Immigration

Excluded Worker Fund Will Run Out of Money

October 7, 2021 (updated from October 4). The groundbreaking Excluded Worker Fund, which gives aid to people who are excluded from unemployment insurance benefits, has crossed the $1 billion mark, and stands at $1,148,078,400 as of October 4. That’s a huge benefit to workers - nearly all of them undocumented - in our state, and is helping people and local economies in all regions. Equally impressive: 99 percent of those who have been approved get $15,600, the higher of two benefit levels. This is designed to [...]

david2021-10-07T15:45:10-04:00October 4th, 2021|Blog, Immigration, New York State|

Some Regions Lag in Excluded Worker Fund

October 4, 2021. New York State’s historic Excluded Worker Fund has been helping undocumented immigrants and others who were left out of unemployment compensation during the pandemic. According to data provided by the New York State Department of Labor last week, the fund - as predicted - is having an important positive impact on all regions of the state. The most important benefit of the Excluded Worker Fund is helping workers and their families, but the infusion of money into the community helps local economies [...]

david2021-10-04T18:01:06-04:00October 4th, 2021|Blog, Immigration, New York State|

Millions of Dollars Help Immigrants and Boost the Local Economy Across NYS

Sept. 3, 2021. The first data is out: $250 million has already been issued to immigrants who lost work during the pandemic but were excluded from federal aid, and another $600 million is “undergoing final verification.” After just the first month, 50,000 people have already been found eligible, funds have been dispersed to over 10,000, and another 40,000 are in the final stages of the verification process. Equally impressive: 99 percent of those who have received the funds are approved for $15,600, the higher of [...]

david2021-09-07T12:46:26-04:00September 3rd, 2021|Blog, Immigration|

NY’s Excluded Worker Fund is a Model for Other States – CBPP and EPI

Two national groups put a spotlight on FPI's work with the Fund Excluded Worker Coalition that resulted in $2.1 billion toward allowing undocumented immigrants to get something like what others in New York got in unemployment benefits and stimulus payments. This was a historic victory that the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute are encouraging other states to follow! CBPP: Whitney Tucker, Deputy Director of Research at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, pointed to the fund as a prime [...]

david2021-06-03T11:07:41-04:00May 24th, 2021|Blog, Immigration, New York State, Other States & National|

FPI Testifies to Congress on Immigrant Businesses and Economic Recovery

The director of FPI's Immigration Research Initiative, David Dyssegaard Kallick, was invited to testify before the Congressional Small Business Committee about the role of immigrant businesses in the economic recovery after Covid. Kallick talked about two recovery scenarios: A Main Street-centered rebuilding that picks up on some innovations from the Covid period such as outdoor restaurants, expanded pedestrian areas, and bike paths that have transformed many downtowns and urban centers in very positive ways. This scenario would entail Main Streets as vibrant places where people [...]

david2021-04-30T11:30:24-04:00April 30th, 2021|Blog, Immigration, Other States & National, Testimony|

Undocumented Women in NYC Particularly Hard Hit by “She-Cession”

Something different has happened during the COVID recession than is typical for other recessions: there has been noticeably more job loss among women than among men. Dr. C Nicole Mason, President of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, coined the term “she-cession” to describe this gendered pattern of job loss that is the converse of what in 2008-09 was sometimes called a “mancession.” Women of color, as Mason notes, have been even more starkly impacted by job loss, a double impact since they started in [...]

Anthony Troia2021-05-12T10:51:24-04:00April 19th, 2021|Blog, Immigration|

Make Care Work, Fair Work

FPI's Shamier Settle was interviewed on Equal Rights & Justice radio, WBAI 99.5 FM with Marrisa Senteno, Co-Director of the NY Chapter of the National Domestic Workers's Alliance. FPI's report, Domestic Workers are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York , was highlighted in this episode of Equal Rights and Justice with Mimi Rosenberg. Listen to the interview below.

Anthony Troia2021-05-04T12:03:54-04:00April 16th, 2021|FPI in the News, Immigration, New York State|

Domestic Workers are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York

Download the full report: "Domestic Workers Are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York" Throughout the coronavirus crisis domestic workers have been placed under a double pressure. Already underpaid, many have lost their jobs, or lost hours on the job, putting them under added financial stress. Even when on the job, however, domestic workers find themselves under added physical and psychological stress, acting as essential workers during a pandemic at some risk to their own health as they protect the health of others. Domestic [...]

