Joint efforts highlight the need to establish a fund to help support undocumented workers displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic
SACRAMENTO – Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) submitted a letter co-signed by him and 13 California legislators to Governor Gavin Newsom requesting increased support for the state’s undocumented worker population. The letter, supported by a wide coalition of civil rights, health advocacy, immigrant rights, legal aid, anti-poverty, social and economic justice, and labor organizations, outlined a temporary partial income replacement program for excluded workers who are not eligible for the state or federal benefits.
“We are grateful for the Governor’s foresight and leadership in establishing the Disaster Relief Fund that is providing life-sustaining emergency support for immigrant workers, but we need to continue to work together to provide an ongoing safety net for California families who are the foundation of our economic vitality,” said Assemblymember Kalra. “This program would help address the void created by the lack of action by the federal administration that has left our undocumented worker population in the cold, without any semblance of support or gratitude for the work they do on a daily basis.”
To address the urgent and fundamental need of undocumented workers, Assemblymember Kalra and advocates have proposed the creation of a temporary, partial income replacement program for excluded workers who are not eligible for the state or federal benefits administered by the Employment Development Department (EDD) and who are unemployed or underemployed as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The total number of individuals who would access this program is estimated to be approximately 216,499.
The program would provide a $400 flat weekly benefit amount for a maximum of eight weeks for individuals unemployed or underemployed between March 29, 2020 and July 25, 2020. While this is far less than what other workers are currently eligible for through unemployment insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the program would help provide a base level of support towards ensuring that undocumented and mixed status families can survive this pandemic and rebuild their lives.
“The health and well-being of all Californians depends on a strong safety net to ensure families have shelter, food and care through this crisis,” said Elly Matsumura, California Director of the Partnership for Working Families. “A crisis like this is no time for anti-immigrant exclusion—yet every income replacement or federal relief program leaves one group behind. We need to stand by our values in California and hold firm that no one gets left behind.”
A recent analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the University of California, Merced, Community and Labor Center found that nearly 1 in 4 job losses in California through April 18 hit non-citizen immigrants (22.7%), approximately double their share of the state’s overall population (11.5%).
“Our state can only begin to fully recover from the ravage of COVID 19 when undocumented families and workers are supported economically. We stand with Assemblymember Kalra’s efforts to bring equity to immigrant families who have gone weeks without pay who have been the backbone of our state’s economy. It is not only unjust but tragic and dangerous for undocumented workers to be forced deeper into poverty during these times,” said Angelica Salas, Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA).
Undocumented workers make up one in 10 workers in the state and are the backbone of some of California’s most important industries – hospitality, domestic service, and food service, among others – which have experienced the highest rates of unemployment during the pandemic. The impact of job loss threatens the livelihoods of millions more Californians in addition to the unemployed workers themselves; according to the California Budget and Policy Center, an estimated one in three undocumented residents is a parent and more than one in eight school-aged children in California may have a parent who is an undocumented immigrant.
“Many of the workers who grow and prepare California’s food, build and maintain our homes, and care for our closest loved ones are struggling to support their families right now with no income and no safety net,” said Kimberly Alvarenga, Executive Director of the California Domestic Worker Coalition (CDWC). “The survival of our families is essential.”
