Posted on April 9, 2021

$2.1 Billion for Undocumented Workers Signals New York’s Progressive Shift

Annie Correal and Luis Ferré-Sadurní, New York Times, April 8, 2021

When the coronavirus arrived in New York City a year ago, it hit enclaves of undocumented immigrants with a fury, killing thousands and wiping out the service and construction jobs that kept many families afloat.

Lifelines like unemployment insurance and federal stimulus checks were out of reach because undocumented people are ineligible for most government aid. {snip}

But after a sweeping move by lawmakers this week, New York will now offer one-time payments of up to $15,600 to undocumented immigrants who lost work during the pandemic. The effort — a $2.1 billion fund in the state budget — is by far the biggest of its kind in the country and a sign of the state’s shift toward policies championed by progressive Democrats.

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The excluded workers fund, part of the state’s new $212 billion budget deal that was reached on Tuesday, was one of the most contentious points of debate during negotiations, which dragged on past the April 1 deadline.

Republicans instantly criticized the measure as out of touch at a time when many other New Yorkers were still struggling, while some Democrats from swing districts upstate and on Long Island said privately that a publicly funded rescue program for people who are not in the country legally could be wielded as a cudgel against them in future elections.

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New York’s fund dwarfs a similar relief program enacted in California, where officials set up a $75 million cash assistance program last year that gave undocumented immigrants a $500 one-time payment on a first-come, first-served basis.

It is hard to quantify the number of undocumented families living in New York, but the left-leaning Fiscal Policy Institute said Wednesday that the fund could benefit as many as 290,000 people statewide.

Undocumented workers could receive up to $15,600, the equivalent of $300 per week for the last year, if they can verify that they were state residents, ineligible for federal unemployment benefits and lost income as a result of the pandemic.

Others who can prove at least their residency and identity, and provide some work documentation, could be eligible for a lower sum up to $3,200.

The proposal found support in the Democratic-controlled State Senate and Assembly, especially among progressives who had argued for relief for more than a year. In the months leading up to the budget deadline, undocumented immigrants sought to draw attention to their cause.

Protesters gathered outside Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s office and shut down bridges, carrying hard hats, pots and pans, and brooms and mops — the instruments of the jobs they had held — along with banners saying, “Our Labor Saved Lives.” And as the measure neared approval, about a dozen supporters who camped around a Manhattan church staged a three-week hunger strike that ended Wednesday.

Over the weekend, as an agreement around the fund materialized, it drew forceful denunciations from state Republicans, who described it as the latest “outlandish development” of one-party rule in Albany. The state also passed tax increases on the wealthy, meaning New York City millionaires would soon pay the highest personal income taxes in the nation.

“Democrats are raising taxes and using your federal stimulus dollars to enact a radical agenda rather than helping veterans, small main street businesses, teachers and senior citizens,” said Rob Ortt, the Republican minority leader in the State Senate.

But Democratic supporters called the effort a moral imperative and pointed to substantial relief for small businesses included in this year’s state budget — $1 billion in grants and tax credits — on top of stimulus money that has poured in from Washington.

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The warnings of a backlash among voters echoed those that followed the 2019 passage of a state law that allowed undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses, an issue that some Republicans stressed in campaigns last year. There did not appear to be a detrimental response from voters — in fact, Democrats expanded their majorities — but the driver’s license law did not carry a $2 billion price tag.

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Lawmakers who were involved in the negotiations said Mr. Cuomo had pushed for a rule that applicants provide an individual taxpayer identification number, which is used to process tax information for some people who are not eligible for a Social Security number.

Such a provision would have excluded many workers who had not applied for an identification number out of fear during the Trump administration, said Angeles Solis, an organizer at Make the Road New York who helped lead a coalition of groups that organized workers.

Another provision sought by the fund’s supporters would have offered the benefits to people who were recently incarcerated. That was ultimately left out of the plan {snip}

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