated with Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who hasn\u2019t yet signed it into law.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nearly 300,000 workers could potentially benefit<\/span>, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute.<\/span><\/p>\n

Undocumented<\/span> immigrants are among those hardest hit<\/span> by the pandemic and its economic fallout. They are overrepresented in fields that have seen massive layoffs due to COVID-19 restrictions, including the restaurant and hotel industries. Undocumented workers also make up<\/span> significant portions of those<\/span> deemed essential on the frontlines of the pandemic \u2015 including grocery workers, farmworkers and <\/span>cleaners<\/span> \u2014 who are risking their lives to work while millions of others in the U.S. are able to stay home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As<\/span> the virus\u2019s death toll passes 559,000<\/span> in the U.S., Latinx and Black people have been about three times as likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 as white people, and are<\/span> twice as likely to die<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In February, <\/span>California passed smaller-scale relief for undocumented<\/span> workers in the form of $600 one-time payments to those who pay taxes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To be eligible for the new relief in New York, undocumented workers would have to <\/span>qualify for \u201cTier 1\u201d<\/span> by showing official employment forms or their individual tax identification numbers \u2014 which many undocumented workers use to pay federal taxes, since they don\u2019t have Social Security numbers. Funds in \u201cTier 2,\u201d which only provides $3,200 in relief, would go to those who don\u2019t have proof of employment, The Intercept reported. <\/span>Some immigrant advocates have raised concerns that requiring too much documentation for eligibility will block some who are owed funds from receiving them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Undocumented <\/span>immigrants contribute about $1.1 billion<\/span> in state and local taxes in New York, per a 2017 Fiscal Policy Institute report.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo the hunger strikers: I am grateful for your leadership \u2026 today is a day of victory, a historic day,\u201d Marcela Mitaynes, a New York <\/span>Assembly member, wrote in Spanish<\/span> on Twitter. The lawmaker <\/span>joined the hunger strike<\/span> for 12 days. \u201cCelebrate today because tomorrow we keep fighting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED…<\/h3>\n

A HuffPost Guide To Coronavirus<\/strong><\/p>\n