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NEW YORK (77WABC) – New York will offer payments of up to $15,600 to undocumented immigrants who lost work during the pandemic. The move could benefit nearly 300,000 people in the state.
The effort, an estimated $2.1 billion allocated fund in the state budget — is by far the biggest of its kind in the country. It’s a policy championed by progressive Democrats.
“I’ve met neighbors who have not been able to pay rent, or put food on the table, or been able to provide their children with a laptop when a public school has not been able to provide one,” said State Senator Jessica Ramos, a Democrat from Queens and lead proponent of the fund.
Undocumented workers are eligible to receive $15,600 if they can prove they are New York state residents who are ineligible for unemployment benefits due to their immigration status, and lost income due to the pandemic. It comes out to about $300 a week for the past year.
Other undocumented workers who can prove at least their residency and identity, and provide some work documentation, could be eligible for a lower sum up of to $3,200.
The money is part of the excluded workers fund, which is part of the state’s new $212 billion budget deal that was reached on Tuesday. It was one of the most contentious pieces of the deal which state Republican strongly opposed.
