Undocumented workers forced to ‘wipe out their life savings.’ Will California help?
Many undocumented immigrants in California have gone through their life savings during the coronavirus pandemic. Others have mounting debts, immigrant advocates say as they push Gov. Gavin Newsom to step up and help as other states have.
Advocates say it will take years for the state’s undocumented workers and their families to emerge from their financial ruins without a safety net in place to provide relief.
The pandemic exacerbated their already dire financial situation, and as the economy starts to reopen, their struggles continue, said Lucas Zucker, policy and communications director at the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy.
“Even as businesses like hotels and restaurants reopen, countless undocumented workers who lost their jobs last year were forced to wipe out their life savings or borrow thousands to keep their families sheltered and fed without any unemployment support,” Zucker said. “As we’ve seen huge wealth gains at the top, working-class immigrant families who were already struggling have taken a deep financial hit that will take years to recover from without a real safety net.”
To help aid this population, immigrant advocates this month called on Newsom to establish a fund — similar to a $2 billion fund in New York — to aid the state’s undocumented workers who lost income during the pandemic. Under New York’s fund approved in April, the state will give a one-time payment of up to $15,600 to undocumented workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic.
The Safety Net for All Coalition, which is composed of various immigrant rights organizations in California, is making the push for California to provide up to $13,032 in wage replacement to immigrant workers who have been left out of unemployment benefits and federal stimulus aid. That amount, the coalition says, is the average unemployment benefit in the state.
In California, some undocumented immigrants were eligible for a one-time $500 payment in 2020. The funds were available on a first-come, first-served basis, which caused the state’s system to crash while desperate undocumented workers rushed to apply. Under the state’s February stimulus plan, undocumented families with an Individual Tax Identification Number were eligible to receive up to $1,200.
Recipients of the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants will also receive a $600 one-time payment, but three months after that program launched, the money hasn’t been distributed.
The coalition’s push came as Newsom announced a new stimulus package to help struggling Californians. Under that plan, undocumented families will be eligible for $1,000.
Newsom’s office didn’t return requests seeking comment on the coalition’s $13,032 proposal. No significant assistance for this population was announced during Newsom’s revised budget released Friday.
Zucker said California’s $75 billion budget surplus puts the state in a position to follow New York’s footsteps. “The question is political will,” he said. “Does the Governor want one-time stimulus checks that make headlines, or a real safety net for all Californians that makes immigrant families whole?”
California ‘has the money’ to help struggling undocumented families
Edward Flores, an associate professor at UC Merced and researcher with the school’s Community and Labor Center, said advocates are calling for the state to provide economic relief for the lowest earners and most vulnerable workers at a time when there’s never been more money for the state’s budget.
“The state definitely has the money,” he said.
Ana Padilla, executive director at the Community and Labor Center, said the economic relief that California has provided to undocumented workers “pales in comparison” to the up to $15,600 that undocumented workers in New York will be eligible to receive.
In April, Washington state’s lawmakers approved an additional $340 million in funding to undocumented immigrants, bringing that state’s total funds to $467 million available to provide relief for this group.
Padilla said programs in other states demonstrate that it’s possible to include undocumented workers in public relief programs, and the money in California is there.
“There are models on how it can be done, and there’s certainly a need,” she said. “I think it’s hard to argue against its feasibility at this point where other states have modeled how it can be done, and we have a record surplus.”
Meanwhile, a $600 one-time grant payment to low-income Californians enrolled in the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants, and other low-income programs, are expected to begin to go out by the end of May, said H.D. Palmer, the chief budget spokesman for the state’s Department of Finance.
More details on the distribution will become available on the state’s Department of Social Services website in coming weeks, he said.
Those one-time payments are being made under the Golden State Stimulus Plan announced in February.
Palmer didn’t respond to questions regarding the request from advocates to provide $13,000 to undocumented workers, but he highlighted Newsom’s budget proposal of Medi-Cal coverage for undocumented residents 60 and older.
Organizations help undocumented families pay bills
Maricela Gutierrez, executive director for Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN), said there’s a high need for immigrant communities that have been impacted by the pandemic -- many lost their jobs, others have been ill and others lost their loved ones. Yet, she said, they don’t qualify for public assistance.
Her organization has been trying to fill the gap to assist these families with paying their bills.
“We get requests all the time from families seeking financial support, support with their utility bill or rent or just basic needs,” she said. “We are happy there’s a movement in the state ... to build a safety net for immigrants, undocumented immigrants especially, that have been left out of the equation.”
Some immigrants have seen their debts grow during the pandemic. An April 2020 study by the Urban Institute found that in response to the pandemic crisis, 43.9% of families reported having tapped into their savings or having increased their credit card debt. Low-income and Hispanic families were among them.
Flores said undocumented residents going into debt is of concern, especially because they “were easily preyed on by private companies that would give loans with exorbitant interest rates, and that was an issue before the pandemic.”
“It would be the same problem that existed before with immigrants being preyed upon by credit companies,” he said. “Now, (it) would be that much more pronounced.”
Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno, in a statement regarding Newsom’s revised budget, said he was stunned to see farmworkers and other low-income essential workers continue to be excluded from benefits.
“They put their own lives and health at risk during this crisis,” he said. “They pay their share of taxes, and contribute to our economy — and yet still are being excluded. What does this say about California’s values if this is allowed to continue, especially when the State’s budget abounds with unexpected revenue in the billions and billions of dollars?”
This story was originally published May 16, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Undocumented workers forced to ‘wipe out their life savings.’ Will California help?."
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