Additional support for the relief fund:
“As legal aid attorneys, we are on the front lines of hearing undocumented workers’ pleas for access to life-saving resources. During our weekly virtual clinics, we have spoken with hundreds of workers who are desperate to keep a roof over their families’ heads and food on their tables, and the only thing we can do is direct them to food pantries. Through no fault of their own, our clients have lost their only source of income literally overnight.” - Dana Hadl, Directing Attorney, Bet Tzedek Legal Services
Worker stories available upon request:
Domestic Workers: Alex Early, CDWC, 617-816-4260
Garment Workers: Alex Sanchez, Garment Worker Center, 909-908-7498
Farmworkers: Lucas Zucker, CAUSE, 805-216-8566
Janitorial Workers: Denise Velasco, Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund, 714-350-0743
Restaurant Workers: Alexandra Suh, Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, 213-738-9050
List of coalition members:
National Association of Working Women
AFSCME 3299
Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice and Empowerment
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - California
Asian Law Alliance
Bet Tzedek Legal Services
Bright Beginnings
CA Food Policy Advocates
California Association of Food Banks
California Domestic Workers Coalition
California Employment Lawyers Association
California Faculty Association – San Francisco State University
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance (CIYJA)
California Labor Federation
California National Organization for Women
California Nonprofits Association
California Partnership
California Reinvestment Coalition
California Women’s Law Center
California Work & Family Coalition
CCRI at UC Merced
Center for Worker’ Rights
Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE)
Central Coast Early Childhood Advocacy Network
Central Valley Partnership
Centro Laboral de Graton/ALMAS
Centro Legal de la Raza
Children’s Defense Fund - California
Chinese Progressive Association
CLEAN Carwash Campaign
Coachella Valley Immigrant Dignity Coalition
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)
Community Bridges
Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto
Council on American-Islamic Relations, San Francisco Bay Area (CAIR-SFBA)
County Welfare Directors Association
CRLA Foundation
Dolores Street Community Services - La Colectiva/Day Labor Program
East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy
Educators for Peaceful Classrooms and Communities
El Pajaro Community Development Corporation
Employee Rights Center
Equal Rights Advocates
Faith in the Valley
First 5 Santa Cruz County
Food Empowerment Project
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
Fund for Santa Barbara
Future Leaders of America
Garment Worker Center
Golden State Opportunity
GRACE Institute/End Child Poverty in CA
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network
Healthy Kids Happy Faces
Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco
Human Agenda
Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California (IDEPSCA)
Instituto Laboral de la Raza
Jewish Center for Justice
Jobs with Justice San Francisco
KIWA (Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance)
Korean Community Center of the East Bay
La Raza Centro Legal
LAANE
Labor and Community Studies, City College of San Francisco
Latinos in Action 2020
Legal Aid at Work
Legal Aid of Marin
Live Oak Cradle to Career Initiative
Los Angeles Worker Center Network
Maitri
MAIZ San Jose
Mixteco/Indígena Community Organizing Project (MICOP)
Mujeres Unidas y Activas
National Council of Jewish Women - California
National Council of Jewish Women Los Angeles
National Domestic Workers Alliance
National Employment Law Project
National Immigration Law Center
National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles
National Lawyers Guild SF Bay Area Legislative Reform Committee
Never Again UUSF
NorCal Resist
North Bay Organizing Project
Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD)
Organizacion en California de Lideres Campesinas, Inc.
Oxfam America
Oxnard College
Parent Voices CA
Partnership for Working Families
Partnerships for Trauma Recovery
PAWIS (Pilipino Association of Workers and Immigrants)
Program for Torture Victims
Refugee & Immigrant Transitions
Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) the Bay
Sacred Heart Community Service
Santa Clara County Wage Theft Coalition
Santa Cruz Community Health
Santa Cruz Community Ventures
SEIU California
SEIU-United Service Workers West
Senior and Disability Action
Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN)
Street Level Health Project
Teamsters Local Union No. 890
Thai Community Development Center
The Diversity Center
The Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund
The Unity Council
TODEC Legal Center
Together We Will - San José
UC Berkeley Labor Occupational Health Program
UCLA Labor Center
UFCW LOCAL 135
UndocuFund for Disaster Relief
UNITE HERE International Union
United Educators of San Francisco
Voices for Progress
Warehouse Worker Resource Center
Western Center on Law and Poverty
Western States Regional Joint Board, Workers United
Women’s Foundation of California
Women’s Employment Rights Clinic - Golden Gate University
Working Partnerships USA
Worksafe
Young Workers United
YWCA Monterey County