CWE Partners Fight for “Excluded Workers”

Immigrants are more likely to be essential workers and are among those hardest hit by COVID-related job losses, but these workers have been excluded from economic support programs passed by Congress in recent months.

On June 30th, David Kallick, Director of Immigration Research at the Fiscal Policy Institute, joined CWE for a presentation to CWE partners on this problem, and how New York can support immigrant families by creating an Excluded Workers Fund.

Undocumented workers, even those that file taxes annually, were excluded from $1,200 stimulus checks, as were their spouses and children. They are also left out of traditional unemployment insurance and the newly created Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. This is despite undocumented workers contributing $1.4 billion to New York’s unemployment insurance fund over the last decade. 

An Excluded Workers Fund, proposed by Fiscal Policy Institute and Make the Road New York, would ensure that these workers can continue to provide for their families and support their local economies through the recession. The proposed $3.4 billion fund would provide excluded workers with a weekly benefit comparable to what low-wage workers typically receive from unemployment.