Cardinal Tobin, Faith Leaders urge New Jersey Legislature to Approve COVID-19 aid to Taxpaying Immigrants
Cardinal Tobin, Faith Leaders urge New Jersey Legislature to Approve COVID-19 aid to Taxpaying Immigrants
Reverend Bolivar Flores of Coalition of Latino Pastors & Ministers & Rev. Steffie Bartley of National Action Network Join Call for Passage of A4171, S2480
(New Jersey, December 2, 2020): In New Jersey, by some estimates, 604,615 people, including 262,527 U.S. citizens, lives with at least one undocumented family member. Pending legislation A4171/S2480 would provide one time payments to some undocumented tax filers in New Jersey. The measure has 19 co-sponsors in the Senate and 25 in the Assembly, with bipartisan support and the endorsement of the Star Ledger.
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., D.D., Archbishop of Newark:
“In these days of the pandemic, we have been using the word ‘essential’ more and more. We have essential workers and essential businesses. Unfortunately, we rely on essential workers, but we fall short when it is necessary and appropriate to protect and compensate them adequately – leaving them to be perceived as ‘unessential’.
We urge the passage of this bill to extend COVID-19 funding to the estimated half million undocumented immigrants and their families who are excluded from most safety net programs. This one-time payment would afford help to those essential people working hard for the safety of others.”
Revered Bolivar Flores, Vice President, NJ Coalition of Latino Pastors & Ministers:
”New Jersey‘s undocumented immigrants contribute over half a billion dollars in state and local taxes annually. Passing this legislation would grant our immigrant taxpayers the same social services they pay into. I trust that the NJ Legislature will do the right thing and pass this legislation for Governor Murphy to sign into law.”
Reverend Steffie Bartley, National Action Network:
‘We call on our state legislature to pass this bill and on Gov. Murphy to sign it into law immediately. The suffering is clear, and hundreds of thousands of immigrants will be aided in this state if we pass this critical measure.”
Despite their contributions, undocumented immigrants are ineligible for unemployment insurance, TANF, SNAP, and most other safety net programs. In addition, the federal CARES Act stimulus payments excluded undocumented immigrant taxpayers and their US citizen spouses and children.
Endorsing organizations for the Recovery for All campaign include:
1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
32BJ SEIU
Action Together New Jersey
Advocates for Children of New Jersey
African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey
African Diaspora for Justice
American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey
American Friends Service Committee
Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey
Bangladeshi American Women’s Development Initiative
BlueWaveNJ
Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers
Casa de Esperanza
Casa Freehold
CATA – The Farmworker Support Committee
Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War
Council for Faith in Action, Unitarian Universalist Church of Washington Crossing
Faith In New Jersey
First Friends of NJ & NY
Food & Water Action
Greater Red Bank Women’s Initiative
Hudson County Central Labor Council
IFPTE Local 194
Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
Latino American Democratic Association (LADA)
Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Latino Action Network
Laundry Workers Center
Laura Cohen, Distinguished Clinical Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School
LUPEPAC
LUPE Foundation
Make the Road New Jersey
National Action Network
National Day Laborer Organizing Network
National Domestic Workers Alliance
Neighborhood Assistance Office
New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice
New Jersey Citizen Action
New Jersey Coalition of Latino Pastors and Ministers
New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children
New Jersey Education Association
New Jersey Policy Perspective
New Jersey Working Families
New Labor
NJ Coalition to End Domestic Violence
Our Revolution Essex County
Our Revolution Monmouth
Our Revolution New Jersey
Our Revolution Ocean County
People Demanding Action, NJ
Robbinsville Democratic Club
RWDSU Local 108
RWDSU Local 262
Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey
UndocuRutgers
Unidad Latina en Acción
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County
Unitarian Universalist Faith Action
Victoria Foundation
Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center