Anthony Troia2021-04-12T08:05:19-04:00April 12th, 2021|Health Care, Immigration, New York State, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Domestic Workers in New York: By the Numbers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 12, 2021 Contact: Shamier Settle, ssettle@fiscalpolicy.org, 347-834-5760 Domestic Workers are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York Domestic Workers are Essential to our Economy and will be highlighted in Biden Infrastructure Plan Read the report: “Domestic Workers are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York” (Albany, NY) –Domestic workers are doing the intense and intimate labor of caring for our families and our households. As the fallout of the global pandemic has made clear, they are essential to our [...]

Anthony Troia2021-04-12T08:27:50-04:00April 12th, 2021|Immigration, New York State, Press Releases|

Excluded Worker Fund Will Benefit 290,000 Undocumented New Yorkers and Boost Local Economies

The New York State Excluded Worker Fund passed in this year's budget at last provides a meaningful level of assistance to undocumented workers who have been excluded from major federal pandemic assistance. The $2.1 billion fund creates two tiers of aid. Tier 1 is on a rough par with unemployment insurance, and provides $15,600 to undocumented workers who can meet its strict standards of proof of eligibility. Tier 2 pays $3,200, and is on a par with the three rounds of federal stimulus payments ($1,200, $600, [...]

david2021-04-07T08:51:42-04:00April 7th, 2021|Immigration, Must Read, New York State|

One Year Into Pandemic, Thousands Of Excluded Workers Are Still Begging For Relief

This Gothamist article tells the personal story of an excluded worker and the on-going efforts in New York State to create an excluded worker fund. Excluded workers are those who have lost work due to COVID, but have been excluded from any federal or state relief (federal stimulus or state unemployment due to their immigration status or recent incarceration. “The need is urgent,” said David Dyssegaard Kallick, director of the Fiscal Policy Institute’s Immigration Research Initiative. “Unemployment insurance has been a lifesaver to so many [...]

Anthony Troia2021-03-22T15:24:56-04:00March 19th, 2021|FPI in the News, Immigration, New York State, State Budget, State Tax Policy, Tax & Budget|

Report Finds $3.5B Needed for Aiding Excluded Workers During Pandemic

The New York State Senate and Assembly both supported creating a fund to provide unemployment insurance to workers who are excluded from the unemployment insurance system, primarily undocumented immigrants and people leaving incarceration during the Covid-19 pandemic. Both houses included $2.1 billion in their one-house budgets. The report shows that while $2.1 billion is an impressive signal from the legislature, $3.5 billion is the amount that is needed to match the minimum benefits other workers receive and to continue that aid through the end of [...]

Anthony Troia2021-03-18T14:15:04-04:00March 18th, 2021|FPI in the News, Immigration, New York State, State Budget, State Tax Policy, Tax & Budget|

Unemployment Compensation for Excluded Workers: $3.5 Billion Needed for 2020 and 2021

The New York State Assembly and Senate both support creating a fund to provide unemployment insurance to workers who are excluded from the unemployment insurance system, primarily undocumented immigrants and people leaving incarceration during the Covid-19 pandemic. Both houses included $2.1 billion in their one-house budgets this week, the starting points for negotiating the final state budget. This is an impressive commitment to a critical priority. However, matching the minimum level of benefits that other unemployed New Yorkers receive and extending the aid through the [...]

Anthony Troia2021-03-18T07:28:43-04:00March 17th, 2021|Blog, Immigration, New York State, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, State Budget, State Tax Policy, Tax & Budget|

“Legislature Supports $2.1 Billion in Aid to Excluded Workers; Report Shows $3.5 is Needed”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 18, 2021 Media Contact: communications@fiscalpolicy.org, 518-786-3156 “Legislature Supports $2.1 Billion in Aid to Excluded Workers; Report Shows $3.5 is Needed” Read FPI’s report: Unemployment Compensation for Excluded Workers: $3.5 Billion Needed for 2020 and 2021 (Albany, NY) – New York State may be on the brink of providing unemployment benefits to workers who are currently excluded from the state’s unemployment insurance fund. The New York State Assembly and Senate both support a fund of $2.1 billion to extend benefits to undocumented [...]

Anthony Troia2021-03-31T14:53:18-04:00March 17th, 2021|Immigration, New York State, Press Releases, State Budget, State Tax Policy, Tax & Budget|

Denied COVID economic relief, N.Y.-based immigrant and excluded workers plan hunger strike

Advocacy organizations and state lawmakers have been urging the state to create a COVID relief fund for undocumented workers and others excluded from federal aid since the start of the pandemic. The majority, 54%, of New York City residents working in essential jobs during the pandemic are immigrants, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute. Read: "Denied COVID economic relief, N.Y.-based immigrant and excluded workers plan hunger strike" NY Daily News

Anthony Troia2021-03-16T15:30:06-04:00March 15th, 2021|FPI in the News, Immigration, New York State, State Budget, Tax & Budget|