“6 Months, No Relief,” Report Release and Day of Action as Immigrant Groups Call on Governor Murphy, Legislature to Provide Direct Aid to Immigrants

(New Jersey – September 1, 2020) Today immigrant organization, Make the Road New Jersey, released a new report “6 Months: Still Essential, Still Excluded” based on interviews with nearly 200 immigrant and mixed-status families. The report details the economic harm experienced by families across the state as they face mass unemployment and near-complete exclusion from all forms of aid. To accompany the report, immigrant rights organizations held a press conference at the statehouse steps to urge New Jersey to take action to create a COVID relief fund for immigrant families and workers excluded from federal aid.

Topline results of the survey include:

• Devastating economic insecurity: 81% of respondents live in a household where one or more members lost their job. Because of their status, they were ineligible for aid, and therefore without income.
• Inability to pay for basic necessities: 85.3% were worried about being able to pay for food for themselves or their families.
• A Looming Eviction Crisis with No Aid: Disturbingly, 1 in 8 tenants experienced harassment at the hand of their landlord during the pandemic, and despite the moratorium on evictions in New Jersey, at least one respondent was evicted from her home during the pandemic.
• Frontline Workers Lack Safety: An alarmingly high number of respondents — two in three that have worked throughout the pandemic — reported feeling unsafe at work.

This week marks six months since the state shutdown and the COVID-19 state of emergency began in New Jersey. Sixteen thousand people have died, hundreds of thousands have become sick, and millions lost a job or income. Immigrants, their families, and excluded workers are now six months without any relief.

Lynda Martinez, member of Make the Road New Jersey said, “So many other states have given aid to excluded workers and immigrant families. Why is New Jersey leaving us behind? Based on the report, 81% of households responded that 1 or more members lost their job and because of their status, left without income or aid. Don’t look away. Look at us. We need relief now.”

“Six months have passed since the start of the pandemic and the state has forgotten about the most affected community, immigrant families. Many are left without work and income to provide for their families. And now families are left without a place to live due to not being able to pay their rent. We need Governor Murphy and the NJ legislature to support our immigrant families too,”said Ryenalda Cruz, New Labor.

Gloria Ramírez, member, Laundry Workers Center said, “It is outrageous that our immigrant communities have six months without any economic relief.  Six months without income, without being able to pay the rent, without being able to meet basic needs.  NJ will not be able to recover if we do not provide adequate support.  We encourage all leaders to join our fight and represent with justice and fairly.”

Trissy, Community Organizer, Unidad Latina en Acción NJ said, “We’re approaching six months of battling the inequalities entailed by not having the legal status necessary in this country to obtain economic relief for COVID-19. We, the undocumented immigrants, have felt completely excluded and ignored by the political leaders who hold power in the United States. The laws prevent us from receiving social assistance, but not from contributing to the economy: we, the undocumented immigrants, provide $600 million in taxes every year to the New Jersey government. Due to the ongoing public health emergency, many US citizens, people with green cards, and immigrants with legal status have been able to shelter in place to preserve their own health and that of their family. But we, the undocumented immigrants, the essential workers, don’t stop working. Because if we do, then we don’t eat, we lose our housing, and we certainly don’t have money. We’ve contributed $1.2 billion in unemployment taxes, but we don’t receive unemployment benefits. For these reasons, we seek economic relief for all the essential, undocumented workers in the state of New Jersey.”

Gloria Escobar, a local entrepreneur and member, Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center said, “We have paid into the system. We are immigrants who have done the right thing. As humans, we deserve relief, and as taxpayers and hard workers, we have earned it.”

“Children are headed back to schools worried about their families who still have not received any COVID19 relief and are out of work. Bills are piling up, and families are not sure how they will pay rent or afford groceries. Yet, the legislation S2480/A4171 to provide support is at a standstill. The longer we wait, the longer we ask our immigrant children to go to school hungry or worried about their families rather than focus on their schoolwork. We call on New Jersey leadership to put children first by ensuring all households, regardless of immigration status, have access to COVID19 relief,” said Maneesha Kelkar, Interim Director, New Jersey Alliance For Immigrant Justice.

We call for a Disaster Relief fund to reach excluded workers and families. This fund will provide income replacement for displaced immigrant workers, excluded from UI, and their families, and a stimulus payment for any taxpayers excluded from the federal stimulus.

• Flat rate weekly cash payments in the amount of $600 per week to each displaced worker – what a typical low wage worker receiving Unemployment Insurance receives at this moment.
• Stimulus payments to ITIN tax filers and their families that were left behind from the federal stimulus: immigrant taxpayers and their U.S. citizen families must receive stimulus payments if our state will be able to socially distance and restart our economy. We support A4171, S2480 Senators Ruiz, and Scutari’s legislation as a first step and urge immediate passage.

###